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September 27, 2009

Versions of Waterbound

One of my many, many favorite tunes is Waterbound. There are two oft-played versions of this tune. The version I like and am familiar with go something like this:



YouTube/fredcoonbanjo

But the other version that seems to be more widespread was popularized by the incredibly talented Dirk Powell. Clearly the second version is much more of a sorrowful tune. You can tell it's related, but the mood and tempo are for a different setting entirely. Notice the Foghorn Duo playing along on this one as well:



YouTube/MoNoHair

Lonesome Road Blues

There are very few people who can play quite like Sammy Lind of Foghorn. I saw the whole band do this one at Pickathon 2009, but I like this version too.

September 25, 2009

Gray Eagle: Night Vision Style

I find this tune really interesting because it has like 10,000 versions. I mean really, nobody plays this the same way. Soldier's Joy, one of the most common tunes, has many styles as well, but each time you could recognize and say, yeah, that's Soldier's Joy. Not so with Gray Eagle.

Here's yet another version by the wonderful Larry Dent, playing in my home state, old KY, and close to my hometown no less:



YouTube/wvldent

September 08, 2009

Fretless Banjo

Not sure the name of this tune here, but I really like it, and I like the sound of a fretless banjo. It takes the ring out of the sound and makes it more plucky, more primitive sounding.



YouTube/banjer