Seneca Square Dance: Samples Brothers Home Jam

Here's another track from the weekend, this time playing Seneca Square Dance. I learned this tune from the Samples Brothers, and I'm playing here with Mac on the other fiddle. Also included are Roger Samples, Dave Peyton, and Charlie Bowen. I think that's it, possibly a few others in there. You'll also get plenty of background banter, just comes with the territory of a live recording I guess.


Seneca Square Dance MP3

Boatmen with the Samples Brothers

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to play with the Samples Brothers (featuring Buddy Griffin and John Preston). We got in a few hours worth of tunes, and the ones I managed to record I'll feature here.

The first of those is a tune called the Boatman. There are lots of different versions of this, but here's the one they taught me (I'm the fiddle that sounds good in this... actually, that's probably Buddy).

Enjoy, and there will be more to come in the next few days.

Boatman MP3

New Look

Hello Everyone:
After realizing that people read this blog despite my lack of attention to it, I have made some changes (hopefully for the better). I've added a Facebook group, I've added a few social media buttons, and I'll actually start putting up some new material.

So enjoy, and sorry for neglecting things for so long.

Black Twig Pickers

Hello World:
It's been a while, I've been writing my dissertation, I'm almost done by the way, and kind of didn't have time to scour the web for tunes. In fact, I've been quite out of touch with music for the last five or six months.

Anyway, I did come across a band I really love, the Black Twig Pickers. They seem to have been around for a while, but I had not heard of them.

They have a fair amount of stuff on the internet, thankfully.



YouTube/werewold00d

Also, for some music on the go, check out this song. I really like it, and the timing is strange, the tune doesn't do what I expect it to do... but that's what's cool about it. Enjoy.

Don't Drink Nothing But Corn MP3

The Boatman

I really like this version of the Boatman. I became familiar with this tune through the Samples Brothers, who play a version that doesn't really sound like this one. The one I know is a three-part tune out of A, and this sounds like a two-parter. I like this version too though, and the dulcimer sounds great. You don't get to hear those enough.



YouTube/TradmanTX

Robert Byrd the Musician

No matter your feelings about his politics, Robert Byrd was a towering figure whose influence shaped the state of West Virginia for over 50 years.

He was also a really good fiddler. Here he is in 1978:

Angus Campbell

Continuing on through an alphabetical list of tunes, we approach one that I actually have not heard of, Angus Campbell. It seems common enough because it was really easy to find lots of information about it, and sounds like a really great one to learn.

Here is a lesson if you haven't tried to play it before:



YouTube/JohnsFiddleLessons

If you're really good and keep up, you might try following this one:



YouTube/tradeac

Finally, a little something different. I've gathered this is a Scottish tune, and is popular in Scottish-influenced Cape Breton. Here's a version for you if you're a fan of the pipes.



YouTube/gusdrummer

The Music of Mario

It's kind of reach to suggest that this is old-time, but give credit where credit is due. This is from BoingBoing, which is a collection of digital pop-culture.

Angeline the Baker

Continuing with my mission to post each tune from a fiddle book in alphabetical order, I have arrived (and so early on) at probably my least favorite old-time tune. How's that for an introduction? But, lots of people like it, and in the words of Seinfeld, "Not that there's anything wrong that."

Here's Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels during their fine rendition:



YouTube/beastfolly72

And of course, if you want to learn the tune for yourself, there are lots of video how-to's, like this one:



YouTube/JohnsFiddleLessons

Twin Sisters Melvin Wine

Chance McCoy recently put the tune "Twin Sisters" on his wonderful new album. He no doubt got it from so many other great fiddlers like Melvin Wine, playing here in 1992.

Elk Creek Picnic

I'll get back to posting an alphabetical list of my fiddle book, but I ran across this and like it better for now, plus I don't have my book with me right so I don't know what comes next.



Lots of good videos in this collection, all available here.

Across the Sea

The next tune, in alphabetical order, to get to is "Across the Sea." I think this tune is also known by the name "Going Across the Sea."

The first version I came across is by the Foghorn Trio. I've said many times that I think they are among the best of the newer old-time acts. Here's their performance:



YouTube/cashholler

Across the Sea MP3

Another version I found that I like is by the Wahoo String Band:



YouTube/harrybolick

And finally, these are the videos I really like, where it's just people playing at their house or at a store or something. Here's such a video:



YouTube/nnnden

Abe's Retreat

Well since 2008, I've pretty much exhausted all of the tunes I know off the top of my head and talked about the people I know. So, my new plan is to find versions of each tune in the "The Phillips Collection of Traditional American Fiddle Tunes." To keep it easy, I'm just going in alphabetical order.

First up: Abe's Retreat.

I found a great live version by the Gilded Bats, played in Iowa:



YouTube/YewPineyMountain

Or is it the Irish influence you crave?



YouTube/jsboaty

Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss

What a tune...


YouTube/wlkerns

Cumberland River

As you know, last week was rough for the state of Tennessee where I am currently living. Fortunately for me, Knoxville really did not get the rain that middle and western parts of the state got. The Cumberland River runs right through Nashville, one of the finest music towns we have.