Off to Camp Kee-waanee

Won't get drunk no more
Won't get drunk no more
Won't get drunk no more
Way down the Old Plank Road

Or, way down the Glenbrook Drive.

:-)

Time for the Harry Smith Frolic!

HWFC jam sessions

Albany's newest jam session. Sunday's at the Honest Weight Food Co-op. <<<-Click to download a poster if you'd like. Most folks wear their street clothes. :-)

But, seriously, nice work by Jen and Fritz Stafford to get this going.

5 - 7pm at the Co-op on Central Avenue near Manning.

Festival season is in full bloom in these parts

Next up... The annual Harry Smith Frolic.

For the first time in their seven years, Volume 3 of the Harry Smith Anthology will be the source for the Saturday midnight song fest. Here's a list of songs from the Wikipedia entry, which is well-linked up for more info about artists...

Volume Three: Songs
"The Coo Coo Bird — Clarence Ashley (1929)
"East Virginia" — Buell Kazee (1929)
"Minglewood Blues" — Cannon's Jug Stompers (1928)
"I Woke Up One Morning In May" — Didier Hebert (1929)
"James Alley Blues" — Richard "Rabbit" Brown (1927)
"Sugar Baby" — Dock Boggs (1928)
"I Wish I Was a Mole In the Ground" — Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1928)
"Mountaineer's Courtship" — Ernest Stoneman and Hattie Stoneman (1926)
"The Spanish Merchant's Daughter" — The Stoneman Family (1930)
"Bob Lee Junior Blues" — The Memphis Jug Band (1927)
"Single Girl, Married Girl" — The Carter Family (1927)
"Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme" — Cleoma Breaux and Joseph Falcon (1928)
"Rabbit Foot Blues" — Blind Lemon Jefferson (1927)
"Expressman Blues" — Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell (1930)
"Poor Boy Blues" — Ramblin' Thomas (1929)
"Feather Bed" — Cannon's Jug Stompers (1928)
"Country Blues" — Dock Boggs (1928)
"99 Year Blues" — Julius Daniels (1927)
"Prison Cell Blues" — Blind Lemon Jefferson (1928)
"See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" — Blind Lemon Jefferson (1928)
"C'est Si Triste Sans Lui" — Cleoma Breaux and Ophy Breaux w/ Joseph Falcon (1929)
"Way Down The Old Plank Road" — Uncle Dave Macon (1926)
"Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line" — Uncle Dave Macon (1930)
"Spike Driver Blues" — Mississippi John Hurt (1928)
"K.C. Moan" — The Memphis Jug Band (1929)
"Train On The Island" — J.P. Nestor (1927)
"The Lone Star Trail" — Ken Maynard (1930)
"Fishing Blues" — Henry Thomas (1928)

Kudos to the Old Songs Festival organizers, crew, and volunteers. What an excellent job! Now, back to my diet. :-)

And, speaking about Old Songs

The Old Songs Festival is fast approaching. I went to the volunteer meeting yesterday. An annual event where Andy and Bill Spence keep the volunteers up to date with the latest news. And, the annual taking of the picture with all the volunteers. It's fun to look back over the years on the photos that are posted in the building in Voorheesville.

We got our tee shirts with a really cool graphic of a banjo with roots growing out the bottom. This year, what could be better? There's a spotlight on American old timey music! Jimmy and Ada McCown, Lisa LaPrelle, Red Hen, Donna Hebert, singing, dancing, workshops, jamming. There's something for everyone. Even Hokum Hawaiians. The complete day time schedule is online.

I hear there's room for more volunteers this year still. It's an extra special way to experience a festival, seems to me. Only 8 hours, a free ticket, discounted camping and yummy creature comforts, and extra memories.

Tunes from Tasmania, Victoria, and New South Wales

As part of Old Song’s Make-Your-Own-Music series, I'll be leading some Aussie tune nights over the summer. On the 4th Wednesday of June, July, and August, we'll meet at the Old Songs Building in Voorheesville at 7:30pm. Come on along and be a founding member of the _U_Name_It_ Bush Band.

Join in with acoustic instruments. Squeezeboxes and lagerphones encouraged! We might even sing a song. Some sheet music will be provided, but the tunes are also very accessible for playing by ear.

All skill levels are welcome and listeners, too!

4th Wednesdays:
June 24th
July 22nd
August 26th

Poster and details on my tunes site @

http://tunes.fiddlejammer.com/aussie-bush-band.pdf

And, more info on the Make Your Own Music Nights on the Old Songs site @

http://www.oldsongs.org/myo_music.htm

Adirondack fiddlers

I'm swimming through recordings from MerleFest and Black Creek. But, while I do that, if you're looking for tunes, check out this website with info and audio from New York State's north country fiddlers...

http://www.adirondackmusic.org/pages/32/13/fiddler-profiles-w-audio-etc

Came to me via a Fiddle-L post from Susan Casler. Thanks! It's a treasure.

Festival Prep

OK, so you know you're going to XYZ festival this summer. You're probably thinking about what to bring, when to leave, when to return, getting your instrument ready, etc. But, how are you getting ready to play tunes with other folks? Yeah, you've probably got a vague idea about what you're liking lately, or having some sweet flashbacks of playing with folks last year.

OK, so replace all the 'you's' with 'me'. Yes, indeedy, I'm getting ready for the northern hemisphere old time festival scene. And, here's a few things that I've learned over the past year.

Preface this, for folks who might not know me so well... I love to learn new tunes and I love to share new tunes.

Before my last trip to Australia, I came across a little unused note book in a box of stuff. Very little, and very light. I thought to myself, I should really jot down some notes about what I want to play this time around. [Light bulb goes on over head!] Well, of course! For one thing, it helped organize my thinking a bit. And, another thing, I actually remembered to tuck it in my back pocket or backpack.

And, I actually remembered to refer to it now and again during some sessions. Oh, right! I wanted to be sure to try to play 'Moon Behind the Hill'. I wasn't real strong with it, but after a few sessions, there were folks who were getting the hang of it as well as me and we carried each other along. Oh right! I wanted to ask Charlie to play those Gene Goforth tunes again. Oh right! I want to remember to play that 5 part Forked Deer and ask Mike to play that Richmond Cotillion that I sucked at last time I saw him.

Which reminds me of another thing I learned this year. As I made my way from Sydney to Bega to Melbourne to Blackwood to Tasmania, I introduced some tunes to folks who I knew would be joining in further down the road. It may have seemed like 'The Orvetta Waltz' was a new tune, but in fact, I'd sent sound files to friends ahead of time, then played it with Tom, near Bega, who'd eventually show up at Blackwood. Then, the 2 of us could play it somewhat for the folks who I'd see later in Hobart. So, lesson learned: 'seed' the tunes that you're working on. And, call them in subsequent sessions. After awhile, with a little forethought and organization, the group will be much more competent at the newish tune.

It all looks informal, but it can be organized in such a way that the tunes grow better. I'm thinking of a friend of mine who always starts to talk about the tunes before we actually get around to playing. She'll say 'Wait 'til you hear thus-and-such-a-tune that I learned from Pat." So, there's the tune name planted in my head before I've even heard it.

Up until now, I've done more writing and thinking about recording the tune, tracking the names of tunes that I've just learned. But, now I understand how to work on the tunes pro-actively before I even take the fiddle out of my case. I don't know, maybe this is all too obvious to many people. But, for those of us who are climbing up the learning curve, maybe giving stuff like this a good think will lead to some better playing.

I'm going to busy myself this week with the recordings that I got at some MerleFest jams. See which ones I'll put into my little notebook and post them for my festival buddies to hear ahead of time.

Hope to see you all soon under some canopy. Wanna jam? Let's play some tunes we don't know yet, eh?

Next up, Black Creek Fiddlers' Reunion at the Altamont Fairgrounds, just outside of Albany, NY.