I just have to correct something that I wrote in the previous entry. I'd said that MerleFest could have had more old time. Well, that was before I spent almost the whole day in the Traditional tent on Saturday. Getta load of this line up:
10:00a-10:45a
Fiddle and Banjo Together
Clack Mountain String Band, Paul Brown, Rayna and Dan Gellert, Violet Hensley, Brad Leftwich, Tom
Sauber, Gail Heil, and New North Carolina Ramblers
11:00a-12:00p
Passing It On
Rayna and Dan Gellert, Violet Hensley, Brad Leftwich, Loretta Freeman and Lynsey, Paul Brown, Robert Dotson, Phil Jamison, and Rodney Sutton
12:15p-1:00p
Smokey Valley Band (their fiddler is Benton Flippen)
2:30p-3:15p
Respected Elders
Joe Thompson with Violet Hensley, Robert Dotson, Clint Howard, Benton Flippen, Tom Sauber, Brad Leftwich, and Paul Brown
4:30p-5:15p
Tom, Brad, and Alice
Alice Gerrard coordinated this program. She deserves a huge round of applause.
In between the concerts and workshops that I listed here, I went a few yards over to the traditional jam tent and played some fun tunes. So, there was plenty of old time at MerleFest, both concerts and jamming, to keep me quite happy.
Icing on the cake: On Sunday, Violet Hensley came out to the 'hands on' tent and played with a small group of fans. It was up close and personal. What a treat to have a chance to meet her and her family. The high point for me was a chance to play "Uncle Henry" with her. She told me that "Uncle Henry" was not the real name of the tune. I'll have to listen to the recording to get the tune name correct. I'll post it when I've had a chance to listen to the recording again.
Stay tuned.
Next stop, Black Creek Fiddler's Reunion outside of Albany, NY on Memorial Day weekend. See you at the registration table jam session.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Howdy y'awl from MerleFest 2009
Lot's of hotspots here. How's them apples!
Heard a fine set from Rayna Gellert playing with her dad, Dan. Very fine.
Found some really nice OT jammers from the local acoustic folk society.
Camping at River's Edge campground with an unobstructed view of the Yadkin River.
No rain in the forecast.
There could be more OT and less bluegrass, but then, that's just me. :-) At least there's some shady spots and clean loos.
Back up to New York State this coming week. Watch for some new sound files from the jamming here.
Heard a fine set from Rayna Gellert playing with her dad, Dan. Very fine.
Found some really nice OT jammers from the local acoustic folk society.
Camping at River's Edge campground with an unobstructed view of the Yadkin River.
No rain in the forecast.
There could be more OT and less bluegrass, but then, that's just me. :-) At least there's some shady spots and clean loos.
Back up to New York State this coming week. Watch for some new sound files from the jamming here.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Whistling Dixie
Well, I'm back up in the northern hemisphere. No moss growing under my feet, I spent a few days at home and I'm traveling again. Next up MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In the meantime, I'll be visiting with friends and rellies in the American south. Yes, I am very lucky to be able to do all of this traveling. There's about 1600 miles on the trip odometer now. That's about 2,575 km's for you metrically inclined readers.
I've been spending a bit of time reviewing my last chunk of time in Oz and the tunes I learned along the way. I'm liking that Possum's Tail is Bare and Crow Little Rooster. Working on Jeff Sturgeon and John Henry. And, Laughing Boy is a big favorite back in Albany, NY. I have to say that it was extremely impressive to see the way musicians pulled together to raise money for the bush fire appeal. I'm always impressed at what non-commercial music can do to bring people closer to each other for the sake of being together and not necessarily for the sake of making money. But, here was a stellar example of music being the focal point for bringing relief to folks in need.
And, hey thanks to the folks who made a banjo handy for me to play with along the way. I've got a fretless back home, but played on fretful ones in Oz. Very good for my technique, if you can call what I do technique. I seemed to have picked up an easy natural bum-ditty style from the past 10 years of hanging with my banjo playing buddies. Then, with some YouTube lessons from Cathy Moore and others, I've got a sense of where the chords and melody notes might be. Enough for a recipe for some banjo fun.
No worries, I'm still more of a fiddle jammer than a banjo jammer. But, if you're wondering about taking up a second or third or fourth instrument, here's my opinion.... it's all good. When I come back to the fiddle after doodling with the banjo, there are things that become clear about the fiddle. Like the uke, the banjo is helping me to get a stronger gut feeling about chords and chord changes. There are rhythmic things that I can try on the fiddle now that I understand what it takes to get that rhythm on a banjo or uke or mando. Rather than taking away from my fiddle skills, I find that learning about other instruments adds to my fiddle skills. Sometimes it's the paradox that makes the most sense.
I've been spending a bit of time reviewing my last chunk of time in Oz and the tunes I learned along the way. I'm liking that Possum's Tail is Bare and Crow Little Rooster. Working on Jeff Sturgeon and John Henry. And, Laughing Boy is a big favorite back in Albany, NY. I have to say that it was extremely impressive to see the way musicians pulled together to raise money for the bush fire appeal. I'm always impressed at what non-commercial music can do to bring people closer to each other for the sake of being together and not necessarily for the sake of making money. But, here was a stellar example of music being the focal point for bringing relief to folks in need.
And, hey thanks to the folks who made a banjo handy for me to play with along the way. I've got a fretless back home, but played on fretful ones in Oz. Very good for my technique, if you can call what I do technique. I seemed to have picked up an easy natural bum-ditty style from the past 10 years of hanging with my banjo playing buddies. Then, with some YouTube lessons from Cathy Moore and others, I've got a sense of where the chords and melody notes might be. Enough for a recipe for some banjo fun.
No worries, I'm still more of a fiddle jammer than a banjo jammer. But, if you're wondering about taking up a second or third or fourth instrument, here's my opinion.... it's all good. When I come back to the fiddle after doodling with the banjo, there are things that become clear about the fiddle. Like the uke, the banjo is helping me to get a stronger gut feeling about chords and chord changes. There are rhythmic things that I can try on the fiddle now that I understand what it takes to get that rhythm on a banjo or uke or mando. Rather than taking away from my fiddle skills, I find that learning about other instruments adds to my fiddle skills. Sometimes it's the paradox that makes the most sense.
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