FIDDLE JAMMER

The Instant String Band

2012-01-11T12:26:00.000-05:00

A couple of 'Instant String Bands' in the works.

First up is the member appreciation dinner for the Honest Weight Food Coop this Sunday. (This is a private event for member workers. Consider getting a membership, if you're local to Albany and not a member yet.)

And, later in the week on Friday evening, in Tasmania, at the acoustic night show at the Brookfield Vineyard.

What's an 'Instant String Band', you might ask? Well, so much of American old time music is jam-based that a bunch of players know enough tunes in common. It's easy enough to find players who'd like to participate, work up a tune list, and voila, there's your band.

We'll have an open jam after the concert at the Brookfield event. Come on along, if you're in the neighborhood. :-)

Jam?

2011-12-26T11:52:00.005-05:00

On a related topic, sorta... http://www.pickyourown.org/jam.htm

Happy jamming to you all.

Playing out this weekend

2011-12-08T01:13:00.001-05:00

This Sunday, Dec. 11, I'll be fiddling with banjo player Paul Draper at Jake Moon. I might banjo, too. Come by for breakfast or lunch. We'll be playing between 11am - 1pm. You'll recognize us because we'll be the musicians sitting behind the tip jar. :-)

Got Tunes?

2011-11-27T10:20:00.001-05:00

Looking to collect new tunes for your 'to-do' list?

Larry Warren has been busy posting source recordings for the Milliner-Koken collection and Titon's Kentucky tunes. There's also a Facebook page that is going to highlight a tune per month from each collection. It's an open forum, so you can add your thoughts and questions.

Down under down under

2011-11-12T23:43:00.001-05:00

Plans are underway to spend a few months in Tasmania once again. Stay tuned.

Fiddle H-E-double-hockey-sticks!

2011-11-02T11:34:00.000-04:00

I'm going to Fiddle Hell this weekend! They're in a brand new venue in Concord, MA. Curious to see what's new. I'll be leading the beginner old time jam on Saturday afternoon. Come on along and introduce yourself. Heaps of other good jams on the schedule. Something for everyone, all things fiddle.

Here's a link back to a previous post about Yarra Junction, describing the workshop that I did there, with links to some easy beginner tunes in G, standard tuning.

Time to support the Old Time Herald

2011-10-17T22:49:00.004-04:00

Time to support The Old Time Herald.

Learning a new tune - Sinclair's Mandolin

2011-10-05T22:18:00.001-04:00

I had a classic tune 'click' today. I woke up humming Sinclair's Mandolin, a tune that I'd recorded at Clifftop this year. I knew it was Sinclair's Mandolin, because at Lake Genero this year, I was drawn to a fiddler playing a tune that sounded vaguely familiar. "What was the name?", I asked. "Sinclair's Mandolin", he answered. "Of course!" I now had 2 associations for that tune. The night I first heard it and tried to play along, and the guy at Lake Genero. (Excuse me, I've forgotten your name, as is so often the case at festivals.) And, I've listened to it while editing the file on GarageBand, in preparation for posting it on my festival recording pages. And, in subsequent plays while I listen to the Clifftop '11 tunes thinking about which to post and what to say about them.

So, today I woke up humming a tune that I could put a name and key on. (It's in G.) And, when I picked up my fiddle later in the day, I played the tune from start to finish. Two A bits and two B bits. I think I recall that it's from the Prince Edward Island repertoire. That stuck because of the trip that I took there last summer.

My point is, with enough listening and focus, with enough playing other tunes in the same key in the same tuning - GDAE - the tune will come out of your fingers. I do not have a special talent for playing by ear. I do have a special method. The tale of Sinclair's Mandolin illustrates what a person should do if they want to play more by ear, or hop into an old time jam and hit the ground running.

Here it is, thanks to Art Bryan, George Fowler, Malcolm Smith, and a bunch of other Geezerville jammers in the dark. Sinclair's Mandolin. Gosh would I like to be able to call out the chords like Art. Yep, that's on the to-do list.

Fiddle Hell coming up. Lots of jams and workshops added at their new location. I'll be leading an old time jam Saturday afternoon. Schedule and other details here.

I'm also doing some Skype - or videochat application of your choice - lessons. I work like a coach, on a short term arrangement. I cover playing by ear, cross tunings, building your tune repertoire, and jamming strategies. Send me an email via my profile information on the right side of the page if you'd like more information. These topics can be expanded for workshops, too. From a brief one hour coached jam to a weekend building an old time repertoire and style, I'd love to do more of these.

And, while I've got your attention, in the right margin of this page, there's a virtual busking case that leads to a PayPal donation site. I'm planning another trip down under in our wintertime / their summertime. Looking to take in more money via the musician work, so if you'd like to be my patron (?matron?) sponsor, the mechanism's in place.

I'm also doing personal computer support work. If you'd like to use your computer at the next level, I can help with that. But, that's for a different webpage. http://www.facebook.com/working.remotely

Until next time, stay tuned.

Get your Shoes on in Brooklyn

2011-09-16T22:11:00.001-04:00

Playing bass with the Shoe String Band Saturday September 17th at the Brooklyn Rod and Gun Club. Come on along.

Aussie jams every 4th Wednesday

2011-09-07T18:33:00.001-04:00

More festival recordings and reportings

2011-09-06T10:51:00.002-04:00

My friend Thomas also publishes festival recordings and other collection of home made tunes. You might want to bookmark his site, too.Well, I had a really nice time at Lake Genero. Except, I was a-coughing and a-sneezing. I took it easy and didn't carry around my recorder and extra stuff. Cripes, it's all I can do to get the double bass from place to place. I did some fiddling, banjoing, ukeing, and singing, but I played a lot of bass. What fun on 2 strings at a time. There was about 7 folks who showed up at my 'Introduction to bass for absolute beginners and the casually curious' workshop and a good time was had by all.

Special thanks to Marc Horowitz who had a look-see at my banjo and put in a new pip. Much appreciated! And, out of the darkness, Steve James appeared and showed me some drop thumb licks to boot me up a level. That's the thing about gatherings like this. You always come away smarter than you were.It was a rainy pack up, but that's always a possibility with this festival life. Time to get off the computer and go lay out everything on the back porch to dry.Stay tuned.

Oh, The Wind and Rain

2011-08-30T00:33:00.002-04:00

Irene's gone.

Sal's Got Mud Between Her Toes

I'm getting busy with my Clifftop recordings.

Stay tuned.

Next stop, Lake Genero.

Collecting my thoughts

2011-08-15T20:30:00.003-04:00

Back from Clifftop for the 4th time. Pouring over my sound files.

Here's a rerun of my first Clifftop trip.

And, here's the sequel.

Check back again to see what evolves.

Coming up this weekend

2011-07-05T11:05:00.003-04:00

The Harry Smith Frolic in Western Massachusetts.

Blog update and my resume

2011-06-11T10:57:00.002-04:00

Follow this here blog on your mobile device / or / get a life.

I've enabled a mobile view and it doesn't look half bad, if I do say so myself.

What I really wanted to post about though, is me. I've put together a little movie about my skills and history, on the way to getting back into the working world. I've had a long, lucky streak of being able to travel and play with folks all over. With a little more luck, I might still be able to do that. But, work it around some gainful employment.

So, have a look, if you're in the position of hiring or recommending a job for me. Music + tech + health care + internet skills. And, um, I know how to take an airplane. George Clooney in 'Up In The Air' had nothing on me.

WPAQ

2011-06-04T21:42:00.001-04:00

What fun and how special of the Mt. Airy AM radio station, WPAQ, to broadcast the Mt. Airy band competition this evening. Streaming on the internet here http://www.wpaq740.com/oldtimebluegrassmusiconline.aspx

Updated tune list

2011-04-15T13:09:00.004-04:00

I noticed that I'd typo'd the quick reference chart on my tunelist last time. Had C chords in the G box. All fixed now, and I've made some additions and deletions. So, here's the revised version.

For those of you who've never seen it, it's a one page (if you print double sided) sheet, easy to tuck in pocket or purse. I think it's a good thing to have on hand as you review tune titles even if you're looking for a different tune. That way, next time the tune gets called in a jam, you'll have one association in place already. Also, good for putting a check mark or short note to help remember that you heard it or liked it or hated it.

If anyone wants a text version instead of a PDF, just drop me a note. This would be for folks who want to edit it to make it more their own.

And, no... I don't know all of these tunes. It's basically a to-do list, with some quick references about tunings, scales, and other music theory tid-bits.

Enjoy!

Beginner's 'How-to' workshop

2011-04-07T23:14:00.005-04:00

Hey, did we ever have a good time at the Yarra Junction 29th Fiddler's Convention! It's not just for fiddlers, of course. Lot's of other stringband instruments are played. Lot's of jamming. A steady flow of concert brackets. A few hopping dances, both Cajun and Old Time. Oh, and workshops for all the common instruments and styles. Yeah, and a gospel sing on Sunday morning. Although, I don't partake as such.

I led a beginner's 'how-to' workshop that went so fine. We had a one hour session whereby I talked about some jamming strategies. Identifying the structure of the tune, finding similarities and differences with other tunes, lather-rinse-repeat with lots of listening, singing along, and finding other examples of the same tune. And, so on. Then, we jammed on Melvin Wine's Sugarbaby for awhile. I'd learned it from my friend, Justin, at the Blackwood festival in February. I love it when I learn an American tune from an Aussie, and bring it home with me. Sugarbaby is in the key of G, which I think is an accessible key for newbies. Easy open drones, and uncomplicated finger patterns

But, I do love to preach alternate tunings, so I was really hoping that we'd progress enough to get a D tune in. Yeah, we did quite well on Sugarbaby, so I proposed we try Uncle Henry in D from Violet Hensley. And, even though, it's a bit irregular, we noted that and proceeded.

Now of course, not everyone hit all the 'right' notes. But, folks persevered and found more and more 'right' notes as we repeated the tune over and over and over. And, you should know that we played at a good clip. Just slightly slower than I'd usually play it, but not much. And, not everyone tuned their G string up to an A, for what is called high bass tuning. And, being it was not a cross tuning workshop as such, I just wanted folks to notice that it was something that folks like to do, and understand a little bit more about why we love it.

A big thank you to my friend, Sue Dilley, for holding up the chord section of the workshop. Relatively new to guitar, Sue was a very clear help for people who were there to use chords. She coached on chords that fit, but also explained when some other chord variations would work as well. And, really clear about accentuating the bass runs. And, best of all, she organized folks to come back later for more jamming. Excellent. And, don't ya know, she organized them to come back the next day for another session. Most of the 30 from Saturday's workshop showed up again at the next 2 sessions.

Well, Sunday there was a blackboard concert on while we had our last session. The MC came by to ask if we wanted to take a bracket. Blackboard concerts are like open mics, in case you hadn't heard that term before. "Who wants to be in a band?", I asked. Just about all of them. Cool. So, we agreed that we'd play Sugarbaby, because by then, we'd played it in 3 differents sessions. "How about and Australian tune?", was my next question. We learned Railway Hotel. So, that got me to thinking, "How about a French Canadian tune?" So, we learned Fraises et Framboises.

Even I was amazed that the group was able to get up on stage and jam quite well after jamming on 2 brand new tunes for an hour. Exceptional. So, here's some sound files from that concert. Enjoy. Or, if you're one of the folks who attended the workshop, here's your souvenier and a reminder of the tune names and melody.

Sugarbaby

Railway Hotel

Strawberries and Raspberries

Thanks all !

Follow the link to 'Festival Recordings' on the right side for more festival recordings. I think I got some really good ones at this year Yarra Junction, so stay tuned for more new tunes.

Here's more tunes on the internet

2011-03-24T18:20:00.005-04:00

Tip of the hat to the Clawhammer Tune of the Day website. Nice work! And, a batch of new-to-me tunes. And, y'all know how I love to play tunes I don't know!

What do you reckon... websites are a modern day version of a holler? (Second meaning in this dictionary.)

Stay tuned.

The Music Lesson

2011-03-19T09:29:00.003-04:00

If you think the magic of music has passed you by, give this book a try. There are lots of hints that will perk you up regardless of what instrument you play.

More Fresh Tunes

2011-02-28T18:02:00.005-05:00

Here's the first batch of tunes from the Blackwood festival.

http://tunes.fiddlejammer.com/blackwood2011.html

It was great to catch up with folks and there was some good playing going on!

Jesse Wells from Kentucky taught some good tunes. I particularly enjoyed his playing of Rats Gone To Rest, Rebel Raid, and Bumblebee In A Jug. All this time I've been struggling with Bumblebee in D. Well, [smacking my head] that's 'cause it works real good in C. Duh. Thanks, Jesse. Lesson learned!

The other thing to report is about Greg O'Leary's old time Aussie workshop that featured Tom Walsh. Tom has handed down many tunes to the next generation and it was so nice to shake his hand and say thanks. Greg and Tom taught Tom Walsh's Polka #1, aka "Why did I kiss that girl?", using dots. Then, "Step It Out, Mary" by ear. To spread the tunes around some more, the Newport Bush Orchestra has some more dots and sound files online at https://sites.google.com/site/newportbushorchestra/ My Old Songs Aussie Bush Band back home is already finding new favorites there!

Up next is Yarra Junction, early April. I'm up to do a 'Playing Old Time By Ear' workshop. Looking forward to that as I've put a lot of thinking into it lately. My friend dropped a copy of "The Music Lesson" by Victor L. Wooten in my lap the other day. That brings it all together. It's a tad mystical, but then, isn't playing tunes also?

Stay tuned.

Blackwood 2011

2011-02-15T18:53:00.002-05:00

Third annual Blackwood Fiddler's Convention coming up this weekend. Workshops, jamming, dancing, and more.

Fuzzy Mountain String Band memories

2011-01-24T17:38:00.002-05:00

Fuzzy Mountain String Band memories It's a movie, give it time to load.

Old time jammer's manifesto

2011-01-17T12:38:00.001-05:00

There is ample proof that there are many ways of learning to fiddle, not just one.

There are many people who develop the skill of being able to play tunes without the benefit of notation.

There are an infinite number of ways to drag a bow across some strings.

There are an infinite number of ways to express the basics of a tune.

Perfect intonation and accuracy are overrated. Many of the old time masters had neither.

Freezing traditional music in print is not the only way to preserve traditional tunes, and it is not the best for a goodly number of players.

Much of traditional music is social music that can be learned informally in gatherings as an alternative to a more classical approach.

Playing by ear is not a special talent. It is a skill that can only be learned by trying to play by ear.

There are those of us who take poorly to learning a tune phrase by phrase.

There are those of us who take poorly to playing in parallel with folks who play a tune the same way each time by rote.

There are those of us who relish puzzling out tunes that we don't know and being a part of something that is bigger than the sum of all the pieces.

Therefore, I call on all organizers of traditional music events to include at least one structured jam component, if not many, opportunities for students to learn by ear, to play with supportive jam leaders who can foster efforts to play by ear, to actually be a part of building communal tunes in a jam circle. Between those lines, read: not just to sit next to greatness and watch experts jam, thinking 'I could never do that'.

All the better, if you would hire me.

Turning off your inner adult

2011-01-07T13:40:00.004-05:00

I came across an article in an 'About Town' newspaper that I picked up in Dutchess County recently. Interesting piece about approaching music like a child. Read it here. The author talks about turning off your brain. In light of the brain articles that I've been posting lately, I'd say not your whole brain, but mostly that pesky left brain that insists on putting everything perfectly in a row, from 1 through infinity.

So, I went looking for the author online, and there's more gems on his blog. Check it out here. Nicely written.

And More!

2011-01-04T16:19:00.003-05:00

More Jam and more ...

Here's the draft schedule. There's a full screen view mode. Look for the international symbol of full screen-ness. There's lots of good stuff going on, but since this is my blog, let me just say, have a look to see when my Aussie Jam is scheduled. Also New Old Time Tunes and Playing Old Time By Ear. More info here.

Fritz Stafford and I are doing a workshop about tech and music. Fritz knows about editing sheet music and generating sound from notation. My expertise is about digital field recording. Between us, we can find just about any tune in any key anywhere on the internet. And, the venue this year has -tada- Wifi. So, we won't have to squint to see my little laptop like we did last year. There can be a large screen display as well as people following along on their own internet accessing devices.

Here's a tour of the venue and directions.

Fuzzy Mountain String Band tribute

2011-01-03T15:40:00.003-05:00

Getting ready for the Jam & Sing Thing, specifically for the FMSB tribute. Lots of research detailed in the spreadsheet that I'm working on. Trying to keep the facts straight and accessible. Really interesting, considering that they were a jam band. Quite a few of the tunes that they preserved and passed on are noted as the only source in the Fiddler's Fakebook. There may have been other recorded sources, but it's a statement to their clarity that their versions have been preserved. Well, preserved as best that freezing old time music on a page can do it justice.

Animals exposed to Mozart

2010-12-15T17:02:00.002-05:00

Wow, another article on brain function, focusing on music and sound. This stuff is fascinating to me lately. This link seems to be an acadmic sort of paper, so whoever you are, thanks for your hard work.

More on right / left brain fiddling

2010-12-14T11:28:00.005-05:00

Another vid about turning off the left side of the brain, and turning on the power of the right brain. Not that I would personally want anybody to be jolting my remaining brain cells with magnets, but it does dramatically show how the 2 sides of the brain interact. I think people who play by ear are conceptualizing the tune as a whole are using more of the right brain functions. Our tunes are Rainman's box of toothpicks, if you will.

John Hartford's recipe

2010-12-06T21:46:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking of this 'recipe' often lately, but usually can't remember all the 'ingredients'. So, I'm going to copy from the liner notes of Hartford's 'The Speed of the Old Longbow. A Tribute to the Fiddle Music of Ed Haley'.

From the notes...

" It's loosely based on a big band device of changing the texture every eight bars.

For lack of a better name, we call this a 'window' rhythm section. We've tried to find a better name but this one won't go away. I really don't like it cause it sounds too much like computers.

Everybody has a bunch of things they can do on their instruments - you can 1) play rhythm on the down beat, 2) play rhythm on the off beat, 3) play a figure, like boogie woogie, 4) play a figure, like high or low bass runs, 5) play unison lead, 6) play harmony, 7) deaden your strings and play rhythm things, 8) play 4/4 chromatic runs, 9) play straight open chord rhythm, 10) play closed chords, 11) always play just one note like the tonic or 12) you can just lay out.

So every eight bars (a window) you change what you're doing or lay out (less is more). You might have five or six instruments and never more than three playing at the same time. The first window might be just the mandolin, the second wind, just the banjo, the third, the mandolin doing something different and also adding the guitar.

The next window might be everyone and then for contrast, just the fiddle. If it's a tune you haven't heard before you might want to listen for a window or two before you dive in. Or you can play something with anything the first time you hear it - even if it's one note or just something chromatic. An entrance or exit should sound on purpose and not fading in or out and we are trying to make each window real different form the one before.

You can also lay out two windows (16 bars) if you need to, to change instruments or leave the stage for some reason like adjust the PA system, sell a t-shirt of kick somebody's posterior.

The figure or lick does not have to be the same through the whole window as long as it works consistently as a window.

It's probably a good idea to lay out every third window anyway to keep it from getting too busy.

Generally, try and build with one, then two, then three instruments and then maybe, all of them and then lay out for pacing.

The groove is all important and should never be lost."

And, then for some extra flavor, the notes go on...

"Also, we have followed the old time fiddle band device of letting the 'off' chords - seven flat chords and minors - happen only in the melody lines, not in the rhythm section."

Here's my favorite part >>>

"We also decided in recording that carefully worked out beginnings and endings hindered the energy."

I agree. I agree.

And, doesn't this sort of structure give us ideas about how to vary the tune a bit and make it more interesting? Uh-huh!

My thanks to Rounder Records for the generous chunk of quoting that I used from the liner notes. Go buy some tunes, now, eh?

Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain | Video on TED.com

2010-11-30T16:32:00.001-05:00

Hmmm, he doesn't mention old time jamming, but I think he's on to something here...

Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain | Video on TED.com

Step into the consciousness of your right brain

2010-11-07T13:22:00.004-05:00

I'm putting the finishing touches on my workshop for the upcoming Fiddle Hell weekend. I've been reviewing the differences between the right and left sides of the brain, and doing a lot of thinking about what makes the old time fiddling experience different.

Seems to me, the sort of jamming and playing by ear that I do is related to giving the experience over to the right brain functions: hearing the tune as a whole, perceiving fingering and chords as spatial shapes (rather than letters and numbers), jamming as a communal activity using sounds instead of words. In contrast, reading notation and learning phrase by phrase is strongly rooted in analytical left brain functions. Here's some background information about what the right brain does.

First up, Jill Bolte Taylor's dramatic account of having a stroke.

And, here's an article that has a good side-by-side comparison of what the 2 hemispheres do.

Not to worry, I won't do much talking in the workshop. And, it certainly won't be a neuroanatomy lesson. We'll learn how to describe some techniques and put those words into use right away by playing the whole of the tune.

Here's a worksheet that I'll handout in the beginning to get folks thinking about old time fiddling techniques. Maybe some folks will give it some thought before the workshop.

See you 'round the jams!

Keep jammin'

2010-09-17T09:43:00.007-04:00

Rain is falling, leaves are dropping, days are shorter. Must be that summer is over and it's time to get back into life on the ground. My travels this summer went from Prince Edward Island to Clifftop, West Virginia, including Southern week at the Ashokan Fiddle and Dance camp. Oh, and the three highlight old time gatherings in the northeast… Black Creek, Harry Smith, and Lake Genero. And, frosting on the cake is that we had the company of many Australians along the way! It is very touching to know that our American old time music is appreciated around the world.

I'd best get to editing some sound files.

In the meantime, check out the forums at the Fiddle Hangout for a blend of wisdom and opinion.

Next up: Beginning Old Time Fiddle workshop at Fiddle Hell. And, a continuing season of my Aussie Bush Band jams at the Old Songs Center in Voorheesville.

Keep jamming'.

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

2010-06-14T11:03:00.004-04:00

Where's the music? Where's your neighborhood?

One of the most frequent excuses that I hear is that folks would play more if there were more old time players in their area. It's hard to convince people that there are probably players around because it truly does feel like you're on an island without any other [fill in the blank], banjo players, OT guitar players, fiddlers, etc.

My friend in Pennsylvania has had great success with bringing players together. When I first met up with her, she was saying that there was not enough players in her area. Next thing I hear, she'd organized a monthly jam, posting notices online and around town. Now I hear she's organizing dances. I should point out that we first started corresponding on the Fiddle Hangout. Didn't meet face-to-face until we made arrangements to find each other at a festival.

So, what people think is local really needs a revisit, in my opinion. Geographically, local means one thing. Over time, local might not be as local as you think.

I have a solid group of friends that I only see at festivals. They live far away from me. Heck, I have a batch of jamming friends 12,000 miles away in Australia. Now I realize not everyone can travel around regularly to that extent. But, if you can't find folks to jam with nearby, perhaps you'd like to try widening your scope.

Reach out to folks online, post on a forum, be more descriptive in your profile so folks know what you like. People do travel now-a-days much more than ever. Maybe you can meet up from time to time at a festival. Or, travel plans can be adjusted to match a local event. I used to love traveling for work because I could schedule my trips to NYC to include an OT jam in Greenwich Village, something I'd never be able to do on my own. I include those folks amongst my favorite and long time OT friends and run into them 4 or 5 times a year at festivals. (That's more than I see some of my local friends.)

Travel a little yourself. I decided to take a 2 hour ride this past weekend over to western Massachusetts from my hometown of Albany, NY to meet up with some festival buddies. The event was publicized on Facebook. Now, now, I hear half of you moaning about 50 reasons not to flush your time down the Facebook toilet, but hear me out. That sort of distance is not something I'd normally do for a few hours of fiddling, but I had a chance to get in a real nice visit and a real nice session. Next time I run into those folks, there'll be a bigger repertoire of tunes and preferences that we'll share. I learned a thing or three more about banjo playing and bass runs, too.

Since you're reading this online, you already know the advantages of finding and sharing information on the internet. Maybe it's time to update your bookmarks, download a few more chord charts / tunelists / bowing patterns / sound files / pdf notation / and whatnot.

Heck, maybe your situation has changed and you can devote a little more time to learning that second / third / fourth instrument. Next time you find yourself whinging that there's no other [fill in the blank], banjo players, OT guitar players, fiddlers, etc. in your area, you can look in the mirror.

:-)

Festival recordings

Fiddle Jammer homepage

Time for another summer

2010-05-20T07:38:00.004-04:00

And, that means more fiddling.

There was no drama of note this year at Yarra Junction. I survived and had one of the best festivals ever! So nice to be able to catch up to that batch of folks. And, actually, early May was a perfect time. Cool and green, not dry and dusty.

I'm back in New York State, unpacking and taking care of the stack of details that tend to accumulate when traveling. Soon as I have a moment, I'll post some tunes. And, I better do that ASAP, because here comes Black Creek, Old Songs, Harry Smith, Clifftop, and for the first time, Ashokan Fiddle and Dance camp. Woohoo!

Another Yarra Junction on the horizon

2010-04-22T23:17:00.002-04:00

This will be my fifth in a row. I have a nice life, indeedy. Let's reminisce.

The first year, 2006, I saw my first huntsman spider. Introduced by my banjo buddy, Tom, who used a newspaper to gently nudge the beast out of the back of his van. That was the year that I camped along the fence near the trees that can suddenly drop their branches as a form of self pruning during droughts. To be fair, knowledgable people had examined the branches above and not that I noticed, but the potentially dangerous branches were probably a safe distance away.

In 2007, I scored a place for my tent under a deciduous tree, good for shade and for not dropping their branches. However, I did see a huge branch fall to earth. Twice. Now I really believed the signs that say "DO NOT CAMP UNDER THE TREES".

2008 taught me about fire preparation and snakes. A change of weather was due at 5pm and we were warned that if the wind moved toward us, an evacuation would be necessary. Promptly at 5pm, a good rain started and the wind moved away from us. A snake was spotted near the workshop building. 'nuff said about that.

And, fast forward to 2009, when the fire came too close for comfort, so the organizers deftly moved the festival over to Blackwood, VIC. And, the Blackwood festival was born. The only encounter with natural disaster that year was my introduction to March flies. A relative of the northern hemisphere's horsefly to which apparently, I have no natural immunity and scratched at those bite for months. Months.

This year, the timing of the festival was moved away from the fire season. Next week I'll make the trek to Yarra Junction in the autumn for this year's adventure. Maybe this will be the year that I'll be frozen to death before the branch falls on my snakebitten arse and the huntsmen eat me for lunch.

Time will tell. In the meantime, I will have the utmost rocking time jamming with some of the best and nicest old time players in the world. Lets hope my Zoom H2 is working and I get some recordings so you can hear some.

Koonya and Canberra

2010-03-23T00:41:00.002-04:00

Koonya festival coming up in April here in Tassie.

I'm busy writing notes to myself and polishing up some tunes.

But, first up to Canberra for the National Folk Festival.

Fresh tunes

2010-03-09T23:21:00.003-05:00

Some festival recordings from Blackwood.

Blackwood, VIC

2010-02-17T22:26:00.002-05:00

Jamming there. Stop by and say hi. Let's play some tunes we don't know. :-)

Hobart, TAS

2010-02-07T18:29:00.001-05:00

Hello from down under down under. Getting settled in and playing music every day. Translation: nothing much along the lines of news blog posts. Stay tuned. Er, cross-tuned.

Workshop handouts

2010-01-13T22:00:00.004-05:00

Getting ready for the Jam and Sing Thing, so I'm sprucing up my collection of workshop handouts. The link for this post will get you to the Tune page, then scroll down to the bottom. The tunelist has been updated. There's a fresh circle of fifths diagram. I'm in the process of updating a page of links.

Fritz Stafford and I are going to do a workshop on computers and trad music, where we'll demonstrate some recording and sharing resources. We're currently using Google docs to edit our outlines and handouts collaboratively online. Perhaps we should add a 'cloud computing and trad music' bullet point. :-)

Anyway, it all kicks off Friday evening. Come on along.

Looking back

2010-01-01T16:22:00.012-05:00

Ahhhhh a three day weekend. Just what I needed to collect my thoughts. I tidied up my music room last weekend. Still more to go, but it's given me a chance to sort through some old recordings, play along on my new keyboard and get to know my upright bass a little more, and to get organized in prep for the upcoming Jam and Sing Thing. I've got a couple of workshops and structured jams to get ready for. Time to give a little thought to what tunes to play and what to talk about. I've got a little notebook in my pocket constantly and another one next to the keyboard to jot down tunes and anecdotes.

This "new year" sorts of rumination has me going through old collections of tune lists and sheet music. And, as you'll see below, I've had a look at my fiddle resume. What a fun walk down memory lane. Thanks to all of you who helped me along this path. Because I don't consider myself to be a performer, I'm thinking that listing the activities that I've taken part in might help my credibility a tad. Not so much as an expert or perfectionist, but as a self-directed learner and trainer and old time fanatic, with a streak of Australian flavor.

9/18/2004 - Old Timey duo w/ Joe Kopera at the Ole Turtle Farms harvest celebration

9/27/2004 - Old Timey pick up band at Smitty's for the Town of New Scotland Plumfest

10/17/2004 - Pick up band for Quaker volunteer weekend contra dance

10/30/2004 - With Spare Parts at the Albany Gender-Free Contra Dancers

Dec. 03 and 04 Troy Victorian Stroll

6/14/05 - Perfect Blend cafe jam, Delmar, NY.

Dance Collage - with Tasmanian Heritage String Ensemble at the Buttongrass Ball

12/05 Brookfield Vineyard blackboard concert with Tom Crosbie (New Year's Eve)

Cygnet Folk Festival Jan 2006
With HOT Stringband
With Tasmanian Heritage String Ensemble

George Town Folk Festival Jan 2006
With the Hobart Old Time Stringband

Weekly Irish sessions at the New Sydney Hotel as often as possible in Hobart, TAS.

4/22/06 Brookfield Vineyard in Margate, TAS with Ampersand from Chatham, NY

6/29 Pelveratta Pick - in TAS as Terri and Co.

8/11/06 Artful Strings - Exhibition opening at the Rosny Library

Old Time jamming at the Lark Distillery and the Salamanca Green

Maldon Blackboard with some HOT Stringband folks

Brookfield Blackboard 12/06 Brookfield Vineyard blackboard concert with Tom Crosbie

Fundraiser jam for Amnesty International Dec. 8, 2006

Geeveston Bakery Jams with Keri Smith and Tom Crosbie Jan. 07

SolFest workshop w/ Fred Pribac discussing Hillbilly Zen

Busking at the Hobart Summer Festival

Cygnet Folk Festival Jan. 07 - Workshop on Appalachian tunes

Web fun started in 2007:
Jammer website online
Fiddlejammer blog online
Podcast started

Wooden Boat festival w/ the HOT Stringband

Yarra Junction - slow jam Feb. 17, 2007

Feb. 25, 2007 Contra band workshop with Dave Bartley followed by a dance with HOT Stringband pickup band

Feb 26, 2007 1/2 hour on Evenings on ABC Hobart with Annie Warburton and Peter Hicks - played Chattanooga and Bound to Have a Little Fun from Yarra Junction 2007 field recording.

Bothwell Highland Spin-in March 3, 2007 w/ the HOT Stringband

Troy Farmer's Market w/ the Pine Hills String Band - April 28

Troy Farmer's Market w/ Ampersand - May 26, 2007

Moon and River Cafe w/ the Pine Hills String Band - May 31, 2007

Open Mic at the Muddy Cup with the Pine Hills String Band - Summer 07

Delaware Ave. / St. James Farmers Market Solo - Summer 07

2007 Music Festivals in the US
Black Creek 2007
Old Songs 2007
Harry Smith 2007
Went to Clifftop 2007
And, Lake Genero 2007

Solo'd at Troy Farmer's Market Aug. 18, 2007

With the Hobart Old Time Stringband -
Dance to benefit the Green Party Oct 3rd, 2007
Ross Landcare Association Awards Night Oct 21, 2007
Contra Workshop by Rob Mahoney of the Canberra Contra Club.
Then, played with the Hotties for a contradance in the evening 11/24/07

Harrietville Bluegrass and Trad Music Festival 11/15 - 20/07, the year of the cicadas.

Appalachian-style jamming workshop at the Cygnet Folk Festival, TAS Jan 2008

Cross Tuning workshop at the Yarra Junction Fiddlers Convention Feb 2008

Organized Waltz Marathon at the Relay for Life event, Feb 23rd.
When: 4 Wednesday evenings - 30 Jan; and 6 / 13 / 20 Feb

Also played at the thank you dance, May 18th

Pelverata Pick 2008 - Blackboard organized by Valentine Whitaker on the Harmonium

Summer 2008 with the Pine Hills String Band
Java Jazz
Emack and Bolio's
Guilderland Public Library Family Fun Days
Shakespeare in the Pork

Coordinated venues for Capital District's Fiddlers' Tour August 2008 – Dec. 09.

Went to Fiddle Hell, November 2008

Started the second Wednesday OT jam at Bread and Jam in Cohoes, Oct. 8, 2008

Started the Schenectady Greenmarket OT monthly jam sessions Dec 08

Slow Jam at the Yarra Junction Fiddlers Convention, which was moved to Blackwood, VIC Feb. 2009

A couple lucky guest spots with Coyote Serenade at the Lark Distillery in Hobart, TAS.

Started Aussie Bush Band Jam sessions at the Old Songs Community Arts Center in Voorheesville June 2009

Jamming Delmar Farmer's Market - Summer 09

Four Corner's Luncheonette – duo's with Ron Whitford and Paul Draper 2009

And, here comes the Jam and Sing Thing in Jan 2010, then more fun jamming with the Tassie musos.

Jamuary 2010

2009-12-06T00:58:00.003-05:00

Jam and Sing Thing coming up in Jamuary...

http://www.jamsingthing.webs.com/

Got Jam?

When you wake up humming

2009-11-16T20:43:00.003-05:00

It dawns on me from time to time that when I catch myself humming a tune early in the day, it's a tune that I should probably pay attention to. What better reason to learn a new tune? It's already starting to work it's way into your consciousness.

I heard a version of Twinkle Little Star, at least I think that's the title (and not the kid's song, a different one), at a festival quite a few years back already. Far ago enough that I should have forgotten it by now. But, it's a catchy little tune. So, I've made a note of it in my latest little notebook. And, I resolve to play it more often. Not just in my head.

Wendy's World

2009-11-02T18:58:00.002-05:00

I've had a link to Wendy Anthony's site over on my link list for quite some time. Recently, I took a tour through the world of Wendy again, and she has added some really cool stuff and links. Tip of the hat for a really enjoyable site!

One of my favorite things... She's listed her tunes by theme. Extensively. Not just the usual "How many rabbit tunes can you name?" Way beyond that. Click the post title for more.

Thanks Wendy!

Some tunes from Clifftop jams

2009-10-08T22:49:00.001-04:00

Hi all,

Some fresh tunes on my tunes site. Look over to the right and click on FESTIVAL RECORDINGS.

Enjoy!!! And, play along, if you'd like.

The Craggs from Tasmania are here in the US

2009-09-13T23:31:00.005-04:00

Watch for The Craggs around the Oneonta area this month. Also, they'll be performing at Bethel Woods on Sunday September 27th. And, they include some beautiful images from Tasmania in the performance.

And, of course, you can find them on Myspace.

Time for the Fiddlin' Bear gathering over Labor Day weekend

2009-08-18T22:25:00.004-04:00

Wow, it's the 15th year for the gathering at Lake Genero, near Hamlin, PA. This gathering is very close to my heart, with many memories of the more expert folks taking time to explain and show me ways to improve my jamming skills. When I first started going, I'd lug all my music books along with me. Didn't take me too long to look around and notice that no one else was reading dots. Well, maybe a few others had books, but the folks that were my role models seemed to catch on to the tunes, even the tunes they said they didn't know well, without a book in sight. So, don't be shy. All skill levels will find some batch of folks to play with. And, for those of you who like that sort of thing, fires are allowed.

Oh, and I meant to say for those of you who are new to this blog, there's a link over to the right for 'Festival Recordings'. You can have a listen to some of the tunes that I've recorded at Lake Genero over the past few years. Probably a good time for me to stand up on my soap box: the time that you invest in recording and then listening to the tunes yields a good bit of return in improving your ear playing. Listen. Listen. Listen. The notes and bowing will come.

Almost heaven, West Virginia

2009-07-21T01:12:00.002-04:00

Next up, Clifftop, WV. Stop by and play some tunes you don't know.

Off to Camp Kee-waanee

2009-07-10T12:34:00.002-04:00

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

2009-07-03T23:42:00.005-04:00

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

2009-06-29T10:23:00.005-04:00

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

2009-06-08T12:37:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-26T15:22:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-26T08:49:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-18T21:34:00.003-04:00

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.

Old time alive and well at MerleFest

2009-04-27T23:29:00.004-04:00

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.

Howdy y'awl from MerleFest 2009

2009-04-24T13:35:00.003-04:00

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.

Whistling Dixie

2009-04-06T10:17:00.004-04:00

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.

Lunchtime Jamming and such

2009-03-18T23:55:00.005-04:00

Well, things are wrapping up here for this visit to Hobart, TAS. Time to fly north again soon.

The pot of music gold is still full here. Last weekend was full of workshops, concerts, and dances headlined by the Montreal band, Crowfoot. Do not miss them if they come your way! I learned some new Quebecois and American Old Time tunes. And, the HOT Stringband taught a few trad Tassie tune to the Crowfoot folks to take back home with them.

The regular old time session is still happening in Cygnet. So, that's where I'll be on Sunday. Who knows? Might even do some effin' tunes ... that'd be with the fiddles in FCFC. :-)

I put some lunchtime jam tunes up on my tunes site. Enjoy!

Next stop with a little luck and good timing, Merlefest.

Fresh Festival Tunes

2009-02-25T22:07:00.003-05:00

I've had the chance to post a few appetizers on my TUNES site. Enjoy and check back from time to time. I'm online when I can find some free WiFi here in Hobart, TAS, where I'm based for the next month. But, I'll try to get more tunes posted soon.

A huge round of applause to the organizers of the 27th Yarra Junction Fiddler's Convention and the folks at the Blackwoods Caravan Park for a very successful effort. They arranged to move the festival further away from the bush fires, and we were welcomed quite graciously by the community around Blackwood.

Off to Blackwood Mineral Springs

2009-02-18T17:42:00.001-05:00

Got some camp supplies from my sweet Melbournian friends and I'm ready to hit the road. Yarra Junction has been moved away from the bush fires. So, this year will be something completely different but a little the same. :-)

Gotta run. Check back for some good recordings in a few weeks.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, that's nice

2009-01-17T09:40:00.005-05:00

If my memory serves me right, I last changed my fiddle strings back in July. Lately, it's become more of a hassle to tune and to be satisfied with the tone I'm hearing from them. I've been thinking for a few weeks now that it was time to slap on some new strings. Was that ever the right thing to do!

I freely admit that I don't clean off the rosin each time I put my fiddle back in the case. More likely, from time to time I rub the strings on my jeans when I think of it. There's folks who have their favorite fluid that they use to clean the strings, and who knows? Maybe one of these days I'll improve on my fiddle hygienic practices.

That all said, I've got some brand spankin' new Prim mediums working and I'm happy, happy, happy. The tone has improved exponentially. I've got no ties to the Prim company. Just a very satisfied customer. It's well worth the 30 bucks every 3 - 6 months, seems to me. I hear the voices on the various fiddle forums crying "How can I improve my intonation?" I guess one answer is "spend 30 bucks and put some new strings on".

Yeah, I'll have to tune a little more often as the strings get used to their new tension. And, I'll gradually work them up to an AEAE cross tuning. Other than that, it's been my experience that the Prims can take all the cross tuning that you throw at them. I do try to remember to loosen them back to standard at the end of a session. But, other than that, I've found them to have an excellent life span considering all the gymnastics that I put them through.

Oh, and, another reason why I put the new strings on... I'm going to be making another visit down under soon. Time to play some old time with the Aussie's at Yarra Junction. And, then a hop down to have a play with my lovely Tasmanian muso friends. That'll tide me over until I get back to the US in April in time for some warm festivals in the northern hemisphere. I'll try to get some photos and sound files up. Stay tuned and cross tuned for that.

&fmt=18

2009-01-03T13:35:00.003-05:00

...

I tripped over this tidbit today. I do so try to stay up on this stuff, but apparently I need to pay closer attention. If you append this string to the end of the URL for certain YouTube videos, you get a better screen resolution and perhaps better sound, eg. stereo instead of mono. Of course, it's going to use up more of your bandwidth. Or, not work if your bandwidth capability is limited. Go forth and Google it if you'd like more information, misinformation, or other people's opinions. Perhaps an advertisement for tee shirts with &fmt=18 logo's or some such.

Speaking of unrelated things...

I've been learning to play clawhammer banjo recently. No, I'm not going to start yet another blog called banjojammer, so if the domain name is free, have at it, don't let me stop you.

I've known for a long time that learning other instruments can pay off in the fiddle department in unpredictable ways. I set out to play the CH banjo to keep learning more about chords and keys and rhythms. Lucky for me, these past 10 years hanging around banjo players has infused me with some fundamental abilities. The bum-ditty rhythm and finger patterns feel fairly natural to me. There's some really good lessons on YouTube from Cathy Moore, aka username banjomeetsworld. Go search. It'll save me the time of putting the link in here. :-) Even if you're not learning to play the banjo, if you're still firmly entrenched on your fiddle path, it'll be worth your time. There's a lot to be learned about playing the fiddle from learning more about the banjo.

Oh yeah, back to the unpredictable payoffs... I now understand a lot more about what the banjo players are talking about. I understand their obsessions with make and model and age and identifying marks and bridge sizes and, and, and, so on. I understand why they'll tie up a perfectly good jam talking about their bits and pieces as it were. Also, the whole concept of changing the tuning on an instrument comes more into focus as I learn more about banjo tunings. Yeah, I have to learn a different set of chords and finger patterns between C/D tunings and A/G tunings. Actually, I got a fretless, so I can't just slap a capo on, but I have to tune each string up a whole step.

The banjo also works in well with what I'm learning about the ukulele. And, it all boils down to being more well-rounded and flexible. They'll come a day when there's too many fiddles and not enough banjo, and I'll be ready to help out. I'm already feeling useful with the uke in that way if a little extra rhythm is in order.

Well, that's what I've been up to, besides playing too much Tetris on facebook. All the fiddling and plunking best to you and yours for this new year!

Bits and pieces

2008-12-14T14:44:00.004-05:00

I've updated the tune list a little bit. Mostly I took a good look at the modal section. I'm still working on understanding the modes better. I mean I have the intellectual concept comfortably. But, now I'm learning some clawhammer banjo. That gets me to thinking about how the fiddle and banjo are different and the same. So, sawmill tuning is not necessarily modal. I suspect it's modal for particular keys. Well, like I said, I'm still working on it. Suggestions welcome.

Tech note: I've discovered what may be a confusing path to my regular links on the right side of the page. If you hit the page via the home url, you'll see some standard links on the right. However, if you come via a link to a particular post, then those standard links are not visible. If you'd like to be sure you're getting the complete and current view, click on the blog name "Fiddle Jammer" at the top of the page above and that will open the home page.

As always, let me know if you have questions. I got a great note the other day from a reader who suspected some of my music files were missing. Yes, indeedy, they sure were. I either fat fingered them, or inadvertently put my elbow on the delete key. I'd hate to think that the site is hackable. If anyone knows more about that, please get in touch with me. Anyway, it's nice to know that it was noticed and now should be running smoothly.

And, to finish off with another train of thought, "Hello" to recent visitors. I've seen hits from Tunisia, Brunei, Europe, Japan, Thailand, and of course, Australia, the US, and Canada. Nice to know you're stopping by.

MyFaceSpaceBook

2008-12-07T14:47:00.003-05:00

Well it had to happen. All these social networking pages now a days! How's a girl supposed to keep up with it all. We'll see. I decided to use MySpace to promote the various jams and gigs that I'll be joining in on. I'll still be musing here and reviewing some of the gigs, so stay tuned. And, you can always find the link to my tunes pages and tune list if you come back here to the Fiddle Jammer blog home page. Look over in the right hand margin here abouts.---->>>>>

In the Old Timey department, next up join us at the Bread and Jam Cafe this Wednesday for an open OT jam. This jam is especially good for beginners interested in the old time jam format, cross tuning, and recording new tunes to learn.

In my spare time, I'm learning more about playing the fretless banjo. And, my little Flea ukulele. Stumbled upon some YouTubes teaching clawhammer uke. Wow! How serendipitous. So, the banjo and uke learnings rather complement each other. Yes, they're tuned differently, but the right hand rhythm and finger control are quite similar. I"m experimenting with various picks and press on nails to save my clawhammer fingernails. I really enjoy learning more about instruments non-fiddle. Helps me to know what the banjo players and chord-ers are talking about. Eventually, I hope I can get a little stronger about knowing what chords to announce for folks who need that sort of info at a jam. Search for 'chord hat' on YouTube sometime to see a unique solution to this problem.

Tunes from H-E-double-hockeysticks

2008-11-24T13:54:00.004-05:00

Some new tunes posted on my Tunes site. From the recent Groton, MA Fiddle Hell.

Enjoy, if you dare.

There's more, but not sure when I'll have a chance to get them posted. Time to move into the new house soon.

Make us play nice

2008-11-12T09:18:00.003-05:00

I"m on a Warren Zevon kick lately. Don't know if that's fiddle-relevant or not. But, here's some lyrics that just seem to fit into a jamming philosophy, seems to me. The tune is 'Don't Let Us Get Sick' from the album 'Life'll Kill Ya'. Let's all play nice, eh?

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid, all right?
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight

The sky was on fire
When I walked to the mill
To take up the slack in the line
I thought of my friends
And the troubles they've had
To keep me from thinking of mine

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid, all right?
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight

The moon has a face
And it smiles on the lake
And causes the ripples in Time
I'm lucky to be here
With someone I like
Who maketh my spirit to shine

Don't let us get sick
Don't let us get old
Don't let us get stupid, all right?
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight

OK some blogger sort of hints at finding lyrics. A carefully worded search makes it easy. I Googled "don't let us get sick" zevon lyrics... just like that with quotes on the tune title, so as not to search for every don't or let or us on the internet. Then, just one name and the word lyrics to zero in on lyrics, not albums, not bio's, not tee shrits or tickets. First up returned www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/warren_zevon/dont_let_us_get_sick.html Viola! Well, yeah, sure they want to sell me ringtones, but then I'd be getting all verklempt when everr my phone rang, eh? Don't let us get stupid, all right?

John Brown's Dream

2008-11-04T07:59:00.002-05:00

I would've posted this earlier, but I only got it in my inbox this morning.

Well done, Charlottesville!

Greenmarket review

2008-11-03T11:04:00.003-05:00

Great time jamming yesterday at the brand new indoor winter market in Schenectady, the Greenmarket at Proctor's. Kudos due to the hard working and determined board members and committee people who obviously put a lot of thought and preparation into this project, including a certain nephew and his family of whom we're very, very proud.

I'll be organizing an open old timey jam there each first Sunday from 10am until noonish. Open jam - everyone and anyone is welcome, so's long as you don't need amplification and so's long as you call tunes from the American old time repertoire. (Need suggestions? Click my tunelist link to the right.) Yesterday we had 5 fiddles, until Tom's bridge snapped in half. Ooops! Good thing he'd brought his mando, too. A superb banjo. A banjo-mando and banjo-uke, no less superb. Ernie's excellent bass runs on the guitar. A little flute from Tina. And, I brought out the D harp and the Flea uke for a few tunes. Quite a good showing from some Pine Hills String Band members. We split the tip hat for gas, and had some treats donated from some of the vendors. What could be better? The Greenmarket music coordinator had all the ducks in a row, with comfortable armless chairs all ready in place for us and advance publicity on the market's calendar page.

Nice write up in the Times Union. There's lot's more music scheduled. Check out the amplified performers upstairs and look downstairs for the acoustic folks. And, stop by and say hello when we're there. We love chatting with folks about this homegrown music that we make. It's nice to have a locally grown venue to make it in.

Aussie and Tassie Tune night news

2008-10-30T10:51:00.008-04:00

Well, what a noice time I had last noight at the Old Songs building. As is often the case in all things pot luck, the mix was just right. We had 3 and a half fiddlers (Tom's just getting started). Oh, heck, he pulled his weight, make that 4 fiddlers. A strong note-reading mando player. And, a steady guitar to keep us together. I guess I should also count the straggler fiddle/mando, too. Although, next time we'll have to dock pay if anyone's late. :-) And, mention the fact that my banjo-mando that came over from Tasmania got a little work out, too. People may have heard it all the way in Tasmania because, as Fred had cautioned me, IT'S LOUD.

I started off the evening by laying out some souveniers, music books, and CDs on the table for display. My trusty little Mac laptop that traveled back and forth with me was playing a loop of a movie that I'd put together. What a nice walk down memory lane, putting that together. I blended some stills, some movies, and some audio files in an attempt to show a cross-section of the many Tassie and mainland music groups and festivals that touched me over the past 4 years. From some players at the New Sydney Hotel, my first stop in Hobart back in September of 2005, to our precious (and I mean that in the nicest way) Grassroots Union Choir friends singing us off at the airport on our last day in July of 2008. In between, I have movies from the HOT Stringband, dancing at the Windjam festival, a few National Folk Festivals, some Yarra Junction stills, a sweet Festival of Voices clip, a digeridoo busker on the streets of Melbourne, oh, OK, too numerous to list. It ran 25 minutes. I'm thinking that I should work at it some more and even if it lasts longer. It could be a more complete overview.

On the table, I had CDs by Fred Pribac, Steve and Marjorie Gadd, the String Chickens, Generations Three, and a very special compilation from my NFF buddies Will and Carl of tunes that we'd jammed at in Canberra. Music books by Greg O'Leary and Ray Mulligan from the Australian Settlers NFF sessions, 2 Wongawilli's, an Appleshed collection, a contradance collection, and the very dear to my heart Verandah Music book about trad Aussie musos (signed by my HOT Stringband mates upon my leaving). Oh, and various and sundry festival programs, flyers, postcards, and brochures. Accent on the 'bro' in Strine, not on the 'chures' like in elitest Americanese.

So, a half hour or so of perusing and chat, then into the bigger room for tunes. I gotta say, the group was quite handy at their first try. I had put together about 70 pages of tunes that I'd collected along the way. Some from the HOT Stringband, some from Stuart's Tassie Tune sessions, some from Steve Gadd's Appleshed book, some from Marjorie's tutelage at the Heritage Fiddles, some Wongawilli's, and some from NFF workshops. Of course, we didn't have time to play them all, but I'll use them again in the future, no doubt.

There was a good mix between readers and ear players. We started with Fair Go Polka. I, of course, steered through tunes that I loved or at least had some strength on. Moonan Flats, Bruce Smith's, Goodbye Mick, Mark Walter's, The Old Schoolmaster. And, we played the Winster Galop first and then compared it with The Black Cat Piddled. The Glen Huon Waltz and Nora's Waltz were music to my ears, as it were. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Earlier on, though, we played Gordon Powell's Waltz and I talked about pulsing the bow for a truer Aussie sound on a waltz. I plainly confessed that I play my waltzes too fast, and so would make an honest effort to slow them down. But, I didn't. :-)

Gundy's Varsovienna caught someone's eye. Sorry, I forget who that was. But, it gave me a chance to compare it to LIttle River. There's another comparison with American old time: the same but different. Two tunes with different names, but almost the same skeleton. We noticed how many tunes are named after people. Tom said that was true in the Cape Breton tradition, too. Ellen was interested to hear how the Little Burnt Potato had traveled, having known it from our contra dance repertoire. Oh, goodie, I thought... now I can call the tune that we'd medley'd it with. I knew that would get a chuckle. And, indeed, we had some great fun playing "Get Back To Your Mother, You Red Headed Bugger, You Don't Belong To Me".

Don'tchyaknow, I had my recorder running the whole time. And, goshdang it, is my foot thumping the thing that get's heard most. I have to have a stern talk with myself about being more careful of where I put the recorder. Drat.

Folks helped to put away the chairs, and I locked up. Oooops, I forgot to turn out that light in the the ladies room... sorry! Another round of applause for Old Songs and their encouragement for the "Make Your Own Music NIghts". The room was cosy warm and much appreciated. I believe I'll organize another night, if the 5th Wednesday theme works out. Or, maybe we can work out other dates and locations if the interest is out there.

Next up, the American old time jams at the Schenectady winter Greenmarket. We'll be there in whatever pot luck configurations evolve, all skill levels welcome, the first Sunday of each month for awhile, from 10am - noon. Whew, good thing it's near the Muddy Cup, so's I can keep my caffeine level up. Y'all know how it's difficult for me to fiddle before noon. Ah, well I'll quit my beaching for now.

Catch up with y'all down the road, I hope. Hey, maybe I'll throw in and Aussie tune or 2.

Old Aussie Tunes

2008-10-10T10:12:00.003-04:00

10/29/2008 07:30 PM

Old Songs
37 S. Main Street
Voorheesville, New York 12186

I’ll share some tunes that I learned while I was in Australia over the past 3 years. Some special tunes and stories from Tasmania. The tunes are generally accessible for beginners, and there's some interesting links to the American old timey traditions.

Participation encouraged. Acoustic instruments welcome. Squeezeboxes and lagerphones encouraged. Listeners, too.

Small donation requested to cover the cost of the building.

This is part of the 'Make Your Own Music Night' series supported by Old Songs. There's a different focus each Wednesday evening. Being that October has 5 Wednesdays, I thought I'd grab a chance to play some of my favorite Aussie and Tassie tunes.

Second Wednesday, Old Timey jam

2008-09-18T09:59:00.002-04:00

Hosted at The Bread and Jam Cafe

130 Remsen Street, Cohoes

7:30pm - 9:30pm

Let’s try it for the next 3 months and see where it goes. Here’s the dates:

October 8
November 12
December 10

All skill levels welcome. Slow jam for the first 1/2 hour.

Listeners, too. The cafe has food and beverages, WiFi, and couches.

Lake Genero and some new tunes

2008-09-14T15:42:00.005-04:00

What a nice gathering we had this year. I've got some field recordings up on my tunes site. I'll be working on editing more so check in from time to time.

I've firmed up some more opinions over the past few months. One being that I'm not the sort of fiddler who likes to play the same old stuff for the sake of being comfortable. I've been in numerous jams, in the past few years where the unquestioned framework is to aim for tunes that everybody knows. You know, after the 5th Over The Waterfall in a weekend, I just feel like screaming. I mean that in the nicest way, but I don't care how well played it is, the challenge is gone after awhile. I love a new tune that catches my attention with its freshness and curiosity. Yep, I know not everyone is up to jumping in on a jam to play by ear, but golly gosh, I wish more folks could take that leap to find out that it's way easier than they think. A work in progress, no doubt. That said, I so don't want to make anyone feel badly about their abilities or what floats their boat. We're all in a different lane on the music highway, I guess.

Here's some of the new (to me) tunes that are up on the tunes site...

Moon Over the Hill, a Melvin Wine tune *Edit - See the comments below. Thanks, Brendan*
Old Greasy Coat, a variation of the old standard
Hard Road to Travel, still looking for a source
Old Billy Hell
Lucy Neil, from Norman Edmunds

Hey, so play nice. Learn some new tunes, eh?

I am not in Hobart, that's for sure

2008-08-17T19:57:00.005-04:00

As Dorothy said to Toto: "We're not in Kansas anymore."

And, as Cher said to Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck: "Snap out of it!"

Golly gosh, this culture straddling ain't easy. Yes, I have twice the friends than I used to. I'd love to see that glass as twice full. But, it's still feeling like half empty, while I miss my Tasmanian friends and life. The only way to make that right is to think about some trips back down the road. And, hopefully, host some travelers here in New York State in the mean time and drink in their accents and humour and fond memories.

Good thing my old American buddies have welcomed me back and we're playing lots of music. More playing out in public. Often involving ice cream. I'm having to stretch to learn tunes that are new to me. And, we're all stretching and dusting off those tunes that somehow fell by the wayside since I've been away.

And, I'm digesting all the 'souvenir' music that goes round and round in my head. Sweet Tassie tunes learned from oldsters who learned it from oldsters. That means during the convict era. Old. And, modern tunes from folks who I met through sessions and music groups. Note to self: must write about this more and get some workshop-able content ready to go.

Then, there's some old American musicians that were gifts to me from my southern hemisphere friends - Ernie Carpenter (yep), Benton Flippen, Gene Goforth (thanks Charlie!!!!), Clyde Curley and the Oxymorons, Harvey Sampson, Joe Thompson, Hobart Smith. I learned so much about them because my Australian and New Zealand friends introduced me to my own culture. If one can even 'own' a culture. As if.

I should be back to some regular postings soon. I'm all wired up with hill of festival and jam recordings just ripe for the picking. Time for a bowl of popcorn and some mp3 editing.

Back in Albany, NY

2008-07-16T13:46:00.004-04:00

Jet lag is almost a thing of the past. I'll be awake enough to play with the Pine Hills Stringband tonight at the Java Jazz Cafe in Delmar.

Soon we won't be here any more

2008-06-26T19:44:00.004-04:00

Our 4 year old granddaughter came and stood next to me at my recent birthday dinner. She sidled up to me and quietly informed me "Nanu, soon we won't be here any more." It was a comfort to me to know that she understood what was to come. Yes, indeedy, this batch of Americans are packing up, and getting ready to return to the U.S.

This American in particular is trying to play as much music and savor as many minutes with my Tassie friends as possible in the less than 2 weeks that are left. So, needless to say, I just can't find the time to post on my blogs or edit recordings. I've been recording like crazy and have a pile of good stuff. But, I'll have to wait until I get a little more settled before I can sort it all out.

Tomorrow, another music-full day is planned. A trad Tassie tune session in the early afternoon at a comfy cafe in South Hobart. Later in the afternoon, an mixed session at the New Sydney Hotel, the best pub this side of Dublin. A contra dance in the evening with the Hobart Old Time Stringband. I'd better get my beauty rest tonight! Oh, and all of that happens after we do one more garage sale in the morning.

I'll back back posting here as soon as I can set up my little Mac and external hard drive with 200 Gig of field recordings. Right now, I have to sell off some more stuff and get ready for our send off party on Sunday. And, perhaps, I should find a few more hankies to get me through these goodbyes.

Tunes from Tasmania

2008-06-03T20:21:00.002-04:00

I posted some new tunes lately. Some from a trad Tassie tune session that happens once a month here in the Hobart area. And, another more mixed set from a lunchtime jam. Hope to get some more posted as time allows. Click the link to the right or the post title.

Name that tune

2008-05-23T20:38:00.004-04:00

I've touched on this before, but I want to revisit it again. I had a conversation with a friend of mine awhile back about her distress at not being able to recall tunes. Specifically, being able to start tunes strongly enough. So, I've been percolating about that for a few months now and here's some more thoughts.

How is it that we learn new tunes, and add more tunes to our collections? First up, I could not have a head full of tunes without my tune list. Here's a link to one of my early posts, (yoiks - January of 2007!) where I talked about how keeping a running tune list can help keep track of the tunes.

Here's some other thoughts...

I never knew I needed an iPod until I got one. It is an audible tune list. I have made a few playlists that help me to listen to tunes that I'd like to learn. I've also named my festival recordings with the key in the title, making them easier to sort. So, I have a batch of A tunes, or D tunes, etc. that play in a row. The association by key, I think, is another brick in the memory path.

Another brain muscle exercise is a name-that-tune sort of game that came with my iPod. You hear a tune and are given 4 title choices. The quicker and more accurate you are, the more points you win.

And, last but not least about the iPod virtues, it is such great fun for me to go out walking with my fiddle tunes in my ears. Yes, I know, I used to feel a little miffed to see all the 'antisocial' folks with their earbuds blocking out the world. But, I'm right with them now. Oh, it's not so bad as that... I'll pull one out when I need to attend to other humans, or tricky traffic intersections.

Test yourself, even without listening. In my spare moments, I try to think of a tune. I might be nowhere near my fiddle, but I might as well try to eek out what melody I can. This can be frustrating, of course, but it's the work part of the whole process, seems to me. If I try to pull a tune up in my head, but come up blank, I will then go looking for it on the iPod, or in my iTunes if I'm sitting in front of my computer.

Recognize when the little bits bubble up and take advantage of those learning opportunities. First thing in the morning? There seems to be something about waking up that makes bits and pieces of tunes bubble up in my head. I consciously try to catch them and name them. And, again, if I'm blanking on the name or key, and admittedly, I have a lot of time on my hands, I'll go have a listen and try to identify an association that will help in the future.

Associations... we don't recall tunes in a vacuum. We recall other bits of info around the tunes, if you will. Where did we learn them, who was playing, was it outside on a sunny day, was it in some smokey (ick) pub, was it the first time we got the hang of a particular string crossing? And, so on. Oh, and everyone's favorite: "That sounds like the B part of Sally Ann, but different." Or, "That's got that ascending part like Quincy Dillon's High D, but different."

Review... I remember back to my piano lesson days. I'd have about 3 - 5 new pieces to work on, some exercises like scales and variations, and at least one piece for review. So, with the fiddle, I'll revisit some tunes that I know quite well. More often than not, I'll find something that will help me with my newer tunes - a bowing or fingering pattern, or something rhythmic that will form an association between the old tune and the new tune.

'Play' even when you don't have fiddle in your hands. I've progressed with playing by ear enough that I can mimic playing notes without holding a fiddle. When I'm working something out on a new tune, I find myself playing a non-existent fiddle. It's getting cold here in Hobart. I wear a fleece with long sleeves that can cover my hands. No one's the wiser.

Recognize when you get the little bits right and have a little pat-on-the-back moment. That positive reinforcement goes a long way toward building confidence. I still think it's a good idea to play tunes that are not comfortable yet, and to start tunes that you're not entirely sure of. Remember that my focus is on friendly jams. I'm not advocating that you take a flying leap off of a cliff while on stage or when you're trying to impress someone. But, when you're in friendly surroundings, just keep at it. You're learning more tunes and tune names, probably more than you know.

More on this in the archives from September 07, "Never be afraid to start a tune you don't know".

miscellanées and catchupiness

2008-05-13T19:37:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm back in Hobart until mid-July. Then, it will be time to stop my radical sabbatical and get back to real life. Most likely, I'll have to arrange my fiddling around a work schedule. Oh my!

Well, time for a little flash back on to my recent month in the states. Interesting to me is this having a foot in each hemisphere. There are tunes that I'm used to playing in both places, with some overlap, but it wears on me a little to feel a little behind the curve in both places. Doubly behind the curve, as it were. I'll stop short of saying that I'm overwhelmed by a double repertoire, because I truly do love learning simultaneous tons of tunes. But, that old perfectionism rears it's head and I have to screw up my courage and just play the tunes as best I can.

NEFFA was a great time. It's a very long standing festival that has seen many homes. The link in the post below will get you more info, including the history of venues since the late 1940's. Along with some fun, fun, fun jamming with some Dixie Butterhounds and good festival buddies, I was able to go to 4 workshops.

Effort-Less Fiddling by Toby Weinburg was very interesting... how to 'hold' the fiddle by a mix of opposing forces. I'm not going to try to expound on this much more than that skimpy description. Go hear Toby sometime. His workshop was done very well. He had us stand up and do some exercises and experiments to understand opposing forces and the weight of our neighbors' arms.

A good time to mention another workshop that I got to, 'Planning a Workshop' by Lisa Seiverts. She offered a smorgasborg of strategies for making workshops more accessible and experiential.

It was great fun to see how fiddles are built at Dave Golber's 'What's a fiddle' workshop. I learned a few more definitions to help me talk about the parts of a fiddle, styles, types of wood, shapes, and the like. Very instructive. Didn't you always wonder how fiddles are constructed?

And, last but not least, I stopped in on Jane Rothfield's Fiddle and Banjo Duets' workshop, with a banjo player that I'm going to be ashamed to forget his name. (Someone set me straight, and I'll be glad to edit this post.) It was nicely interactive between the audience and artists. Folks got a chance to watch typical jamming and ask questions, some very basic and some upper level. I love to watch the look on people's faces when they understand that OT musicians are playing a tune together for the first time, without practicing but sounding like they'd played it 100 times before. I'd seen Jane in concert in the Albany area, and been to a few workshops. (Jane's who taught me to think of the bow making a tone that was shaped like a bell curve. Thanks, Jane!) It was nice to have the chance to watch her more closely and hear them talk about what tunes to pick and why, the fiddle and the banjo being an iconic foundation for old time music.

My partner found heaps of singing workshops and concerts. The food at the middle school was better than average festival food, I though. Plenty of vegetarian and healthy, yummy, choices. And, the crafts were fun, as always. There was a bones booth and I have to have a moment of applause here for the guy running the booth. He was endlessly patient as he helped potential customers to begin to learn how to play the bones. As I've said, I was traveling uber light, so I had to pass on getting my first pair. Somewhere down the road perhaps.

Appropo of nothing, I've recently printed out a tune list based on the Portland Collections, with tunes from the old time repertoire bolded. It's like my OT tune list, in tiny fonts and 5 columns. Yes indeedy, they're transcribed for the contradance band, not Ramblers or Rounders or Stringbands, but I think it's helpful to be able to see some skeletons and a reminder about tunes that are 'out there' waiting for me to catch up with them.

Otherwise, I've occupied my easier weeks with playing with old friends in the Albany area... Fiddlers' Tour, the Pine Hills Stringband, the Empire State Plaza lunchtime jam at the NYS Museum, and a sweet Unger / Mason jam near Woodstock, NY. The PHSB folks played out at the Shaker Barn at the Pottery Guild show under the Old Songs Festival banner. What a nice old wooden venue with incredible acoustics. A guy came by to tell Ernie that his guitar could be heard across the room at the entrance, separate from 2 fiddles and 2 banjos. Well, Ernie does play some good bass runs and chucks, but even so, that's good sound conduction without any amplification.

And, hat tip to the Charlton Sound folks who video'd the Fiddlers' Tour learning the Aussie 'Old Schoolmaster' by ear and playing their old favorite, The Tassie 'Black Cat. Google Charlton Sound, and you can have a look and listen.

Once again, I'm impressed at how it's really about the people. Although, I'm tempted to say that we do this music thing because we love to find venues in places where we've never been before. We kid ourselves into believing that we do it for the music, but I do so get a kick out of following a map and finding someplace that I've never been before. Mansfield, Massachusetts; The Muddy Cup in Schenectady; the Shaker barn near the Albany Airport; Hobart Town, Tasmania.

NEFFA

2008-04-24T22:54:00.002-04:00

Next up, NEFFA.

Go play the fiddle, eh?

2008-04-09T03:20:00.004-04:00

Hello everybody. I'm going to take a month off from this blogging hobby of mine. I have some traveling to do and I'll be in uber traveling light mode. In the meantime, step away from the computer and learn some new tunes, if you're so inclined. Thought I should post something like this, so you're not spending time checking in.

Catch up with you all down the road.

Friends of Old Time Banjo

2008-03-30T08:08:00.003-04:00

Hey, here's a site that came to my attention lately, the Friends of Old Time Banjo. Browse around there for a bit, even if you don't actually play the banjo. There's cool stuff, like a festival survival checklist, appropo of my post below. And, lot's of other goodies, too.

P.S. I think my web hosting folks are done moving into their glorious new data center. My site was down for a little bit, but no worries. It's up and running fine now.

Maintenance?

2008-03-27T20:08:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

My web hosting service tells me that they are relocating and upgrading their machines this weekend. It may be that my festival recording site will be down for a bit. Supposed to be all back to normal by Monday.

Seems rinky-dink, but we'll see.

The National Folk Festival in Canberra was the best ever. I'm still recovering and working up some brandspankinnew festival recording. I might be done enough to post some on Monday, after the 'upgrade' from the web hosts.

Survivor: Music festival

2008-03-17T22:52:00.004-04:00

Hey, I've been to quite a few music festivals over the past few years, in Tasmania, mainland Australia, and some in the U.S. And, way before that, actually. I volunteered at some of the early Old Songs Festival in Altamont, NY, going back 30 years. Bluegrass, Folk, Womyn's, Jazz, and Old Timey American. Anyway, enough about me.

A friend called me recently to ask about what to bring, being she was a first timer to the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia. This got me to thinking, I should write about how I cope at music festivals. What with all the traveling that I've been doing, I've learned a thing or two. Wait, now, don't expect me to endorse any particular products here or to talk about the idiosyncrasies of a particular festival. I'm just going to spell out some generic ways to spend more time enjoying the festival and less energy dealing with 'stuff'.

I should note that my last few years have been traveling without a car or RV, so I don't have a lot of creature comforts on hand. These tips will not be so relevant if you're able to carry everything you need with you. But, you might be interested in some of the short cuts or strategies that are helpful to decrease festival stress. On the other hand, I don't have to worry about dead batteries or flat tires or canvas being eaten by mice these days, do I?

- Buyer beware. Study the website or brochures. Ask around. Look at the venue if and when you have a chance. If you don't radiate to Shape Note Singing, you might better spend your festival dollars on a festival that is more your genre. Not to talk trash about Shape Note Singing... just picking an example out of the air. I love old timey music. Why should I go to a festival that is obviously geared towards the evolution of dance in the former Czechoslovakia? Well, you know what you like. I'll stop pulling examples out of the air. Same thing for ill-defined workshops, venues with poor sound, food stalls with macaroni salad in the sun, or child care that your not comfortable with. Keep a skeptical eye out for things that will not be fun, or interesting, or worth your hard earned dollar.

- Save or reduce the price of admission. I never pay full price for admission. Volunteering has so many and varied opportunities to get to really know people and get a behind-the-scenes view of how the festival runs. Would you rather wash dishes with some up-and-coming artist or sit through a concert hearing someone that you've already heard before? When ever it's possible for me, I go early and stay late. This gives more bang to the buck, if you will, and allows for more jamming, always on my agenda. It also means a better chance at a good camping spot. And, more chance to scope out an unfamiliar venue before the crowds make it more nerve wracking. First crack at the festival tee shirts and doo-dads, too.

- Travel light
   Bring old or almost used up products. That way you can dispose of parts of your burdens before you return. A few doses of toothpaste left in the tube, 3 days worth of deodorant, the bottom of the shampoo or lotion bottle. I save up the odd bits of soap in a little baggie. They're good for a shower or 2. By the time you've used up your odds and ends, you'll have room for a new festival tee shirt or souvenier.
   Those chamois-type camp towels that absorb a lot of water are very handy. They dry quick and don't take up much room. I've used them at the end of a trip to bundle up fragile things, or wrap up something wet, grimey shoes, or other potentially gunky messes.
But, take good care of your feet. Seriously. Leave those girly shoes at home, or don't be complaining to me about your blisters. I like hiking boots or sturdy sneakers. I tuck in a pair of flip-flops for a quick dash out of the tent first thing in the morning. Or, in case the showers are just too icky to stand in.
   If you don't bring enough clothes, oh well. Wear dirty clothes towards the end of the festival. Most everyone else will.
   I like travel clothes that are light. For example, a pair of denim jeans are heavy, and a drag to dry out after a rain or washing. The newer types of hiking pants, preferably the kind that have zip off legs, are light, easy to wash and dry, and can tolerate some rain without feeling awful. They're easy to layer up, too, with some thermals underneath. Same for those techy shirts. They're great under or over a layer, and light enough to stick an extra on in a day pack in case the temps drop.
   Tip of the hat to http://www.onebag.com. My old work mate let me in on that tip before I started my globe trotting. Chock full of really good resources and advice.

- But, don't forget
   Medications - I make a point of carrying my blood pressure meds in my pack at all times. I don't want them ripped off or sweltering in a tent while I'm away from the campsite.
   Important telephone numbers and travel details like flight numbers or bus schedules and the like. I sometimes summarize the key info on one little business card sized piece of paper. My iPod is handy that way, also. The calendar from my Mac is on the iPod as is my address book. The address book is also in my mobile phone. But, I still keep the essential info on a piece of old fashioned paper... it doesn't have batteries that might run down.
   Recording equipment, both high tech and low tech like a little notebook and pen.
   Electric chargers and batteries - Ugh, I wish I could drop that weight, but I can't. I need my mobile phone, camera, and recorder, all with their respective charging apparati. Pain in the butt, but what can I do? Gotta have them. Being that the industry has done a crappy job of standardization, you might be lucky enough to have a few devices that all use AA rechargeables, decreasing the need to bring multiple separate chargers. Now where to plug them all in is another story. I've used places like festival kitchens, airports, or campsites with power. It'd be a nice thing if places with instrument lockups could include a few power bars so that folks could check in their electronics for charging. And, I hear there's a new gizmo out there that is the solar powered equivalent of AA batteries. I might check that out more one of these days.

- Handy things
   A hankerchief or 4. These can be so multipurpose. I give one a soak of water and tie it around my neck when the festival is really hot. Sometimes, I'll whop a wet rag on my head if it's really sweltering. Dry, they make a portable hand towel or a type of bag to tie something together. Lay one out on the ground or a cruddy picnic table as a mini-table cloth. Occasionally, I might wipe some rosin off my fiddle, too. :-)
   A little length of light cord or string, a clothspin or 2, a small lock, a head torch (the newer ones are extra light), those skiing hot packs that heat up when exposed to air. These are a few of my favorite things.
   Portable silverware and mug. Besides the obvious greenity, there are occasions where you can join in some communal meal, made more easy if you have your own place setting. A pair of chopsticks from some takeout restaurant are handy. Double purpose when a couple of sticks are needed - just use your imagination, a la MacGyver from the old TV show. Frisbees make good paper plate holders, I've found.

- Protect yourself from the elements. You know... all the things a mother would tell you. Bring a water bottle and carry it with you. That'd be an empty bottle, if you're flying. Bring a lightweight rain coat. Sun screen. Hat. A light sleeping bag liner can increase the warmth. Fleece tops can also be rolled up to use like a pillow, saving you the space or weight of any other sort of pillow. At an outdoor venue where the temperature is going to drop after sundown, it's handy to have a tarp or poncho to keep the dew off you.

- Eat smart I love the festivals that feed the volunteers on the cheap. Most kitchens are set up to provide good basic food, adequate and plentiful. Makes it easier to save money and not fill up on fried dough and corn dogs. Not having a cooler (Esky in Australian slang), I tend to take snacks that don't need ice like trail mix, pepperoni, little cereal boxes with little boxes of long life milk, crackers, and fresh fruit.

- Sleep smart. Ear plugs that work. Really. I like the waxy sort. They keep more noise out. Why would you ever go to a music festival with out them? Or, any sort of dorm sleeping. Or, any sort of camping ever? Difficult to sleep if you're not warm and dry. Tent? RV? Air mattress? Air pad? On the ground? Heck NO! Many cell phones have an alarm function. A well timed power nap can be just the thing to help you through the day. Yes, you might miss something while you're sleeping. But, really, trying to get through a long weekend with 3 hours of sleep per night is just nuts.

- Buddy up -or- not. I like to see my friends at festivals. But the herd mentality might be more trouble than it's worth. I make some time early in the festival to go through the program and look around the festival office. Is there anything that has changed since the last time I checked? Additions, changes, cancellations? Then, I highlight things that I might want to do. What is going on that I just can't miss? To try to include other folks in this process makes it all the more cumbersome. My partner goes her way and I go mine. Sometimes, we end up at the same event, sometimes not. In any case, it makes for more and better conversations later on. But, going our own separate ways means that we spend no time on the 'where-will-we-meet?', 'what time are you going?', 'shall we eat early or late?', 'I thought you were going to meet me near the tree by the lane', and you get my drift. End of codependency counseling session.

Well, but maybe I have some more mental health advice to share. I start out each festival with a nirvana mindset... "Oh, isn't it so wonderful to be around so many like-minded people who love music and are so evolved and will be so nice to be around. And, by the end of the festival, I'm often irritated at the hairline of the guy in front of me or PO'd at the woman who cuts in front of me in the porta-potty line. Somewhere in between there is the real festival experience. But, I do know that paying attention to some of the small details can lessen the let down or the fatigue towards the end.

Up next, Canberra, ACT. We'll be in the tent city. They set up tents in a row, including cots and a light.

Lunchtime sessions in Hobart, TAS

2008-03-11T23:35:00.004-04:00

Here's what some of the Hobart Old Time Stringband is up to lately...

================
Traditional Folk Music Jam
at Nobucks Midday Break
12 noon - 2pm for five Wednesdays:
26th March, 2nd April, 9th April, 16th April, 23rd April

Free and open to the public

Wesley Hall 58 Melville Street Hobart

Some members of the Hobart Old Time Stringband will play some traditional tunes from Tasmania, Australia, and old time America, as well as jigs, reels, and waltzes from around the world. All skill levels are invited to join in.

In association with Folk Federation of Tasmania.

================

Here's a PDF brochure for download.

See you at lunchtime, if you're in the city and have some lunchtime to spare. We'll learn some new tunes and play the heck out some old familiar ones, too.

The Fakebook game

2008-02-29T19:46:00.004-05:00

There's often 3 or 4 tunes visible when you open up the Fiddler's Fakebook and take a look. Sometimes I play a little game. I open up the Fakebook randomly and make myself play one of the tunes. I might play some same old favorite one each time I hit a particular page. But, often this maneuver sends a new tune out front and I stretch a little to figure out a brand new tune.

That's one of my credo's, if you will. Always learn new tunes. Always. Have a place where you jot down tunes that are on the back burner, so you'll keep better track of them. If you're only playing tunes that you've grown comfortable with, you're not growing. Some folks seem to think that they have a limited capacity for learning new tunes. It's not like a hard drive that's going to run out of space. There's lots more memory available in the human brain.

Housekeeping note - Check out the right hand margin of this blog. There are links to festival recordings, podcasts, archived posts, and helpful links.

Real music

2008-02-27T06:03:00.003-05:00

I posted a batch of festival recordings today. Enjoy.

Workshop handouts

2008-02-18T20:04:00.003-05:00

What a nice gathering of folks in the Fiddle Crosstuning workshop this past weekend at Yarra Junction in Victoria. Thanks for stopping by. Many folks tuned their fiddles up to ADAE and AEAE, and not a string was broken. :-)

We started out by playing Maire's Wedding in G, just to get a feel for open drones on a lower toned string using a more-or-less familiar tune. Then, we played Muddy Roads.

Moving along quite quickly, we tuned up our G strings one whole step to A. Usually, that puts a little different tension on the other strings, so we did some fine adjustment on all 4 strings. Ready for D tunes, we played Old Grey Cat on a Tennesee Farm. Talked about some typical drones and double stops, some fancy slides, and just brushed on shuffling.

As long as we had some time left, we tuned up for A tunes by tuning the D string up a whole step to E. AEAE has an extra advantage of being able to play in 2 octaves with the same finger patterns. We played Old Yeller Dog Come Trottin' Through the Meetin' House, mostly because I love to watch the Aussies laugh at my accent on that. And, racing to the end of the one hour workshop, we learned a simple version of My Little Doney.

Couldn't have been better planned, when Craig showed up for the next bowing technique workshop and he'd planned to use Doney as his example. He offered the group a chance at a different tune, and most said to go ahead with Doney. Serendipity curriculum development worked really well.

Of course, traveling light, I hadn't brought an excess of handouts. So, if you're reading this to find out where the workshop handouts are, click here.

Waltz Marathon anyone?

2008-01-22T06:01:00.000-05:00

The preparation for Cygnet is over. Both of the groups that I usually play with are done with their rehearsals and preparations. So, while this little pause is settling in, I'm launching that 'waltz marathon' that I've been threatening for awhile now.

The HOT Stringband played at a benefit a few months back for the Relay for Life team of the Folk Federation. There are lots of dancers on that team, so our association is a bit of a good fit. They asked if we'd also like to play music at the Relay event. So, I offered a waltz marathon.

Note, this is not going to be a dance marathon. We're just going to play as many waltzes as possible, until we run out of waltzes, time, or energy, which ever comes first. I guess there's always the chance that an Arctic wind comes up and we stop because we're freezing. "That's Tassie", I imagine someone saying.

Anyway, I have plenty of time lately to give this some thought and think about how to organize it. I'm trying an afternoon session and an evening session. There's about 4 weeks left before the event, so I figure we'll have a chance to try out many new waltzes.

Our Monday 'warm up' was hosted this past afternoon by one of the Stringband fiddlers. I'd suggested 1:30 to 3, but of course we stayed 'til a little after 4. Before I knew what hit me, we were playing a couple of bluegrass waltzes. Roxanna by Bill Monroe and Sweet Bunch of Daisies, both from the Fiddler's Fakebook.

I've got an application in to use a community room at a local health center for an evening group. Waltzing on Wednesdays or Wednesday Waltzing or some such. Maybe we'll get some folks who end up coming to the Stringband sessions.

I'm making a list of the waltzes that get played and taking notes. Might a good resource for the group at some point. Maybe I'll end up with a waltz equivalent of my OT tune list. Hmmmmm.

I'll keep you posted.

Next up - Yarra Junction

2008-01-18T23:24:00.000-05:00

Next up: Yarra Junction Fiddler's Convention, the gathering that is so low maintenance, there's no website. Matter of fact, if you don't know where it is, stay home. More room for the rest of us.

--just kidding--

Just ask.

Cygnet was a blast.

The HOT Stringband played their absolute very best for their 'Fowl Critters' portion of the program, and there were sing-a-longs, complete with 'Hillbilly Hymnals', and clever use of props to make the experience even more fun. The Sunday morning gig really challenged their flexibility, dealing with rain and a few missing players. Some folks could only make the Saturdays sessions. The band commandeered a gazebo, played without a sound system, punted on the parts that the missing folks had done in rehearsal, and attracted a good sized, well voiced, audience in spite of it all. The gazebo had a terraced layout, perfect for putting the rhythm players up and behind the melody makers.

Actually the Stringband started off the day at 9am, that's 9am, at a contra dance workshop called by David Wanless. We played acousically, and did a fine job accompanying the dancers. Always a good time.

The Heritage String Ensemble did 2 programs, one of traditional music, and the other, a program of original music written in the 1800's in Tasmania by Alexander Laing. Beautiful tunes, made even more special by narration from Peter MacFie, the historian who brought the tunes to Steve and Marjorie Gadd who organize the String Ensemble.

Then, late afternoon, I did my workshop on Appalachian-style jamming, teaching 4 unfamiliar tunes and explaining what I know about fiddle jamming. Of course a smattering of internet resources was included so that folks are aware of the Fiddler's Companion and how to convert ABC files into sheet music. We had about 8 people, keen to learn. Unfortunately, as it played out, Dev'lish Mary were singing at the same time. Well, not unfortunately for them, but unfortunate for folks who had to be giving a workshop, like me. I think they might have attracted folks who might otherwise have come to my workshop. Last year I had 20 people in my 9am workshop. Guess early morning is a better time. No worries. I'm just regretting that I didn't have a chance to catch up with the Dev'lish girls.

That's it for now. You can catch me pontificating some more over at the Fiddle Hangout. That has taken up a chunk of my writing time lately. Too much good stuff there.

Note the 'tune' site and tunelist links are to the right of the FiddleJammer main page.

Hope to see you all outside of Melbourne, VIC in February. :-)

Journey Home

2008-01-06T19:19:00.000-05:00

Abigail Washburn in China.

I was very touched by this portrait of an American in a far away land. So, even if there's not much fiddle content, I thought I'd pass it along.

I'd heard Uncle Earl's Hongshao Rou variation on 'Streak 'O Lean, Streak 'O Fat', and seen the kung fu clogger video. Then, I came across this audio file with translation-

http://thespps.org/openaudio/uncleearl20070423set204.mp3

But, today, I searched around YouTube for Abigail Washburn. Now I understand the scope of her travels in China. There's some really interesting videos of her Sparrow Quartet playing with traditional Chinese musicians. She didn't just 'spend some time in China'.

Cygnet Folk Festival

2008-01-04T08:54:00.000-05:00

Coming up next weekend...

http://www.cygnetfolkfestival.org/

I'll be playing with the Hobart Old Time Stringband and the Heritage Fiddle Ensemble. Also, I'll be doing a Appalachian-style jamming workshop.

The HOT Stringband will be doing a couple of fun concerts and a contradance workshop. The Heritage Strings have some fabulous tunes written by an early settler from Tasmania, Alexander Laing. The tunes have recently come to light in the Tasmanian Library archives. The tune names have links to local history and places, which make them all the more interesting. Plus, they are very sweet, sweet tunes.

A few are in the key of B flat, the key signature that has usually sent me to the bar for a beverage or caused me to close the tunebook and work on a different hobby. But, now, I could not escape it. It is time for me to get over it and learn how to play in B flat. Whine, whine, whine... there's no open strings on the top 2 strings. They all have to be noted. So, here I sit practicing my scales like a good student. Making progress. Strenghthening up my pinky and working on my accuracy. What a good challenge.

The upside just might be that now I can play the Democratic Rage Hornpipe (B flat) in the New England Fiddler's Repertoire in time for next October. :-)

Housekeeping note: I added a link to my festival recording page in the section to the right of the page.

TUNES

2007-12-11T03:58:00.000-05:00

Hey, I'm trying something new for me... a web page with festival jam tunes. Broadband recommended. All tunes are jam quality, ie. you might hear kids screaming, dogs barking, belching, bottles opening, cicadas, and who knows what else. It will not be professional fiddling, just fiddling for fun. But, you'll hear enough repetitions to help you learn some new tunes.

Not for sale or other than personal enjoyment. Not intended for children under 24 months. Cruelty free, well most of it anyway, 'cept for the murder ballads. Not tested on animals. No admission charge. Offer not valid where prohibited. Offer not prohibited where valid.

http://tunes.fiddlejammer.com

Questions and comments welcomed.

TEDTalks

2007-11-12T21:36:00.000-05:00

I've been really enjoying some video podcasts lately. They are presentations from the TED conferences. Technology, Entertainment, Design.

Here's their website

Video podcasts - search for TEDTalks on the iTunes store. It's a free subscription.

They go back a number of years. I just finished watching Evelyn Glennie, a deaf percussionist, talk and demonstrate about perceiving sound. Very, very cool. Good stuff for musicians and sound technicians.

Harrietville Bluegrass & Traditional Country Music Convention

2007-11-06T18:02:00.000-05:00

Next stop Harrietville, VIC. There will be a respectable contingent of old time players there. Well, a goodly number of old time players anyway. Come on by and we'll play some tunes.

It's not just about the tunes

2007-10-17T21:14:00.000-04:00

So obvious, but maybe not.

I've got some really good festival recordings from the last of 5 festivals that I got to this past [North American] summer. As I'm listening, and listening again, it dawns on me that I found some really good festival friends this season. I think there's something about our growing familiarity that contributes to the quality of the jam. We sort of found each other, probably by some attraction to a commonality of tune selection and pure dumb luck. And, introductions from friends in common. And the fact that we're such fun and interesting folks. :-) But, by the last festival we all had a better clue about what folks would like, and the resulting playlist is so nice to my ears. I've still got a few more tunes to put into Garage Band for cleaning up the chat in the beginning and end. All in all, I'm happy with the Edirol R09 that I used this time around. Good bye Sony Minidiscs, it's been good to know you. Soon as I have my info and permissions in order, I'll try to post some.

So, here's what I got so far from one of the best Lake Genero's ever, IMHO...

In A:
Camp Chase
Grandad's Favorite
Remember What I Told You
Shelvin' Rock
Pretty Little Gal and Widow
Red Prairie Dawn
Squirrel Heads and Gravy
Buffalo Gals
Fishin' Time
Jenny Lynn
Pretty Little Shoes
Reap What You Sow

In D:
Durangs (a la Kessinger)
Shuffle About

In G:
Cider

In G and D:
Gwine Over De Mountain

Hello from Hobart town

2007-10-07T21:56:00.000-04:00

Safe and sound and making music. Golly gosh, tunes at the New Sydney Pub were better than ever. And, the Hobart Old Time Stringband is sounding 6 months worth of better! Check out a link to their website on the right>>>>>

I'm feverishly editing my collection of recordings from this past (north american) summer's festivals. Stay tuned for some links when I get enough done and digested.

In the meantime, I check out the Fiddle Hangout every so often and pontificate some there, too.

Never be afraid to start a tune you don't know

2007-09-16T10:06:00.001-04:00

Hey, time's flying by. So, let's skip Clifftop for now. It was huge. I'm glad I went. It was great. I'll write a bit more about it down the road. Stay tuned, as they say.

But, what I really want to talk about is Lake Genero. It will be my last festival here in the U.S. for awhile. Back to Tasmania I go.

Lake Genero is a gathering that happens in northern Pennsylvania each year at Labor day weekend. Check out the website, linked in a post below, to see some pictures. Every time that I've gone, it comes as a total surprise to me how fareeking cold it can get at night. I had enough cold weather clothes and gear, but after a hot summer, the temp drop hits me like a brick. It made for some neat visuals as the warm lake misted over in the evening, still looking very ethereal in the early morning light. I expected to see Morgaine appear in a boat back from Avalon. But, perhaps that's a different topic altogether. I digress.

In a "what goes around, comes around" sort of way, I hooked up with many folks that I've played with at the other festivals this season. So, some new favorite tunes have percolated up, getting more and more fun to play. It's kind of rewarding to me to run into familiar faces and be able to say "Hey, can you play thus and such a tune that you did at Clifftop?" and have the chance to catch another nuance or refresh my memory for how the parts repeat and so on. Plus, there's the rush of playing a tune one more time around, only this time it's smoother and groovier and tighter and even better than the last.

I was sitting around a friendly campfire one night and we got to talking about starting tunes. As I listen back to my recordings, it's very clear that many times, the person starting the tune is unsure of how the tune goes. They might doodle at it a bit, maybe play the B part fast and ugly to figure out how the A part goes, or just jump into the tune and screw up the first repetition to bits. But, after 2 or 3 times, if folks like the tune and really want to work it out, things fall into place and off we go. Occasionally, we might have to stop all together and have a little chat or demo on one bit or the other. One guy remarked that he'll start a tune, even though not great at it, because chances are the other folks jamming will be better than him and he sort of rises to their level more. That takes some nerve, but I think it's a great lesson. We got to laughing and took up the motto: "Never be afraid to start a tune that you don't know."

To give you a flavor of what we played, whether we knew them or not, here's some names (with an occasional note below) that I caught on my new digital Edirol recorder:

Waynesboro, Josie-O
Tipping Back the Corn
Shove That Pigsfoot a Little Further In the Fire
Step It Out Mary (Australian)
Snake River Reel
Shuffle About
Shove That Pigsfoot
Shelvin' Rock
Salt Creek
Sal Went Down to the Cider Mill
Remember What I Told You
Red Prairie Dawn (Garry Harrison)
Pretty Little Gal, Pretty Little Widow
Old Yeller Dog Come Trottin' Through the Meeting House
Liza Jane
Little Dutch Girl
Kansas City Reel
Julianne Johnson
Jonah in the Windstorm
John Brown's March in A
Jeff City, Puncheon Floor
Downhome Rag
Jackarse Eats It On the Way (Australian)
Horney Ewe
Hawks and Eagles
Gwine Over Da Mountain
Carve It To the Heart
Gunboat
Greasy String (3 part)
Goodbye Mick (Australian)
Golden Ticket
Going Up the River
Fortune
Five Miles of Elum Wood
Fishing Time
Durangs and Shuffle About
Dry and Dusty
Cutting at the Point
Cider
Camp Chase
Buffalo Gals
Briarpicker Brown
Boys Them Buzzards are Flying

There were many more that I recorded, but I haven't gotten to them to rename them from Edirol-eez "R09-001.wav" or "R09-005.mp3" to English yet. The nice thing is that I can plug it into the Mac and move the files right over into iTunes. Add them right into my iJam. And, listen to them through iEars. [laughing to iSelf]

On the ride back to New York State, I rode over a small mountain ridge. On the crest of the ridge appeared a line of wind turbines. That much less oil and that much less smoke. A modern windmill of our age. A beautiful sight, to my eye.

FIDDLE JAMMER

The Instant String Band

Jam?

Playing out this weekend

Got Tunes?

Down under down under

Fiddle H-E-double-hockey-sticks!

Time to support the Old Time Herald

Learning a new tune - Sinclair's Mandolin

Get your Shoes on in Brooklyn

Aussie jams every 4th Wednesday

More festival recordings and reportings

Oh, The Wind and Rain

Collecting my thoughts

Coming up this weekend

Blog update and my resume

WPAQ

Updated tune list

Beginner's 'How-to' workshop

Archives

Here's more tunes on the internet

The Music Lesson

More Fresh Tunes

Blackwood 2011

Fuzzy Mountain String Band memories

Old time jammer's manifesto

Turning off your inner adult

And More!

Fuzzy Mountain String Band tribute

Animals exposed to Mozart

More on right / left brain fiddling

John Hartford's recipe

Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain | Video on TED.com

Step into the consciousness of your right brain

Keep jammin'

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Time for another summer

Another Yarra Junction on the horizon

Koonya and Canberra

Fresh tunes

Blackwood, VIC

Hobart, TAS

Workshop handouts

Looking back

Jamuary 2010

When you wake up humming

Wendy's World

Some tunes from Clifftop jams

The Craggs from Tasmania are here in the US

Time for the Fiddlin' Bear gathering over Labor Day weekend

Almost heaven, West Virginia

Off to Camp Kee-waanee

HWFC jam sessions

Festival season is in full bloom in these parts

And, speaking about Old Songs

Tunes from Tasmania, Victoria, and New South Wales

Adirondack fiddlers

Festival Prep

Old time alive and well at MerleFest

Howdy y'awl from MerleFest 2009

Whistling Dixie

Lunchtime Jamming and such

Fresh Festival Tunes

Off to Blackwood Mineral Springs

Ahhhhhhhhhh, that's nice

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Bits and pieces

MyFaceSpaceBook

Tunes from H-E-double-hockeysticks

Make us play nice

John Brown's Dream

Greenmarket review

Aussie and Tassie Tune night news

Old Aussie Tunes

Second Wednesday, Old Timey jam

Lake Genero and some new tunes

I am not in Hobart, that's for sure

Back in Albany, NY

Soon we won't be here any more

Tunes from Tasmania