One year ago this morning, I put on my boots and coat, grabbed my lunch bag and my laptop and headed out the door for work. I didn’t get very far though. I took on step onto the invisible “black ice” on our steps and… Read More
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Monthly archives of “March 2016”
Lee Sedol, modern-day John Henry
I suppose just about everyone in North America knows the John Henry story. In the annals of American folk tales in general and African-American folk tales more specifically it’s a big one. It’s a big one because it’s the story of the underdog. John Henry… Read More
Why Clawhammer?
I came across this performance Joe Newberry gave at the 2015 Midwest Banjo Camp. If I hadn’t broken my ankle, I would have been there to hear it live. I will be attending the 2016 camp. Mr. Newberry talks about a life changing moment and… Read More
Poly-wolly-doodle all day
I love this video. Occasionally I go back for another dose of it. That’s Bashful Brother Oswald singing and playing guitar. Cathy Barton Para is the clawhammer player (one of my fave players). I don’t know who the other guitar picker is. It’s backstage at… Read More
Breeze at Yumart
Our friend Claude Breeze has an exhibition on at Yumart, here in Toronto. It opened yesterday. We’ve known Claude since the early 80s when he was our painting instructor at York University. I’ve actually been aware of Claude’s work since before I ever met him,… Read More
Lost in Tileland
The bathroom in our home is in serious need of a face-lift, something we’re finally getting around to. In preparation for this adventure, we trundled out this morning to look at bathroom tiles. We started by looking in a couple box stores. Based on what… Read More
Doc
If Doc Watson were still with us, he would have turned 93 today. Doc Watson played huge role in popularizing Old Time music, and he was both a fine singer and a remarkable guitarist. I’ve known Doc Watson’s music since my teens when I used… Read More
The Juke Boy
Here’s a tune by Juke Boy Bonner called Houston the Action Town. I’ve got a recording of it somewhere or another and it came to mind tonight so I thought I’d check out the YouTube machine to see if it was there, and sure enough… Read More
Who was Delia Green?
There are numerous American folk tunes that have their roots in true stories. There is Stagger Lee, Tom Dooley, Charles Guiteau, John Hardy, Pretty Boy Floyd and many more, a fascinating and bloody history. Most of these are about men, and most of them involve… Read More
27th Street 