Back when I was playing a lot of button accordion, I knew this tune as Le Reel de Ste-Anne. These days I play mostly clawhammer banjo and in the banjo world, the tune is more generally known as The St. Anne’s Reel. Either way, it’s… Read More
Here’s Abe Reid…
I was saddened to hear on the radio this morning that Hugh’s Room is closing its doors. Over the years, Tuffy P and I have attended so many great performances at this venue, including: the late Tommy Makem, The McGarrigles, Tom Russell, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott,… Read More
You don’t see many autoharp players around these days. I don’t know very much about the instrument. Kilby Snow was known for a unique “drag note” approach to autoharp that appears to have something to do with the fact that he was left-handed playing an… Read More
I don’t do lists, but this year I’m proclaiming a song of the year. It’s by a duo from Kentucky who call themselves The Local Honeys. The song is about strip mining and it’s called Cigarette Trees. I posted a different performance of it a… Read More
Don’t worry friends, I’m here to help you out. Here’s Iris Dement with Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives performing a tune by one of the many great performers who passed in 2016 – Merle Haggard: Big City Turn me Loose
…from the good folks at NPR on the YouTube machine
I stumbled across this gem and thought I’d share it. It’s Mac Beattie and his Ottawa Valley Melodiers performing Snowmobiles.
I’ve been working on the St. Anne’s Reel on the banjo recently, but I’ve been familiar with this one from my button accordion days as Reel de Ste-Anne. I don’t know the actual origin of this one, but a lot of people will tell you… Read More
I’ve seen various spellings for Big John’s name, but it’s all the same tune. This tune has been in the repertoire of a lot of a lot of Canadian fiddlers, and has been recorded by the likes of Graham Townsend and the fantastic Calvin Vollrath,… Read More
27th Street 