Since I started learning to play clawhammer banjo, YouTube has been an incredibly handy tool. When I want to learn a tune, I like to listen to different versions of it, and fortunately there is a ton of Old Time music available. It’s hard to… Read More
From time to time, I just need to hear Doc Watson. Here he is playing Don’t let your Deal go Down, from 1991, with Kirk Sutphin on fiddle and Mike Seeger on banjo….
Let’s start with Furry Lewis then move forward in time to the Grateful Dead…. Both interesting songs….but let’s go way back to 1910 and hear Billly Murray and the American Quartet. This tune appeared just 10 years after the Cannonball Express train wreck it was… Read More
I came across various covers of the tune 4th Street Messaround on YouTube, and I realized I know two tunes about 4th St. The first one is that old Memphis Jug Band tune. They were a great band and were very well recorded. If you… Read More
I took the day off work today and spent a good part of it working on a mosaic project. I did manage to find the time for a couple practice session on the banjo though. I’ve been playing some tunes from Illinois that I learned… Read More
I came across this strange video tonight. It features a duet with French bagpipes and accordion doing a polka suite. OK, it’s a bit off the beaten path. What’s really strange though, is the video is full of bizarre visual distortion – the background around… Read More
This is me practicing Spotted Pony. Key of D, CC tuning capo 2nd fret.
I recall the day I made the decision to give up my record collection. My cat William sat transfixed across the studio from my turntable. I was playing Old Corrals and Sagebrush by Ian Tyson on the stereo. Suddenly and without warning, William sprinted across… Read More
Cape Breton fiddle great Buddy MacMaster has passed at 89. Just listen to him play…Mr. MacMaster’s fiddle touches something way deep. He spread a lot of love through his music. RIP.
David Bromberg has had two music careers – he took a break for something like 22 years. I loved his music back then and since his re-emergence, I’ve been hoping for a chance to see him perform live, because he’s even better today. Here he… Read More
27th Street 