March 3, 2016
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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 it is. I’ve long thought Action Town would be a great title for a painting, and one day I’ll have just the right painting for it.

Mr. Bonner had a fairly short career. He was born in 32 and passed in 78. His work included some down and dirty blues with titles like Life is a Nightmare and Hard Luck to some really funny boogies like this next one, Sportsman’s Luck…

The first I heard of Juke Boy Bonner was on a compilation blues album I had many years ago, back before the CD age. He had one tune, I’m a Bluesman, and here it is.

March 2, 2016
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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 some kind of dramatic death. The American songbook is littered with bodies. I wonder sometimes if this is a testament to the American obsession with firearms. Tonight I’d like to feature a song always named after the victim of the crime, a woman named Delia.

Delia Green was purportedly shot and killed by a 15 year old kid in Savannah Georgia on Christmas day in 1900. I suppose many of the details have been lost. Even the spelling of Delia or Dehlia has various forms. Over time, songs about this particular murder sprang up and evolved and took on a life of their own. Many versions have been recorded. I’m going to share my faves.

Here’s how David Bromberg tells it…

Johnny Cash had a very haunting take on the story. “If I hadn’t shot poor Delia, I’d have had her for my wife.” Chilling.

The first version I ever heard was by Blind Willie McTell, a performer himself from Georgia, who played a somewhat faster version with a rag feel, always on a 12-string guitar.

 

February 29, 2016
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New Strings

There is no formula for when to change up a set of banjo strings. I find that at a certain point – and the amount of time doesn’t seem to be consistent – my strings seem to lose a bit of their brightness, and as well, I find it more difficult to get them tuned precisely, and I notice they seem to not be able to hold their tune as long. This is not scientific. I just notice the sound, the brightness, the resonance of the strings has changed. I usually check the tightness of the head, as if that loosens up a tad, it changes the resonance of the strings. If the head is adjusted correctly, then it must be time to change strings.

Then when I put a new set on, the strings usually seem to be super-bright for a while, maybe even a touch too bright, before settling in to “just right”. I was talking to my brother the trout today – Salvelinas Fontinalis. He doesn’t change his strings nearly as often as I do and he doesn’t notice much deterioration of the sound or any issues with tuning. How curious we would have different observations and experiences.

I’ve tried some different brands of strings, and for the most part I can’t decide if I like one brand better than another. One brand was cryogenically frozen, whatever that means. I even go back and forth as to my preference for a bronze 4th or a stainless steel forth string. I suppose there are only a couple places that actually make the wire used in strings. Maybe the brand really doesn’t make a lot of difference. This evening, I tried a brand of string I had never used before – Sit. For the first time I noticed a decided difference in the the strings. They don’t seem to have that “over-brightness” I described above. The gauge of my 4th string is just a wee bit bigger than I usually use, and this is giving that string a bit deeper bass response. It will be interesting to experience how they sound after a few days.

February 28, 2016
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Snowy owl with star

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We hung one of the snowy owls out on the deck. It’s beside a star, one of our early mosaics. There are loads of mosaic pics over at our Long Branch mosaics site, if you’re interested in seeing some of our other work. Next up, a robin, a couple more butterflies and a couple mandalas.

February 27, 2016
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OK it was funny the first couple times…

I’m happy that I can now buy beer along with groceries at my local Loblaws. For those not from here, Ontario is very provincial when it comes to alcohol, and the idea of beer in grocery stores have just been made a reality. I do more of my shopping at the local No Frills as it’s much less expensive but I sometimes go to Loblaws for the more expansive range of products, and I do sometimes buy a few craft brews while I’m there.

At Loblaws they card everybody. Everybody. Can I see some government-issued photo-ID please? Flattery will get you everywhere, I say. I try to be in good humour about this. I understand Loblaws doesn’t want to blow the mission at the beginning of grocery store beer sales by inadvertently selling to minors, and I understand they like to simplify their processes rather than rely on their staff to make a lot of judgements. But c’mon people. I’m 55. It’s true some people say I look young for my age….but they mean 50 or 45. Not 17. I think it’s time to give the staff at the grocery store a bit of responsibility. Say, card everybody who looks under 30. I’m OK with that.