April 12, 2013
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It was called Old Time….

….even when it was new.

Check out this fantastic bit of history… It’s called Folkways: Music of Surry County hosted by David Holt. It’s all about the home of the Round Peak style of Old Time. I don’t know much about the program…there it was sitting on YouTube waiting to be found and listened to.  David Holt will be performing at Merlefest, and that’s a show I’m really looking forward to!

April 9, 2013
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Jackson

So there I was messing about on the Industrial oil can banjo and this simple little melody started to emerge and I started playing around with it a bit trying to get it right. Tuffy P asked, what’s that you’re playing and I said I didn’t know, I was just playing it, maybe I was making it up. I went back to playing it and I liked it more and more. Catchy. That’s when Tuffy P identified the song by singing along….All the way to Jackson, I don’t think I’ll miss you much. Yep, I’d been playing a song I’m very familiar with, Lucinda Williams’ Jackson, from one of my favourite records, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

Here’s The Wee Folkestra doing a great job on Jackson. Check out the instumentation…

Of course there is another song called Jackson…. Here are Johnny and June (with Carl Perkins) at San Quentin

Two great songs, same name. Which one do you like better?

April 7, 2013
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Banjo Improvements

I’ve been making some adjustments to the “Industrial” oil can banjo. It was bothering me that the volume on this banjo was lower than I wanted or expected. There are several factors that could affect the sound from the construction and weight of the can itself to the bridge to the nut, or the strings. DSC02644DSC02643The first thing I tried was changing the bridge. I used a piece of cedar as suggested by Dena at Story Gourd Workshops and made a super-lightweight two-post bridge. This resulted in a huge difference in the volume, night and day better. I also replaced the original ebony nut with one made from bone. I don’t believe this changed the volume very much but it did result in a richer sound. Part of the problem with original nut was that the slots were two broad. I bought a couple specialty slot files from Stew-Mac and was able to make slots in the new nut and bridge that fit snugly around the strings.

Finally, I wanted a strap for this instrument and I made one from an old neck tie and a D-ring. I fastened the D-ring to the bottom of the can with a self-tapping screw (I didn’t want to put pressure on the tailpiece) and tied the other end around the peg-head. Simple, strong and looks really good too.

I’ve been playing this instrument much of the evening (learning Cold Frosty Morning) and I love the sound I’m getting now. As soon as I have this tune down a little better, I’ll make a little video so you can hear the new improved sound (in spite of my playing).