Old Time music features plenty of tunes about animals small and large. Why not? You just don’t get enough animal tunes in pop music. Old Molly Hare Whatcha doin’ there? Sittin on a haystack Shootin at a bear Shot at one Shot at two Shot… Read More
Here are Joe Birchfield and Harold Hausenfluck, from back in 1991 I love this one – Terry SoRelle singing it and playing clawhammer Let’s go out with the Carolina Chocolate Drops doing a rousing singalong version
Earlier I posted a version of the Old Time tune, Bonaparte’s March, but just before that I had been having a little facebook message exchange with a guitar-picker friend of mine and he mentioned Bonaparte’s Retreat but he was really thinking of Bonaparte’s March, which… Read More
Here are Nathan McAlister and Sours. I know Bonaparte’s March pretty well and play it on clawhammer. I learned it from the same players these folks learned it from, Cathy Barton and Dave Para. I learned it when I attended the 2014 Midwest Banjo Camp.… Read More
A few days ago I shared some different versions of the old time tune, Buffalo Gals. As is often the case, I was listening to various versions of the tune because I was learning to play it myself. At a recent practice session I recorded… Read More
There are two completely different tunes (that I know of) called Diamond Joe, which appear to be unrelated. The first one is a cowboy song. I first heard it from an Ian Tyson record back in the early 80s, but it’s a tune that has… Read More
Here is the Gladson Family Band performing Black Eyed Suzie. In Old Time Music, vocals can come in at almost anytime. Sometimes only a verse or two is sung, while at other times many, many verses are sung. The brief bit of singing in this… Read More
Some fiddle tunes go by different names in different places. One I play on clawhammer is Western Country, which is sometimes called Susananna Gal or Fly Around my Pretty Little Miss. Here’s another tune that goes by different names. In this first video, these guys… Read More
Shady Grove is a tune that has had a lot of play over the years. I always associate this one with Doc Watson. I learned to play a version of this tune when I started learning clawhammer, but stopped playing it for no real reason… Read More
Here’s Joe Newberry performing his song, Missouri Borderlands. I had a chance to meet Joe Newberry in June of 2014 at the Midwest Banjo Camp. I took a class from him about a clawhammer banjo figure known as the “Galax Lick”. Let me say that… Read More
27th Street 