Here’s a haunting song…4 versions here, all good. I’m not sure of the origins of this one…associated with The Carter Family and also the Stanley Brothers. Hopping Jenny The Henry Brothers Edward Clayborn Meredith Axelrod
All posts tagged “old time music”
Banjo Practice: a tune for a dreary day
It’s been drizzling all morning here in the southwest corner of Toronto. Further north, periods of freezing rain have been causing grief for motorists. It seems like the kind of day for a weird, melancholy minor key banjo tune, doesn’t it? This tune is called… Read More
Alan Jabbour RIP
Alan Jabbour was an extraordinary fiddler and ethno-musicologist. RIP
Banjo Practice: The St. Anne’s Reel
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
A 2016 musical highlight
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
Banjo Practice – Big John McNeil
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
The Rattlesnake Song
I was watching a few performances by Cathy Barton and Dave Para today on the old YouTube machine. I especially love watching and listening to Cathy play clawhammer…
Where do you get your whiskey?
Just askin’…
Nothing Runs like a Deer(e) – banjo practice
My friend Chris, the sax player (etc. etc.) across the street, gave me a John Deere cap, an accoutrement which I figure ought to instantly make me a better banjo player. I say this because any old fool knows that old time banjo players need… Read More
More banjo practice – Durham’s Bull
Here’s my attempt at playing the Buddy Durham fiddle tune, Durham’s Bull. I learned this one at the last Midwest Banjo Camp from Cathy Barton Para. This one would be more fun to play with a fiddle player I think, but I enjoy it none-the-less.