OLD TIME NEWS

The
News
FRIENDS OF AMERICAN OLDTIME MUSIC AND DANCE
THE ONLY UK PUBLICATION DEDICATED TO AMERICAN OLD TIME MUSIC AND DANCE
NO 47 AUTUMN 2006
IN THIS ISSUE...
New Friends
Temp. Editors Ramblings...2
Chewing The Fat
A letter from
Dwight Diller.....................3
Foghorn String Band
Members’ Ads....................4
A Bullet Holes in a banjo
What we're listening to....5
Events and Sessions..........6
Dance team and
Band finder.......................7
Festival round-up......8 & 9
Piano Bashing..................10
Chairman's Notes.............11
Book Review: Yew Piney
Mountain..........................12
Carl Jones and
Beverly Smith
Didmarton Bluegrass Festival
- Mo Jackson
Banjo & Fiddle Duets.......13
CD reviews.......................14
'Jeff Warner' and
'Rattle On The Stovepipe'
Summer Camp Gallery.....16
2
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
New Friends
Temporary Editors’ Ramblings
Number Name & Location
739 Tim Zielonko
Littleover, Derbyshire
740 Julia Marshall
Littleover, Derbyshire
741 Sandra Donnelly
Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
742 Tony Orchard
Bourne, Lincolnshire
743 Stewart Crew
Barnlsey, South Yorkshire
744 Martin Lucas
Bideford, Devon
745 Marianne Lucas
Bideford, Devon
746 Paul Fundak
Coventry, Warwickshire
747 Quayle Martin
Peterborough, Lincolnshire
748 Marti Martin
Peterborough, Lincolnshire
749 Andrew Ratcliffe
details witheld on request
750 Dennis Nye
Gillingham, Kent
751 Thomas Steenweg
Leiden, Holland
752 Dwight Diller
Marlinton, West Virginia
753 Mike Crosley
Heaton, Tyne & Wear
754 Iain Watt
Dunblane, Scotland
Jill Delaney
W
elcome to the 'supersized' Old
Time News, enabled by the
Royal Mail's changed pricing policy.
We now have the space to include
our resource pages for bands, dance
teams and sessions as regular items
rather than having to take editorial
decisions to leave them out for
potentially more important
features. Don't forget, we rely on
you, the reader, to keep us up to
date with changes.
Over the summer I've managed to
catch a few picking weekends, 'Not
Stanchester' (my local!), a detour
from another event to Howard
Morton's in Devon and included
Killington Lake in a weather-blessed
holiday to the Yorkshire Dales and
Lake District. I've also spent happy
hours in the Bedford Hotel at
Sidmouth, complete with free beer.
On the way I've managed to catch
up with people I don't normally see
for more than a few minutes in
passing at Gainsborough, found
some interesting new tunes and
picked up the gossip about the
other events which appear to be
increasing in number as well as
attendees and quality. It's been fun.
Let's keep them coming and keep
supporting them.
Earlier in the year, Claire and I had a
wild weekend in Dublin in the
company of Eve Morris and with the
much appreciated help of Bill
Whelan. We went over to take in
two performances by the stunning
Foghorn String Band from Portland,
Oregon who play old time without
taking prisoners (see page4 for
photos). Sadly by the time you read
this they will have already made a
further visit to Northern Ireland and
Scotland with an excursion to
Newcastle. Hopefully some of you
will have caught up with them and
feel as inspired as we were. Maybe
we can tempt them further south.
By the time this issue hits the
doormat, Claire and I will have gone
further afield to North Carolina,
joining the Green Grass Cloggers for
their 35th anniversary reunion. Also
we should have the opportunity to
catch up with one of the few
remaining traditional Afro-American
fiddlers, Joe Thompson, plus the
wonderful Benton Flippen and
Carolina Chocolate Drops. No doubt
there will be photos and an article
to follow.
Once again, thanks to Mo and Michi
for their hard work in preparing and
dispatching this. Also thanks to
Colin Meadows who took up our
challenge to be an editor for the
last edition and came up with the
goods on time (early in fact!) and
provided us with an interest-filled
read. I get the suspicion that he
enjoyed the experience and might
just possibly be tempted to do
another in future. I'm sure he'd be
delighted to discuss his experiences
with any other member who felt
brave enough to take on the
temporary editor role for an issue.
Nick Pilley
THE OLD TIME NEWS
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This Issue Edited by Nick Piley
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Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
CHEWING the fat...
To my students and
friends in England:
Web resources
We’ve been asked a few times
about a listing of Web resources
for downloads of music, video
and internet radio sites.
However, continuous changes
mean it is not really practical to
keep a list. Anything newly
found tends to go in the regular
emails and if you have email
you are fairly likely to have web
access and can experiment with
exploring and keeping your
favourites.
There are ways and means of saving
online radio broadcasts and turning
them into CDs if you want. There
are some downloadable video
resources too, same of which may
be saved. Perhaps there is a need
for a future article on what to do
with those files once you have
found them - any volunteers?
If you have an email address and
don’t receive the regular mailouts,
get in touch and I’ll add you in at
mailout@foaotmad.org.uk
New members
- and not so new - often ask what
recordings they should listen to.
Prompted by an email from Bob
Matthews, some of us have put
together our favourite 'Top Ten' cds
(currently commercially available).
You can work out from that what
we might recommend if pressed. If
you feel that you'd like to list your
current favourites, send us your Top
Ten and we'll print them as space
permits.
The dates for the next
Gainsborough festival
16th - 18th February 2007
Our headline guests for the festival
are the Orpheus Supertones,
comprising the legendary Walt
Koken (Highwoods String Band),
Clare Milliner, Kellie Allen and Pete
Peterson. Subject to confirmation in
some instances, the festival line up
will also include Sara Grey and
Keiron Means, New Deal String
Band, Dave Marshall and Andy
Imms and Leela and Ellie Grace plus
more to be announced later.
Dwight Diller - Dave Dry
On Monday, Sept 4, the U.S. had a
national holiday called 'Labor Day'.
It is always the first Monday in
September and this was my 30th
straight year of being blessed with
attending the ''The Stonewall
Jackson Jubilee''.
This is a great arts and crafts
festival, as well as having between
100 and 150 musicians in
attendance. At least 98% of them
will be from West Virginia. The
setting is a very large 4-H camp with
buildings going back into the '30s.
(4-H is mostly for farm children. Its
educational themes are Head, Heart,
Hands and Health. Ed.)
Anyway, the music is going
continuously from Friday noon until
at least Sunday night as well as
some on Monday morning. It is now
and has always, since its beginnings
in about 1974, been geared for WVa
old time musicians to be playing
together AND NEVER EVER COMPETING
AGAINST EACH OTHER. This
destructive practice has never been
welcome there, thanks to Kenny
Parker, 'the woods boss'.
The music 'inside' is in the livestock
show ring with permanent bleachers
and folding chairs on the ground,
with a 30'' high wooden stage and
a great quilt for a backdrop. The
sound system is one that has plenty
of power, but is kept just loud
enough for folks to hear well.
Each 10-15 minutes one or several
musicians move off stage, and the
next ones come on. There are some
musicians that are 'professionals'
but you would never know it. The
performance ‘thing’ is alien - here as
well as with most native West
Virginians - so, because there is no
competition, a musician may be on
once for his or her 15 minutes and
then return one or more times each
day with others to support them
during their time period. As an
3
aside, Dave Bing with his family was
in attendance as usual. This time his
brother, Tim, was there as well, Tim
is far and away one of the very
finest clawhammer banjo players I
know.
As always, outside the 'showbarn’,
there are many small groups playing
and constantly shifting. Usually
there are 2 or 3 musicians but
sometimes a few more are involved.
Generally, when the old mountain
folks played the music, it was solo.
Up here in the mountains there
sometimes might have been a banjo
and fiddle but, from what I can
gather, it was never that common especially when the music was
'serious'. And when the old WVa
mountain music was 'serious', 97%
of it was played on a fiddle. Many
homes had an old piece of a banjo,
but a fiddle that was playable was
something to treasure.
This note started out to tell you all
just how much I appreciated your
continual hospitality down at
Sacrewell. The reason I launched
into my 30 years at the 'Jubilee' was
to say that I had the very same
'feeling' down there just off the
'A1'. Keith and Brenda loaned me
their rig with the understanding
from Keith that 'all dishes are to be
kept washed up'. And, Noel White
helped with cooking, washing
(‘worschin’ as we say here in Wva)
and general continued talk! Plus
wearing out my banjo plonkin’ on it.
Everytime I was out and about,
people spoke, people gave eyecontact, people smiled, as well as
children who were happy, playing
continually and were ALL mannerly.
Different folks at different times
inquired over and over if I was
having ''a good visit''. Please let it
be known, in all the many times I
have been in England, they have
always been ''Good visits''. Or as is
said in our little weekly paper, ''A
good time was had by all.''
After almost 10 months of continual
bed rest, the years and years and
years of compounded fatigue is
mostly gone. So, thanks to your
tolerating me during all those bad
times, I was able to return this
August and be peacefully amongst
friends, good friends, and have a
good 60th birthday.
I have no word to tell you how
much I appreciate the way you have
treated me over the many years and
trips there.
Dwight
4
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
...As mentioned in my Ramblings,
the Foghorn String Band made a
short tour of Ireland in May, including a
wild night in Dublin with several hundred
in the audience and a Sunday afternoon
'house concert' at the Seamus Ennis
Cultural Centre, Naul, where about 24 of
us crammed into one room of a
converted cottage for an excellent
concert, followed by the logical trip to
the pub across
the road...
Photos - Claire Rudd
Members Ads
Maximum of 50 words plus contact details,
FREE to members. We drop older ads to
make way for new
UNLESS YOU RENEW YOUR REQUEST
OLD-TIME RECORDINGS - major and
obscure American label CDs. Also, videos and
tune books. SAE to: Eve Morris: 67 Greenway,
Bishops Lydeard, Taunton TA4 3DA. Download
a full catalogue of all items by clicking on Eve’s
advert at the bottom of the
www.foaotmad.org.uk page
STILL WANTED! OTN Vol.1, Issue 3 and
Vol.3, Issue 1; also "Old Time Country"
magazines, University of Mississippi, 1980s/90s,
plus many Library of Congress LPs, especially
with Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Also wanted records by (Rambling) Jack Elliott on the 77
Label - LP1 & EP2.
John Stoten: 01708 370834 (Romford)
RAY STEWART 1940-2000: there are still
a few of these CDs (Review, OTN 34) available
from Ray's widow: Helen Stewart, 18 Cameron
Street, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, Scotland AB23
8QB.
MIKE TAVENER - manufacturer and sole
supplier of THE JUMP LEAD, the smart way to
get your acoustic instrument in tune. Only £11
including postage. Buy yours today using Paypal:
mysite.freeserve.com/thejumplead
Also supplier of replacement Ashbory G & D
String. Buy yours using Paypal:
mysite.freeserve.com/ashborystring
RECORDS, TAPES and CDs for sale - oldtime, early country music, early bluegrass and a
couple of contemporary bluegrass items. With
only a couple of exceptions, all items £5 each.
Send SAE for a list to: Andy Imms, 19 Springfield
Road, Pamber Heath, Tadley, Hampshire RG26
3DL or email: guitar@imms12.wanadoo.co.uk
BANJO FOR SALE: Goldtone Elite Classic
open back. New, with case. Abalone inlay Tree Of
Life, with brass spun over maple pot. Now
reduced to £395 for a quick sale!! Contact Jim
Allen: 01568 750546 or email
jim@bockleton.fsnet.co.uk
FOR SALE
Windsor 3 with Pyxe tailpiece £450.
Oakwood Hammer Dulcimer £400
Ring Pennie Gillis at 01902 340844
Email: penni@care4free.net
SESSION NEEDED: Do you know of an Old
Time session anywhere near Dudley in the West
Midlands, or would you like to help me start one?
Ring Yvonne Parkes 01902 570285
BANJO FOR SALE
Cole ‘Eclipse’ 3000, 5-string, ‘Man in the Moon’
WHOSE SHOES?
These are the favourite
'performing shoes' of which old
time musician? As a clue, they are
red and white and the wearer was
recently touring in the UK. Answer
at bottom of page.
and other engraved inlays. 1890’s, (serial no
1870). Skin head, ‘Elite’ tailpiece and armrest.
Hard case. Super historic banjo in very good
condition. £1175 ono. Contact Bob Ward on
01353 741640 (Ely) for more information.
NYLGUT STRINGS
A big improvement - having the density and feel
of real gut with more stability than metal strings.
Excellent tone, good volume and easy on your
nails!
Standard Banjo: £6.50,Minstrel Banjo, heavy
gauge for open E or D tunings: £7.00
Banjo-Uke: £5.30 all inc. P&P
Cheque or cash to Barry M. Murphy, Dormers
Farmhouse,Windmill Hill, Nr Herstmonceux,
East Sussex BN 27 4RY
E-mail barry.m.murphy@btinternet.com
REGAL TENOR GUITAR1930's, good tone
and condition. £200 ono. Chris Taylor 01227
750392 or christy8485@yahoo.com
THANKYOU
Lucy Ray and Mo Jackson of the ‘KittyHawks’
would like to thank the FOAOTMAD members
at Summer Camp who gave their support and
time to listen to their set. Every little helps...
Cheers
WHOSE SHOES - Carl Jones
Top - Front parlour
Foghorns
Middle - After the gig we
went to the pub
Bottom - Bill Whelan
shares a quiet moment
with Seamus Ennis
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
How to Fix a
Bullet Hole in a
Banjo by Fretless Josh Shaw
F
or some
years I
have been
fixing
bullet holes
in banjos. I
do not
charge for
this, because the stories behind
these incidents are pretty much
worth the repairs that I do.
Most bullet holes in banjos are a
result of poor aim. As an example,
one that I repaired had two holes in
it of about the same size, made by
the same bullet, which had hit the
player's oversize belt buckle and
ricochetted back through the banjo
head a second time. The shot was
probably aimed at the player, since
most people can tell intuitively that
just shooting the banjo will not stop
the player.
In cases like this, where the hole or
holes are just in the head (of the
banjo), I usually do not repair them
but just advise leaving them in place
as a conversation piece.
If the bullets are of very high
calibre, however (more than .50mm),
the holes can take a lot away from
the tone. This is even more of a
factor if your head already has a
hole in it from another bullet.
If a hole must be fixed, you need a
piece of plastic banjo head material
(skin will not work, and anyway if
you have just about any size hole in
OFF KEY...
a skin head it is virtually impossible
that any unenlightened audience
will notice a difference in tone). Cut
two circles about 3/8" larger than
the hole, one for each side, and
glue them in place with Weldbond
glue.You have to clamp them
somehow, for about an hour, and a
very large C-clamp will work just
fine, unless you happen to have a
hammered dulcimer capo, which is
even better. The old-time way, of
course, is to just stand there and
hold them until the glue dries.
Finally, there is the matter of
defense.
Since it is probably impractical to
equip a banjo so that it will return
fire, some builders are now
experimenting with banjos made
entirely out of steel, even the
heads. These do not sound very
good, but they afford excellent
protection for the player and will
last many generations. However,
lightning is a problem, and a direct
hit is likely to solidify all the parts
together so that they cannot be
replaced, as well as endangering
the player. (One old dentured
player I met, had his mouth welded
shut by a direct lightning strike on
his banjo.)
The best defense against both
lightning and sharpshooters is to
avoid playing in open spaces, near
dobro players, on high stages, and
in trees. On the other hand if you
are actually fired upon by members
of your own band, it is probably
best to find some alternative way
of life.
Previously published in the Banjo
Newsletter, July 2002.
5
What we are
currently
listening to...
As mentioned in ‘Chewing The Fat’, here are
some suggestions for listening material - in
no set order of preference:
Nick Pilley and
Claire Rudd:
Foghorn String Band - Weiser Sunrise
Nettwork 30422
Troublesome Creek
Fast As Time Can Take Me
County CO-2738-CD
Highwoods String Band
Feed Your Babies Onions
Rounder CD11569
Beverly Smith and Carl Jones - Moving Lightly
Dittyville 0001
The Rockinghams - Shout Lulu
Yodel-Ay-Hee 050
Rayna Gellert - Ways Of The World
Yodel-Ay-Hee 032
Ida Red - Fine Times At Our House
Yodel-Ay-Hee 057
Orpheus Supertones - When The Roses Bloom
Mudthumper MM021
Debby McClatchy - Chestnut Ridge
Trails End 2003
Trevor and Travis Stuart - Mountaineer
Old97 Records 006
Chris Taylor:
(from Street, Somerset)
Jabbour, Levy and Reed - A Henry Reed Reunion
BLMP-CD6465
Troublesome Creek - Fast As Time Can Take Me
John Hill
County CO-2738-CD
Beverly Smith and Carl Jones - Moving Lightly
Dittyville 0001
John Dilleshaw - 1929-30
Document DOCD 8002
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Ballads, Banjo Tunes and Sacred Songs
Smithsonian Folkways
SFCD40082
The Monks - Ragged But Righteous
Yodel-Ay-Hee 045
Various - Good For What Ails You
Old Hat CD 1005
Geoff Seitz -The Good Old Days Are Here
Oceana OP003
Arnie Naiman and Chris Coole
5 Strings Attached With No Backing
Merriweather Records MO1CA
Rhys Jones - All I've Got's Done Gone
It's 'Old Joe Clark', Scotty - but not as we know it!
Vigortone 2000
6
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
EVENTS AND
TOURS 20O6
Ira Bernstein and Riley Baugus
Oct 27th to 29th Dance workshops
in Ripponden, West Yorks for ALL
abilities, £120. More details Sue
Coe 01422 822569
NOVEMBER
Wed 1st Buckland Dinham (Nr
Frome), Somerset 01373 466506
Thu 2nd Neroche (Nr Taunton),
Somerset 01460 234410
Fri 3rd Othery (Nr Bridgwater),
Somerset 01823 698838
Sat 4th Bruton, (+ Workshop)
Somerset 01984 813694
Sun 5th Nailsea Folk Club (+
Workshop, nr. Bristol 01275 790915
Wed 8th Lynton, N. Devon 01598
752361
Thu 9th Veryan (Nr Truro), Cornwall
01872 501479
Fri 10th Warleggan (Nr Bodmin),
Cornwall 01208 821223
Sat 11th Praasands (+ Workshop)
Nr Penzance, Cornwall 01736
763339
Sun 12th Kingsbridge, S. Devon
01548 856601
Wed 15th Appley (Nr Wellington),
Somerset 01823 672152
Thu 16th Sturminster, Dorset 01258
472333
Fri 17th South Molton, N. Devon
01769 572514
Sat 18th Burton Bradstock (Nr
Bridport), Dorset 01308 897214
Sun 19th Tarrant Keynston (Nr
Blandford), Dorset 01258 456714
www.tentoepercussion.com/appala
chianroots.htm
The Stairwell Sisters
will be making their first
appearance in the UK in January
(most probably Scotland based).
Actual dates are still be to be
finalised but it is anticipated that
the band will be available to tour
around the last two weeks of the
month as well as the beginning of
February. Check them out via ‘Our
Artistes’ at www.brookfieldknights.com where you will find a
link to the band's website with
sound and video clips. For more
information, contact Loudon
Temple on 01505 706346
And watch out for visits from
Uncle Earl (featuring Rayna
Gellert) near the end of January
and also Crooked Still during 2007.
More information when available
at www.adastra-music.co.uk
ADVANCE
NOTICES FOR
2007
Dates may be subject to confirmation
Gainsborough Old Time Festival 16th
to 18th February
Catthorpe (near Rugby) picking weekend
22nd to 24th June
North Wales Bluegrass Festival 6th to
8th July
Howard’s Barn picking weekend 6th to
8th July
Killington Lake picking weekend 13th to
15th July
Sore Fingers 9th to 13th April
Guildtown Bluegrass Festival 10th to
12th August
Sewerby Hall picking weekend 4th to
7th May 2007
Summer Camp
10th to 19th August
Spring Camp, Sacrewell
25th to 28th May
Didmarton Bluegrass Festival 31st
August to 2nd September
‘Not Stanchester’ picking weekend 1st
to 3rd June
Back at Sewerby again early September
Coastline Bluegrass, Llandudno 8th to
10th June
Sweet Sunny South Oldtime Festival
7th to 9th September
A1 Festival, Sacrewell 15th to 17th June
Cornish Bluegrass Festival
14th to 16th September
SESSION FINDER
KENT
We rely on being informed of changes to
this list. Please contact
info@foaotmad.org.uk with any
amendments or new entries.
BERKSHIRE
Reading: 1st Sunday 12 noon - The Retreat.
Colm Daly 0118 9677408
CLEVELAND
Saltburn-by-Sea: Wednesday - Spa Hotel:
‘Pickin’ Parlour - open mike’ £1 cover charge.
Occasional Friday guest artists. Stan Gee
01642 478859
stan.gee@btinternet.com
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Cambridge: 2nd Tuesday - Salisbury Arms,
Tenison Rd: oldtime/bluegrass. Michelina Craft
01223 897840
CORNWALL
Bodmin: 2nd Thursday. Tony Taylor 01208
872252
CUMBRIA
Middleton-in-Lonsdale: Friday 9pm - The
Head: old-time (dancers welcome).
Hugh Connor or Chris Riley 01539 560534
DERBYSHIRE
Bakewell: Thursday - Manners Hotel. Mac
Battersby 01433 621106
DEVON
South Molton: 2nd Wednesday - George
Hotel: oldtime/USA roots. Marianne and
Martin Lucas 01237 472083.
Teignmouth: 1st Thursday - Devon Arms: USA
roots. Bob Matthews 01626 352007 or
Howard Morton 01803 329734
EAST SUSSEX
Hastings: 1st Tuesday - Fairlight Lodge: oldtime. Colin Meadows 01424 714065
Lewes: 2nd Wednesday - Black Horse. oldtime. Michi Mathias 01273 471431
EIRE
Dublin: Most Saturdays, 4 pm to 7pm
Cobblestone Bar: Rough Deal String Band
(not a session) 353 1 8331920
HEREFORDSHIRE
Kington: monthly - The Royal Oak. Jim Allen
01568 750546
Rainham: 1st & 3rd Wednesday Oast Community
Centre: old-time/bluegrass.
Graham Anstey 01634 260281
Tunbridge Wells: Last Wednesday, 8 pm Beacon
Hotel, Tea Garden Lane: bluegrass/old-time. Rick
Townend 01892 782412 banjos@supanet.com
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Blisworth: occasional – The Walnut Tree Inn: oldtime/bluegrass. Andrew Metcalfe 01604 862256
a.metcalfe340@btinternet.com
OXFORDSHIRE
Oxford: last Thursday - Fox & Hounds, Weirs
Lane and Abingdon Rd bluegrass/old-time.
Taube Marks 01865 283360
Wallingford: 2nd Tuesday - Cross Keys:
bluegrass/oldtime. Taube Marks 01865 283360
SOMERSET
Taunton: alternate Tuesdays - The Rose,
Hamilton Road. Derek Parsons 01823 442713 or
Nick Pilley 01278 450780
SURREY
Ewshot: 1st Friday. 01276 609954
WORCESTERSHIRE
Tenbury: 2nd Friday - St. Michael’s Village Hall.
‘The Floor’ regular concerts (not session), prebook a ‘spot’ if you wish to perform. Jim Allen
01568 750546
YORKSHIRE
Ripponden: last Tuesday - Royal Hotel.
Rishworth: Ryburn 3 Step Folk Club.
Pete Coe 01422 822569
Sheffield: 3rd Monday - Kelham Ireland Tavern,
Russell Street. Dave Young 0114 2330596
York: Sunday - Golden Ball. Mike Tavener
01904 798738
York: Tuesday - The Maltings, Lendal Bridge.
Mike Tavener 01904 798738
Hebden Bridge: Wednesday - The Flowers. Clive
Green 01706 814682
NORTH CAROLINA
Brevard: Tuesday - Celestial Mountain Music, 16
West Main St. 828-884-3575 celestial@citcom.net
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
WHERE CAN I
FIND SOME
CLOGGING?
If there are no contact details,
email footfest@hotmail.com
Note that the locations are based
on contact addresses and may not
provide an exact location.
HERTFORDSHIRE
Hitchin: Regular workshops
Maggie Tel: 01908 582 757
KENT
Ash - Tanglefoot
mysite.freeserve.com/tanglefoot
Rainham - TapRoots www.roots.ik.com
LANCASHIRE
WHERE CAN I
FIND AN OLD
TIME BAND?
Where there is no web contact or for
further details, please email
info@foaotmad.org.uk
Chorley - Leap To Your Feet
LINCOLNSHIRE
BERKSHIRE
AVON
Scunthorpe - Bootleggers
www.bootleggersappalachian.co.uk
Spalding - Slapdash
The Illbillies 01189 677408
colmdaly@ntlworld.com
Bristol - Applejacks
MIDLOTHIAN
CHESHIRE
Altrincham - Mind The Step
www.mindthestep.co.uk
CORNWALL
Saltash - Kickin’ Chicken
www.kc.hey42.co.uk
Edinburgh - Kick The Cat
www.users.waitrose.com/~app-clogging
NORFOLK
Norwich - Ebekneezer Steppers
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
CUMBRIA
Castle Donington -Touchwood (no taps)
www.earwicker.org/touchwood.htm
Levens, Kendal - Legs Levens
OXFORDSHIRE
DERBYSHIRE
Haddenham - Haddenham Hoofers
Wantage - Cornucopia www.cornucopiadance.org.uk
Chesterfield - Feet First
www.feetfirstdance.co.uk
Derby - Soled Out www.soledout.org.uk
Buxton - Wicked Soles
Bakewell WellHeeled,web.ukonline.co.uk/whdt
Ludlow - Raise The Dust
www.raisethedust.org.uk
Llandrindod Wells - Something's Afoot
DEVON
REDCAR AND CLEVELAND
Totnes - Shuffle the Deck
Exeter - Alive And Kicking
www.alive-and-kicking.org.uk
Axminster - Rough Diamonds
Saltburn by the Sea - Jump Back Georgia
DORSET
Christchurch - Spank The Planks
www.spanktheplanks.org.uk
Dorchester - Stampede
ESSEX
Colchester - Platypus Appalachian
Benfleet - Scrambled Leggs
www.scrambledleggs.flyer.co.uk
GLAMORGAN
Cardiff - Tiger Feet
www.tigerfeet.4ever.org.uk
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Woodmancote - First Class Stamp
GWENT
Newport - Brandywine Cloggers
www.brandywine-cloggers.co.uk
Newport - Shoostring
HAMPSHIRE
Alton - Knickerbocker Glory
kbgdance.org.uk
Portsmouth - Chequered Flag
www.members.aol.com/CheqFlag/index.htm
New Milton - AppalTappers
(contemporary 'line' clogging)
HEREFORDSHIRE/SHROPSHIRE
Bridgnorth - Kickin’ Alice
www.kickinalice.co.uk
7
POWYS
CORNWALL
The Boardbeaters 07817 460351
graham@kftfiddles.freeserve.co.uk
DERBYSHIRE
Down Trodden String Band
01629 812092
steve-wise@lycos.co.uk
HAMPSHIRE
Dave Marshall & Andy Imms
01252 657609
oldfivestring@ntworld.com
HERTFORDSHIRE
Lost Marble String Band
01462 683074
staceybanjos@hotmail.com
IRELAND (EIRE)
West Chinnock - No Mean Feet
Rough Deal String Band
00 353 1 8331920
email: banjabill@hotmail.com
www.roughdeal.com
SUSSEX
KENT
Brighton - Brighton Appalachian
Crawley - Hi Jinx
freespace.virgin.net/michael.bird/hijinx/hijinx
s.htm
Rattle On The Stovepipe
07765 377441
storyart@aol.com
www.davearthur.net
TYNE & WEAR
TYNE & WEAR
Washington - Washington Downtown
Cloggers
Newcastle - Pass The Buck
Old Fiddley String Band
07817 460351
graham@kftfiddles.freeserve.co.uk
WARWICKSHIRE
WEST MIDLANDS
SOMERSET
Harbury/Leamington - Kick Start
WEST YORKSHIRE
Saltaire - Roll Back the Carpet
www.binless.freeserve.co.uk/rbc.html
Shipley - Fiddle n' Feet
Otley - Kitchen Taps
Ripponden - Ryburn Three-Step
www.ryburn3step.org.uk
Tue. flatfooting classes. Tel: 01422 822569
WILTSHIRE
Chippenham - Footnotes
www.communigate.co.uk/wilts/footnotes
Swindon - Off The Rails
WORCESTERSHIRE
Worcester - Soft Option
members.aol.com/woodlandjd
Chipping Campden - Kick The Bucket
Redditch - One Step Beyond
www.onestepbeyond.fsnet.co.uk
New Corona String Band
01902 340844
penni@care4free.net
SOMERSET/AVON
Buffalo Gals 01373 474110
info@buffalogals.co.uk
www.buffalogals.co.uk
SUSSEX
Old Faded Glory String Band
01323 832388
barry.m.murphy@btinternet.com
8
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
Didmarton
Bluegrass
Festival Nick Pilley
I
t’s a good few years since I went to
Didmarton Festival at its old venue
at the Holford Arms where I never
got past the old time sessions in the
garden. Several years into its new
home on Kemble Airfield, I was
intrigued to see how it had
progressed.
Intense concentration - Nick Pilley
team have also stretched boundaries
with a wide variety of supporting
music. Beverly Smith and Carl Jones
led for the old time crowd but I also
enjoyed the Burglars of Barcelona,
Growling Old Men and Molly Brown,
as well as Peter Rowan with whom, as
well as Beverly and Carl, we shared an
amusing half hour sheltering from the
weather in the artistes cabin.
Dance influence was supplied by
clogging from Bristol’s Applejacks who
retreated from their proposed
outdoor venue to the shelter of the
social club where the musicians
clustered around a hastily improvised
sound system.
Peter Rowan - Nick Pilley
The site is a fenced off area in the
centre of the site - show yourself at
the guardhouse on the way in! There
is a pleasant copse of trees providing
shelter on a pleasant grassy area with
picnic tables between them and the
main marquee. Sad to say the
weather on the Saturday when I went
was grim - a very strong wind howled
across the open site and occasional
showers meant that few people were
braving the traders’ booths and most
were packing the two marquees.
Still predominantly
bluegrass, John
and Moira Wirtz’s
The right kind of festival
transport - Claire Rudd
On site catering was mainly designed
for carnivores but a trip to nearby
Cirencester found an excellent
alternative and kept us out of wind
and rain between the afternoon and
evening sessions.
My experience was coloured by the
disappointing weather but I
understand that the more clement
Friday and Sunday brought the
picking sessions out into the open and
this added to the overall success of the
weekend. Finally, I must commend
the excellent quality sound provided
by a sound crew ‘who understood’.
Sewerby Hall
Mattie Bolton
H
aving thoroughly enjoyed a
fantastic weekend at the
September Sewerby Hall oldtime
gathering, I felt I should include this
piece about the weekend for any of
those who were unfortunate enough
to be absent, and for all the friends
that I met up with there. Me and my
family chose to camp at the hall,
despite living only a mile down the
road in Bridlington - but then, that’s
what oldtime music does to you!
Others had come from as far as
Scotland, London and Cumbria - a
great turnout all round.
The weather was pretty mixed, with
beautiful evening sunshine on Friday,
changing to cold winds blowing a gale
Beverly Smith and Carl Jones - Claire Rudd
off the sea and some torrential rain
on Saturday. Tents were really put to
the test - one had to be restrained
by Dave Dry and others by being
tied to a car! The original plan of
having a Friday evening session in
the huge marquee provided fell
Joel and Clive Green - lewi Bolton
through, as the wind had begun to
come up, and instead everyone
piled into the warm, dry, Ship Inn
for what proved to be a great night.
Saturday, despite the atrocious
weather, was a brilliant day musicwise. A late-morning banjo
workshop in the marquee with Clive
Green was much appreciated; I,
being a mandolin player, was sadly
confined to washing-up duty,
although I later started a
session/workshop with Kieran
The Session - lewi Bolton
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
9
fuelled rendition of ‘Wild Rover’.
Amazing what a few pints can do!
All of the staff at both the Hall and
the Ship Inn were very friendly,
welcoming and helpful, which was
really nice.
I’d like to say a really big thank you
to John Yeaman for organising this
whole event; a great success, and I’m
proud to be supporting it.
Jeff Warner and Jeff Davis - Mo Jackson
Mattie, (dad) Pete and Kieran - lewi Bolton
Towers, where we swapped a
couple of great tunes. Another
superb and lively session took place
in the Ship Inn again on Saturday
night.
A session performance in the
Orangery commenced at noon, on
both Saturday and Sunday. Carly
Green was sadly unable to dance
due to tendonitis, and I’m sure I
speak for everyone when I wish her
‘get well soon.’ However, the
performance had an excellent
reception from the public, some of
whom had travelled quite a
distance specifically to enjoy our
music, and there were many
requests of when we were next
there, which was really
encouraging.
Following the tradition set by
Graham Ellaby at this year’s May
Day camp, the youth section of
FOAOTMAD - namely myself and
my partners in crime, Joel Green
and the aforementioned Kieran had a youth session in the
bandstand on Sunday morning. All
‘oldies’ were promptly kicked out!
Again, we had a great reception
from onlookers. Thanks to the
absent Graham for getting us going
on that - definitely to be repeated.
Although some left late on
Sunday, an unexpected treat of
an extra Ship Inn session on
Sunday night was much enjoyed
by all, and was a really laid back,
enjoyable evening. One
particularly enthusiastic member
of the public joined in with a
highly entertaining, booze-
Sweet Sunny
South Mary Murphy
Y
ou couldn’t have wished for three
sweeter, sunnier days for ‘year
five’ of this event held near Hastings.
With a light breeze off the nearby
sea, day one began slowly for those
who weren’t setting up camp in the
adjacent, secluded field. By noon,
however, the bar was overflowing
and picking groups had formed and
settled.
The two evening
performances, varied in
a way that helped
broaden the view of
old time music, were
filled to near capacity.
Joined by Barbara
Benn, Jeff Warner’s
warm-hearted
approach soon had the audience
eating out of his hand. Jeff Davis
shared fascinating accounts of his
early inspirations and performed
rare, collected, old-time works followed by Beverly Smith and Carl
Jones, whose relaxed and friendly
style is so enjoyable.
All workshops were well attended
with generous (2 hour) instruction in
banjo, fiddle, vocal accompaniment,
mandolin, harmony, guitar, gospel
singing and exposure to field
recordings of the famous Warner
collections.
Sunday afternoon’s showcase
brought out hidden talents, leaving
Carl with a smile on his face, Beverly
championing her fiddle students and
the two Jeffs foot-tapping along
with the rest of us. It was observed
that, unlike most other forms of
music, old-time happily attracts an
equal number of female/male
followers.
With indoor picking space at a
premium, some found this
disappointing but all appeared to
cope well with that restriction
Speaking with the organisers about
next year’s event, it was suggested
that we check out the
Sweet Sunny South website,
www.sweetsunnysouth.co.uk
well ahead of time, as pre-booking
may become essential.
Beverley and Carl’s singing workshop - Mo Jackson
10
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
Piano-Bashing ASBOs
part 1.
(ASBO - Anti Soicial Behaviour Order)
Colm Daly
I
n some old issue of the Old
Time News someone ranted
against the piano in Old Time,
or maybe at least that they
simply didn’t like it. Then only
the other day, I was
shamelessly informed in
boastful terms, by a certain
well known colleague of ours,
that he smashed up his old
piano in the back garden as an
anti-boredom device for his
son!
These days, if you were looking for a
venue with an acoustic upright piano,
you’d be hard-pressed to find one. If
you thought you struck lucky and
found one, the chances are that it’d be
a dud. It will seldom have all its teeth
or be in concert pitch. Look up Free
Ads and you’ll always spot one on
offer, to just take away. Yet these
instruments that dominated nearly all
dancehall music, are no longer
fashionable, and are relegated to
piano-smashing contests. However, if
you watch Jools Holland on TV or listen
to contemporary music you’ll soon
realise that the acoustic piano still
thrives, and deservedly so. However, as
an avid collector of recorded Old Time I
must testify that if you want to find
some with piano you’d be sorely
tested. Shouldn’t we be preserving the
old ways? After all it’s what Old Time is
about.
I was introduced to Old Time through
the acoustic upright, first at the Old
Eagle, Camden Town, and later a scene
at Ray Green's in Black Mountain,
North Carolina, filmed as part of a BBC
documentary where Mike Harding
cycled the Appalachian Trail. I later
played my home upright when
recording Margaret's Waltz on the
Ripples Across the Pond CD and
followed that up with 'Old Time
Joanna' on a somewhat cantankerous
studio grand. Against all my Luddite
principles, I do own an electronic
impostor, which I use for special
occasions, such as a recent Contra
Dance gig with caller Cis Hinkle and
Kate Lissauer's Buffalo Gals. All this
activity has propelled me to write here
about the plight of the piano in Old
Time.
The upright in Old Time has not had it
easy. For a start, musicians preferred
living up mountains. It relies heavily on
the availability of skilled tuners, spare
parts and tutors who would maybe
prefer town life. The odd rural
schoolhouse or person of wealth might
have owned one, but few Appalachian
cabins would have enjoyed such a
luxury. The humble harmonium was far
more portable and often preferred for
that reason, but even that was short
lived, because cheap guitars became
available. Their chief benefit was that
they could be hung from a nail on a
cabin wall and be less susceptible to
woodworm. However, if one looks
downhill towards the flatter regions,
an entirely different story unfolds.
The common image of Old Time music
coming from some remote mountain is
widely askew. It proliferated all over
the South and West, and even to
California, brought there from the Dust
Bowl by the Okies. The piano’s bulk
and clumsiness in mountainous areas
was not an issue. On a boat it could
shipped anywhere accessible. As the
system of river and sea transport
developed in the New World the piano
followed. From the Piedmont of North
Carolina, down the Eastern coast to
Texas and Louisiana, on up the
Mississippi to St. Louis, and far beyond,
it proliferated. From New England it
travelled up the coast to the Maritime
Provinces, being shipped from Europe
or from new manufacturers in the
northern industrial states, to remote
places like Cape Breton. In 1881 the
Mason and Hamlin Company in Boston
started manufacturing pianos and
many others were to follow.
The Wall St. crash in 1929 put many out
of business and with the advent of the
jukebox and cheap guitars it’s
popularity never quite recovered. In
1909, 364,000 American pianos were
made but in 1931 this dropped down
to 51,000. Not only was this period
(1880-1930) the most formative for
Old Time but it also coincided with the
heyday for the piano, whereas the
guitar was only beginning its ascent in
popularity. And just as NativeAmerican music merged with
European forms so too did the piano’s
role become an intrinsic part. It might
be claimed that some variants were
more European than Old Time, but
this argument can be equally levelled
at the blending of Afro-American
banjo with European fiddle. What
kind of a riot would ensue if
somebody claimed that the banjo
didn’t fit with Old Time?
The piano-bashing previous
contributor implied that the piano
simply didn’t fit. To which I say, utter
rubbish and wash your filthy mouth
out! Agreed, that might be said for
bodhran, wind instruments and drums
but hardly for the piano. Also agreed,
that it doesn’t suit some archaic tunes,
but then nothing else seems to fit
them either and they are better left
unaccompanied. Whether one wishes
to hear it or not, is surely down to
personal preference, but for me, its
meatiness, particularly in the mid and
lower ranges is unparalleled. Even the
thrills and glissando in the higher
ranges cannot be rivalled.
Before amplification, no other
instrument could carry the music to a
hall full of dancers, not over the
clattering of many boots thumping on
wooden floorboards. Indeed, even
some of those archaic mountaintop
fiddle tunes seemed to have
undergone a measure of pro-piano
harmonic surgery in order to fit in, so
who’s the real boss I ask? A very
similar vamping-stride style of playing
emerged from rural dancehalls
(whether of Old Time, Contra, Cape
Breton, English, Scottish or Irish
origins) that exploited the piano’s own
orientation, whereby the left hand
naturally played octaves in the low
region and the right hand played
chords in the middle, thus maximising
it’s rhythmic agility and decibel
output. How unfortunate that those
early microphones could not
technically surmount the challenge of
capturing the piano’s range, sending
all those meter needles into the red
area, and probably explains why it got
relegated to rear studio position, until
eventually it fell out the studio back
door.
To be continued…
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
Chairman Ray
Summer Camp...
This year the summer camp
at Sacrewell farm tried to
pass itself off as a midwinter
festival. Some impressive
downpours, banner
collapsing winds and cold
nights attempted to convince
us that we weren’t having
fun, without a great deal of
success.
The barn provided us with shelter
and good acoustics on the few
nights when the campfire became
impossible. Worse than the weather
were the toilet problems, caused by
the building of the new conference
centre. This was solved mid-week
when portaloos were installed after
Jim Pycroft and I had discussions
with Sacrewell management. We
also asked about the possibility of
being charged a guaranteed lower
lump sum than the total being
collected from campers at present,
and expressed our willingness to
enable Sacrewell to use our camps
as part of their advertised
programme. I feel this could do
both the society and the farm a lot
of good. The manager agreed to
raise it with the William Scott
Abbott Trust who run the farm - I
will keep you informed of any
progress. The manager did however
inform us that camping was below
the Farm Museum in the Sacrewell
list of priorities, and that the Trust
could visualize the field below the
café being turned into a car park in
the long term. Not a cheerful
thought.
Two welcome guests at the camp
were Dwight Diller and Debby
McClatchy, who both had a great
time (see Dwight’s comments in this
issue page 3).
How wide is your band?
(jargon warning)
John Messenger, without whom our
website would be a mere shadow of
itself, informed the committee in
August that the number of hits
(‘visits’ if you’re lacking in computer
savvy!) on the www.foaotmad.org
website were pushing the envelope
of our bandwidth allowance, so we
needed to increase our limit to
prevent the hosting company from
pulling the plug on us. This is of
course both annoying and gratifying
at the same time. Well over a
thousand different visitors a month
want to look at us, so we have to
pay. We have decided to increase our
website spending from £20 per
annum to £60 per annum which will
give us unlimited bandwidth and
unlimited disc space. This gives us
the potential to put a lot more stuff
out there, so your suggestions and
ideas about the use of the website
would be greatly valued. Let us
know what you think - send your
emails to me at
chairman@foaotmad.org.uk or to
Nick Pilley, our publicity officer at
publicity@foaotmad.org.uk
11
Sweet Sunny South
Colin Meadows - the editor of the
last magazine - did another fine job
organizing Sweet Sunny South at
Fairlight Lodge near Hastings. Carl
and Beverly headed an excellent pair
of concerts, with Jeff Warner and
Open stage at Sunny South - Bob
Kemble/Didmarton
Festival
In early September I found myself on
camping near a runway on the exRAF airfield at Kemble. This new site
for the old Didmarton Festival is
proving to be a good move by John
and Moira Wirtz. Carl Jones and
Beverly Smith brought the house
down on Saturday night, stuck
between a blues band and the
London Philarmonic Skiffle
Orchestra. I was there playing banjo
for the Applejacks, the Bristol based
Jeff Davies providing some deep
insight into US folk songs and styles.
Jeff Warner is the son of Frank and
Anne Warner, who collected
American folk songs from the 1930s
to the 1950s. He plays banjo, guitar
and concertina, as well as small
"pocket-instruments" and sings
primarily traditional American songs
in acoustic performance. He and Jeff
Davis worked together for years, but
they’ve been mainly solo artists for
the past 7 or 8 years. Barbara Benn’s
strong deep voice blended well with
Jeff Warner’s on some of the songs.
The weather was indeed sweet and
sunny, and outdoor workshops and
sessions were prevalent during the
day. A highlight for me was when
Colin agreed to do some more
temporary editing!
Gathering2
Mo Jackson and Lucy Ray from the Kittyhawks - Ray Banks
Appalachian dance team. Also
performing were the KittyHawks,
formed at last year’s Sore Fingers by
our own Mo Jackson and Lucy Ray
on banjo and mandolin accompanied
by John and Moira with John Boston
on fiddle. Mo and Lucy sang a
selection of songs leaning heavily
towards the old time end of the
spectrum, which suited their voices
perfectly. Joint tops of the bill were
the Nashville Bluegrass Band and
Peter Rowan. The NBB added some
acapella gospel songs in a moving
ancient way, and even accredited
Tommy Jarrell for one of their fiddle
tunes. The bluegrass audiences do
seem to love really well done old
time - there’s hope for them yet.
It looks as though I could be doing
my usual roadie job in February,
touring with the Gathering’s new
line-up. Tom Brad and Alice can’t
make it in 2007, so their place
alongside Debby McClatchy will be
taken by the superb Orpheus
Supertones (Walt Koken, Clare
Milliner, Pete Peterson and Kellie
Allen), who will of course be
headlining our festival before the
tour. Note that this tour will be
billed as 'Gathering2.
12
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
BOOK REVIEW...
approved by Dwight. The accompanying CD of Dwight
playing the tunes was made by David Dry and Malcolm
Denny.
This book provides 27 tabs for some of Dwight’s betterknown tunes from the Hammons’ and others, with notes
from Dwight about the sources, history and the playing
Obscure Underground Clawhammer Banjo
of the tunes. The
From Mysterious
tunes are in a typical
Central West Virginia
selection of Dwight’s
tunings, the first 10
in open G, 4 in
any modern old
double C, and 6 in G
time banjo players
modal. The
from both the UK and
remaining 7 are in a
the USA owe much to
selection of Dwight’s
the influence and
other, generally low,
tunings - banjo
teaching of our old
players will know
friend Dwight Diller, and
what I mean. The CD
I’m proud to admit that
contains a short
I’m no exception. I’ve
version of each of
been a fan since I saw
the tunes with some
verbal notes from
him on the stage at
Dwight, and is lovely
Trinity Hall,
to listen to for its
Gainsborough in 1998.
own sake. It is
After a few minutes I
essential listening for
Sherman Hammons - permission Dwight Diller
realised I wanted to sit
anyone wishing to learn the tabbed tunes properly.
Some mistakes - inevitable from the trans-Atlantic
there and listen to him all night, so this book review
editing process - have been corrected in two included
may be just a little biased. I went to the next four of
errata sheets.
Yew Piney Mountain by Dwight Diller
M
his annual intermediate clawhammer banjo
workshops at East Stockwith and absorbed like
blotting paper, enjoying the tunes and the stories of
the Hammons Family of West Virginia delivered in
his now familiar style.
A slight drawback of his teaching style that was noticed
was the fact that Dwight did not use tablature (tabs) to
teach the banjo tunes. This was partly due to the fact that
Dwight did not read or use tabs himself, and because tabs
only gave you an outline of the tune, leaving out the
subtlety and depth of the interpretation that you can only
come close to learning by deep listening. Some of the
students felt that tabs would have helped to remind them
of how the tunes (and some of the tricky bits) were played,
as long as they were
used with care.
After much
discussion over the
years, Dwight has
now decided that a
book of tabs would
be appropriate, and
created this spiralbound book with the
help of three of his
students. These are
Andrew Diamond
(London), David Dry
(Barnard Castle) and
Stewart Seidel
(Vancouver). The tabs
were prepared by the
students and the
accuracy of them
checked and
Maggie Hammons Parker - permission Dwight Diller
A lot of love and experience has gone into this book,
and I believe it would be an important asset for anyone
who wants to learn more about Dwight’s approach to
West Virginia banjo tunes, although it’s also
indispensable for its wonderful unique collection of
pictures taken by Dwight of members of the Hammons
Family in their daily lives.
The book and CD bundle is available from
http://www.morningstarfolkarts.com for $30 plus $10
postage, from Dwight himself at one of his workshops,
or from David Dry at 4, Gill Lane, Startforth, Barnard
Castle, DL12 9AS for £20 plus £2 postage. Make cheques
payable to D.S.Dry, who tells me they’re going like hot
cakes.
Ray Banks
FOAOTMAD T SHIRTS
OUR LOGO IN RED AND BLUE ON WHITE
“Old Time here is Not Forgotten” on the back
100% cotton: M,L, XL AT £12 each including P&P
Order from Claire Rudd
53 North Street, Bridgwater, Som TA6 3PW
with cheque payable to Foaotmad
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
Banjo & Fiddle Duets: Turning a Liability into an Asset
I
wonder if others
who have living or
musical relationships
with banjo players
share this dilemma,
that close association
with a compulsive
player can cause the
banjo, normally a
beautiful and
uplifting instrument, to occasionally be
experienced as an irritant.
Kate Lissauer
Banjo: Lost Indian
Tune AEAC#E (Capo 2)
I find that a useful way to channel
constructively the excessive energies of such
a player is to tab your own fiddle tunes for
banjo. You will then have a happily
occupied banjo player who will eventually
produce banjo parts which match your
fiddle tunes in just the way
you want them to.
Here’s Lost Indian for fiddle and banjo. It’s a
Burl Hammons tune I learned from Dave
Bing, and which you can hear Dave playing
on Gandydancer’s second CD, Crossties. The
fiddle is tuned in a wonderful A tuning:
AEAC# (C# being the highest string), which
has a gloriously archaic feel. So part of the
challenge here for me is to write the fiddle
music for cross-tuned fiddle. (See notes)
The banjo matches the fiddle with the
standard G tuning capoed 2: AEAC#E.
Notes: It’s a suggested way of playing the
tune and not a transcription of anyone’s
playing.
Fiddle:
• The fiddle part is written as a sort of TAB,
in that the notes represent the fingering
you should use, and not the actual note
value, e.g., in the first bar, finger as if to
play a G natural and open E, and it will
sound as E and C#! In the third bar, use
fourth finger to play “E” fingering on the
A string.
• In the B part variation, P means pluck the
string with a left-hand finger.
• Use adjacent string drones at will
throughout.
• The tune is crooked, hence two-beat bars
at the end of each part.
Banjo:
• A circled note is one that you can skip, if
you like that syncopated feel. Don’t play
the note, just move your hand as if you
were playing it, to keep the rhythm.
• Use your second finger on the first string
throughout the B part, so that when you
get to fret 9 you’ll be on the right
fingering.
Any questions or comments, email me at
klissauer@aol.com Hope you enjoy it!
Fiddle: Lost Indian
Tune AEAC#
13
Play as if tuned in Standard
14
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
CD REVIEWS...
Jeff Warner
Jolly Tinker
Gumstump Records 101
http://jeffwarner.com
Outer Banks fishing villages of
North Carolina, to the lumber
camps of the Adirondack
Mountains and the whaling ports
of New England. There’s a mixture
of serious and lighter subjects and
there is a nod to Vaudeville as well
as arrangements of Tennyson’s
‘Crossing The Bar’ and Kipling’s
‘Mandalay’.
The recording quality is excellent
and Jeff’s vocals are beautifully
clear. He is supported by master
musicians from New England
including Rodney Miller on fiddle
and the aforementioned Jeff Davis
on mandolin. Arrangements are
never over-fussy and his guests are
used sparingly.
River Driving; The Southern Girl’s
Reply; Only a Soldier; The Bonny
Bay of Biscay-O; Baldheaded End of
the Broom; Little Black Train; When
the Shanty Boy Comes Down; Come
Take a Trip in My Airship; Crossing
the Bar; 1845; Yucky Bugs; The
Snow is on the Ground; The Bold
Privateer; The Jolly Tinker;
Mandalay.
Some 8 years or so ago I saw Jeff
Warner in concert with Jeff Davis at
Towersey Festival. They covered all
kinds of music but based themselves
within the American Tradition and
especially on material collected by
Jeff Warner’s parents, Frank and
Anne, who were two of the most
important folk song collectors in the
20th century. Jeff had been involved
in that publication as editor and
also with the associated CDs Her
Bright Smile Haunts Me Still and
Nothing Seems Better to Me
(Appleseed APR CD 1035 and 1036).
This is Jeff Warner’s first solo CD,
admittedly with supporting
musicians, after a long performing
career and a life time exposure to
the tradition. Previous recordings
have been in partnership with Jeff
Davis and others. It isn’t Old Time
and you have to wait until track 5
before you hear a banjo. However
six of the tracks are taken from the
Warner Collection with sources
ranging from Newfoundland to the
This is a CD that is aimed at Jeff’s
folk club audience rather than a
specialist Old Time one but if your
tastes aren’t too restricted I can
wholeheartedly recommend it. To
quote the CD booklet, Jeff ’has
been around traditional song all his
life and it shows in the respect and
skill with which he interprets the
songs’ and I concur. He makes
regular visits to the UK so do make
an effort to catch him somewhere.
And if you’re feeling extravagant,
there’s always those two Appleseed
CDs of the Warner Collection or try
hunting for the (temporarily out of
print) book itself ‘Traditional
American Folk Songs from the
Anne and Frank Warner Collection’.
Rattle on the Stovepipe are Dave
Arthur, Pete Cooper and Chris
Moreton, three performers well
known to both old time and
bluegrass fans. This fine collection
of songs and tunes is their second
CD and contains an eclectic mix of
English and American material. As
on their previous CD, there are full
and comprehensive notes to their
sources and to the history of the
tunes.
As you would expect, the playing is
assured, clear and precise and I
think they have a better sound
quality than on their first CD. I
would have preferred greater
variety in tempo throughout the CD
and in particular would have liked
to hear them going flat out on one
or two tracks but then, people do
say I’m a bit of a speed freak.
Having heard Dave, Pete and Chris
on various occasions there were
few surprises in their choice of
material for me but I was delighted
to hear a tune from Fred Pidgeon,
one of England’s premiere
traditional fiddlers. On the whole I
preferred the English material, it’s
so good to hear it played well for a
change. Nancy is a particularly nice
version of a tune that also appears
in a rather more “notey” version on
Reed Martin’s ‘Old Time Banjo’ CD.
The addition of Pete’s fiddle here
really helps to bring out the
Northumbrian pipe flavour of the
tune.
Nick Pilley
Rattle On The
Stovepipe
This CD is an interesting and
enjoyable exploration of some of
the links between English and
American music, an area that could
benefit from further such efforts if
English old time bands are not to
become merely copyists of what
goes on in the USA.
8 More Miles
Colin Meadows
Wild Goose WGS 3333
www.petecooper.com/8moremiles.htm
Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase,
Eight More Miles to Louisville, The
Boatmen/Cuffy, New Rigged
Ship/Green Willis, The Light
Dragoon/Downfall of Paris, The
Lakes of Pontchartrain,
Over the Waterfall, Willie’s Ghost,
Fred Pidgeon’s No.1/Jenny Lind
Polka, Footmarks in The Snow,
Father Father Build Me a Boat,
Nancy/Nancy Clough, Sail Away
Ladies.
Old Time News Autumn Issue 47
Stacey Banjos
19 Field Lane • Letchworth • Herts • SG6 3LF
Banjos with the look, the feel, the sound
and the playability
Classic Era Model £1350
elegant engraved pearl inlays in peghead and fingerboard
• flamed maple neck with bound ebony fingerboard
• two-way adjustable truss rod
• laminated maple rim
• the very best hardware selected from various suppliers
• ‘Whyte Laydie’ tone ring for fantastic tone and volume.
Gainsborough Special Model £1050
engraved ‘moon’ peghead inlay
• pearl position markers
• reinforced mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard
• laminated maple rim, 11 or 12 inches diameter
• Stacey ‘Free Energy’ tone ring.
OPTIONS
All models can be customised.
• ebony or Grenadillo tone ring.
• neck width to suit your preference.
• left handed neck.
• ‘frailers scoop’ in fingerboard.
• fretless neck with brass or ebony fingerboard
I usually have a selection of top quality vintage rims in
stock for which a neck can be custom built
Call me on 01462 683 074
15
SUMMER CAMP
GALLERY...
Colm Daly helps
Carole Chant celebrate
a significant birthday
The banjo practise
rooms arrive
Malcolm Denny records
Fiona Cameron on his
new phonograph
Dwight Diller
who also celebrated a
significant birthday
All photos by Dave Dry]