Key of A and played on a newly crafted 11" walnut open back

Old Tom of Oxford (totw 1/10/2020). Double C tuning - CH on Wildwood banjo.

Alice Gerrard, a living legend herself, wrote a song about another musical legend, Elizabeth Cotten, who she knew and whose conversation with her inspired this song, released on Alice's CD Bittersweet. As I listened to the CD this song moved me to attempt it on banjo and I've had the delight of learning more about these two amazing women. As the lyrics say, "And won't you sing to me as I take my leave, you're going to miss me when I'm gone."

For the old-time Tune of the Week, 12/9/16, Snow Deer was a popular song written in 1913 by the same composer of Moonlight Bay, and inspired by the success of Redwing in 1907. The Stanley Brothers did an instrumental of it in 1963 and Bob Wills' band performed it, amongst many others. I added a Native American bridge to it to go along with the lyric's theme of a cowboy and Indian maiden's romance. Played on a Gold Tone cello banjo and learned from Ken Torke's tab. See the current TOTW for more info. I'll be surprised if people have heard of this song before -- I hadn't.

Sometimes an event and a new tuning combine to inspire a tune, like in Hillside. It's a tribute to my mother's neighbor, Mrs. Fields, who passed away in her late nineties. Growing up with good neighbors is a blessing, isn't it. Hillside is the final resting place for some of my family members and now for dear Mrs. Fields. The new tuning for me is f#DGAD, which I found in an Art Rosenbaum resource book. It's a "D variant" and he calls it "Little Black Train" tuning. This recording is my first effort using three tracks with Garage Band using my Mac Traynham Whyte Laydie and Gold Tone cello banjo.

banjo-lute

Think it was the tempo and notes from around :19 to :30 that suggested the title. Whatever. In Double C.

Clawgrass Example - Using Clawhammer in a Bluegrass context. Playing Clawhammer in a Bluegrass setting requires the banjo player to understand all the complexities of playing in a Bluegrass Ensamble. You are playing as a "Unit" and everyone's job in the band is to do what ever it takes to make the featured soloist, be it a vocalist or someone taking a break on their instruments. It forces the clawhammer banjo player to play their banjo in several different ways instead of using just a right hand clawhammer pattern. Lead, Backup, Percsussive chopping, playing harmonies, counter melodies, Licks and tag licks, etc.etc. You have to live by the five "T's" Taste, Touch, Tone, Timing and Tuning and play with precision to get all the value from a note to get it to ring clean and clear. This can be accomplished with a banjo that is set up for this style of ensemble work like my Deering Clawgrass Model Banjos or like how Adam Hurt pulls his clean note playing and his great softer tone from his Enoch/Dobson old time banjos. The point is not how many notes that you put into a tune or song but making each note count for all the musical statement value you can get out of it. This tune is an old Bob Dylan tune that Emory Lester and I recorded about ten years ago on our Acoustic Rising Album. It is a good example of what I am talking about......and it is also an example of playing blues licks while playing in the relative minor key of C#minor against Emory's E major tuning using Double E tuning (Double C tuning capoed at the fourth fret) and playing out of the third fret above the capo to catch the C#Minor position. Enjoy!

Lay down boys, take a little nap...

Mike Sanyshyn sittin in for Chad Joiner on this one with latest band member Lantz 25 (1938)

Original tune played in octave double-D on Gold Tone Bob Carlin BC-350 strung with metal-wound nylon strings.

Messing around with some of the bossa backing tracks posted by Smitchtson. This is the Bossa Dorado..great tune and fun to play. My recording software was acting up during this session, so levels and reverb are not what I wanted. But what the hey....

After watching a Giants baseball pennant win I wrote this tune as they celebrated. They're a downhome team to root for--with not a single hero, but all shining stars.

Been working on a couple of new fingerpicked tunes. Here's one of them, a bit off the beaten path. In Double C.

I'm playing a hot rodded Gold Tone Bob Carlin clawhammer banjo with wound nylon strings tuned down to Low A-modal.

Dedicated to my mother, now 93 years old. In my mind she's reached the summit, which was the original title of this piece. I'm playing on a Goldtone cello banjo.

A clawhammered, chordal approach to this light-hearted song John claimed in his lyrics that he dreamt about. I've heard this on BHO several times and am a great fan of John Hartford, though I have much, much more to learn about his music. I think the genre is considered Newgrass, but you can correct me.

The first is from Buckley, the second from Converse.