The Four String Polka

Here’s another Canadian old time gem, featuring two of our great fiddlers, Graham and Eleanor Townsend..

I’m amazed at how much fantastic music we have immediate access to these days…

Cumberland Gap

The Cumberland Gap, a mountain pass in the Appalachians located where Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia meet, is also the name of a song first recorded in 1924. There are countless versions. Here are a few that I really like.

Let’s start with bluegrass, and Flatt and Scruggs.

Now on to Old Time and Tommy Jarrell on the fretless banjo

Here’s a combo called Notorious. Very nice playing

And finally, the Rockridge Brothers

Differences

Regular readers know the truth. I’m an unrepentant folk music freak enthusiast. That’s just the way it is. I think it was squeezebox king Flaco Jimenez who said something about folk music being very simple music dressed up to seem really complicated. Still, there are nuances that create firm separations between various strains.

For instance, polka freaks could argue all day about the differences between Conjunto, Push, Honky and Slovenian polka styles and never get bored. Or step back and start talking about polkas and paso dobles and Cajun two steps and Portuguese marches.

Recently I’ve immersed myself in fiddle and banjo music after years lost in the land of the free reed. This naturally leads to a discussion of the various forms using that instrumentation. My brother the trout, Salvelinas Fontinalis was kind enough to send me an article that clearly explains the differences between Celtic, Old Time and Bluegrass music and as an educational service I’ll share it with you here. There will be a quiz later. This came from the National Folk Festival website.

A taste: An Old Time banjo player can lose 3
 right-hand fingers and 2 left-hand fingers in an industrial accident without 
affecting his performance.

 A Celtic banjo player flat picks everything. A Bluegrass banjo player puts
 jewelry on his fingertips to play. An Old Time banjo player puts super glue 
on his fingernails to strengthen them. Never shake hands with an Old Time 
banjo player while he’s fussing with his nails.

 

 

West Fork Gals

West Fork Gals is a great old time tune. I was listening to it today and wondered about the West Fork. I have no doubt that some fine gals live along its banks. The name must refer to the West Fork River in North Central West Virginia. It’s a slow moving river – definitely not a trout stream as we think of them although it does hold some trout. It’s a popular fishing river, stocked with muskies and also holding carp and catfish bass, sauger and walleye. It has officially been the West Fork River since 1902.

The first video features fiddle and guitar back-up by Gadaya. The second features Curt Alsobrook

Writing this post, I just thought about that wonderful tune all about rivers – The Brazos. Let’s give it a listen…Here’s Townes, found on the YouTube machine….

Oh that was so good I need one more taste. Here’s a version featuring an autoharp by Chris Twomey.

Multi-tasking

Here’s Aubrey Atwater, clogging and playing banjo at the same time.

Speaking of folk dancing, if you ever get a chance to see April Verch, the Ottawa Valley fiddler, don’t miss it. Not only is she a great fiddler but she dances up a storm too.

Sail Away Ladies

Sail Away Ladies is an Old Time string band tune related to another Old Time tune, Sally Ann. There are recordings of the tune dating back to the mid-1920s.

Here is the Last Chance Stringband…

Here’s Sally Ann so you can hear the relationship..

Here’s another fine performance of Sail Away by the Coal Porters, who not only have a great name, they also know how to dress for the stage.

An Old Tune – Leather Britches

Played by Benton Flippen

Julie Anne Johnson

I’m learning to play a tune on the oil can banjo called Julie Anne Johnson (various spellings for this one). One day I’ll put up an oil can version, but for now let’s enjoy some performances by far better players.

Here’s Tony Spadaro AKA Old Woodchuck…

Here’s an overcast and chilly fiddle version. Oh I like this one a lot!

Back to banjo, here’s Mr. Zepp. Wow, that’s just so fantastic.

Little Liza Jane

I’ve been continuing to immerse myself in old time music, listening to about as many clawhammer banjo and fiddle tunes as I can. Here’s a Daily Dose of Little Liza Jane…

Let’s start with The Black & Tan String Band

and then move on to Sam Chatmon

and here’s a unique version featuring wine box banjo, psaltry and rpeek

That’s the first I’ve heard of a psaltry. You learn something everyday if you put your mind to it. It looks like a bowed zither or autoharp.

Cold Frosty Morning

There seems to be various old time tunes called Cold Frosty Morning or Frosty Morning or Frosty Morn or some variation. In Toronto this morning it was so cold my thoughts were freezing as they bubbled out of my brain. It was the kind of morning when the sensible thing would have been to fire up the woodstove, curl up with a couple cats and sleep til noon.

Here are Truman Price and Adam Price

Here’s Michael Garvin fiddling in the snow