Banjo Hangout Top 100 Clawhammer and Old-Time Songs

'Boys them buzzards are flying' is an old time style tune, but a modern composition by Gary Harrison. i tried to learn this tune, but something just wouldn't fall into place. the piece has strange timing and it doesn't really resolve, but keeps you up in the air...sort of like buzzards circling. it's a great tune but didn't make sense to me and i wound up borrowing the hook or tag line and changing it to this...

Clawhammer take on a Reel from the

Shetland Islands written by Ian Burns. G tuning but way low.

For the Tune of the Week, 3/21/14 from the fiddling of George Mert Reeves. This recording may be found on the Slippery Hill website on a section I looked at less often. I perceive another treasure chest has been discovered!

For Tune of the Week, 3/14/14, from the fiddling of Lotus Dickey, played on a Gold Tone cello banjo tuned dADF#A. The tune was apparently first played on a fife and later by fiddlers. The history of an Oyster River Massacre in present-day Durham, New Hampshire goes back to the 1690's.

From Adam Hurt's piano version, inspired by Kentucky fiddler John Salyer whose many tunes are always worth learning. I've also enjoyed playing my Gold Tone cello banjo with all nylon strings. Hope you enjoy, too.

For the Tune of the Week, 2/28/14, this version is mostly from Bigfoot Stringband and Rhys Jones' fiddling. He based it on Robert Sykes (1914-1994). It's a much bluesier Black Eyed Susie than I've ever heard and I've been curious about it, so TOTW has again provided me a good learning platform. Tune in, if you haven't!

I'm playing a very lightweight banjo with nylgut strings.

Three versions from my Skype lessons with Adam Hurt. The first one comes from the fiddling of "Uncle Norm" Edmonds (born in the 1890's) of Hillsville, Virginia and is one I arranged as an "extra credit" homework assignment. The other two come from Parley Parsons (born 1864) from near Galax, Virginia and from Paul Brown's recollection of the B part.

Recorded for a Tune of the Week post.

West Virginia tune learned from fiddling of Lester McUmbers