Banjo Hangout Top 100 Clawhammer and Old-Time Songs

I love chicken tunes. I made this recording of the old barnyard stalwart in March, 1998, with my friends Brian Clancey and Tom Speth. We called our trio Wry Whiskey. Uploaded for the TOTW for 11/29/13.

A French-Canadian crooked tune learned from Guy Bouchard. Robin Kearton playing fiddle.

Learned from Mac Benford's clawhammer banjo CD of Ed Haley tunes, "Half Past Four." Given the title, posting it the day before Thanksgiving reminds me of all the preparation that went into that first Thanksgiving feast that lasted three days.

This is the Tune of the Week for 11/23/13. It's based on the fiddling of Kentuckian George Hawkins who learned it in 1915 from Bill Trumbo, a black fiddler. Jeff Titon notated it in his book Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes. The title doesn't describe the beauty of the tune, which reminds me of Maggots in the Sheep Hide, another nice tune with a yucky name.

Drafted my son Russ to play clawhammer on a few tunes late Saturday night while his friend and Redline bandmate Reed Jones was visiting this weekend. Although Reed plays bass in the band, he is a great guitar player. Neither he or Russ had played this D tune before this, I played a brief snatch of it and they had it as you can hear. What great drive and rhythm those guys have, super fun to play with. My wife jumped in on bass and I'm on fiddle.

aDADE - In my mind this is a D tune.

From my CD "Banjo Stuff" recorded in 2000. Derived from Melvin Wine's fiddling.

For the Tune of the Week, Nov. 15, 2013, based on Melvin Wine's version. Melvin played it in A. I arranged this one in open G tuning.

I re-recorded Sleigh Ride at a faster tempo and it turned out much better. Easier to play too...

I re-recorded Sleigh Ride at a faster tempo and it turned out much better. Easier to play too...