Been awhile since I've posted something. Composed this in CH but liked the way it sounded fingerpicked better. In Double C.

Key of G. Learned from an album in the sixties by "We Five," as I recall, but with variations added.

Key of G. Learned from an album in the sixties by "We Five," as I recall, but with variations added.

For the old-time Tune of the Week, 5/15/15. This comes from Samuel Bayard's Hill Country Tunes collection (link in TOTW: http://www.banjohangout.org/topic/303774). My first effort to play Sweet Ellen was in open G tuning with a raised 5th string. This version is in double C tuning (capo 2 for its original key of D).

It's really a sweet tune and I'm interested in anything from Samuel Bayard's collections. I'll never know if my father knew Sam Bayard -- same college, about the same time, same major....We all find personal connections in this old-time musical journey and that's one of mine.

aDAde - derived from Melvin Wine's fiddling. Not exactly as in my Banjo Newsletter tab of 31 years ago (February, 1984).

Tune in D related to The Boys of Bluehill. Recorded for the 5/1/15 old-time tune of the week.

Learned from the fiddling of well-known Missourian Lonnie Robertson (1908 - 1981). I'm just becoming familiar with some of his work and am impressed by his smooth, clear, fast playing.

A second tune I've learned from the playing of Missouri fiddler Lonnie Robertson (1908 - 1981). Old Joe was also played on the Opry and possibly has some links (in its "odd metric patterns") to a minstrel tune of the same name.

Banjo plays Goin down to Cairo