Banjo 365 - Lets give it a year...

Lets give it a year and see how it goes. Twelve months ago I got a Banjo and other than the occasional strum and pluck its not really come out the case all that much. So today I'm starting what I'm calling Banjo365, a little project to see how far I can get with clawhammer banjo in one year.

I'm starting from more or less nothing, not even a bum ditty, I'm aiming for a, somewhat passable, rendition of Cripple Creek and similar.

I've worked on it a little in December but with New Years Day approaching it seems time to fish or cut bait.

T-minus 365.

Task 1 - Putting the bum into bum ditty.

Now Playing: The East Pointers - What We Leave Behind (2017)

I first LISTENED to The East Pointers on Youtube, I first HEARD OF the East Pointers in the newspaper. I just happened to read an article in passing about a then upcoming gig at Lizotte's so googled them to see what they were like. What I found was two great sets on YouTube from the Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2017. That was enough for me to book a table and shlep to Lizotte's to see them live.

As we do at such events, I grabbed their most recent album What We Leave Behind after the show. As it was available I grabbed the vinyl LP (with code of free digital download). I recently got a new needle for my record player and to test it out I picked this LP for a spin. Naturally this reminded me I had not posted about the The East Pointers here yet.

This is their second album and like their first has a decent bit of Australian inspired music considering the Canadian origins of the band.

I can't imagine how a TV producer for Channel 9 has not yet discovered the track 82 fires and used it as the backing for an emotional montage of bushfire footage at the end of the news. This song is the most Folk Pop track on the album which is an otherwise celtic infused contemporary folk record. The best word to describe the album as a whole is emotional. Indeed that is the first word that comes to mind when attempting to describe any individual track. What changes from track to track is the emotion being expressed.  Tanglewood, Party Wave and Pour Over are joyful instrumentals. Two Weeks is a lament. What We Leave Behind is the contemplative instrumental as is, to some extent, The Crossing.  John Wallace tells a sad tale and Hid In Your Heart is a sad parting.

Musically there is so much to love here. Tim Chaisson (Fiddler and singer), Koady Chaisson (Tenor Banjoist) and Jake Charron (Guitarist) have created a wonderful blending of instrumentals and poignant lyrical tracks.

Check it out online, listen to short samples below or on the spotify app for the full tracks.

More Than Twice 55 Community Songs.

Picked this up in an antique shop this weekend. 

Originally published in the early 20th century (maybe in 1917) the forward makes for interesting reading.

The song list includes an eclectic range of music that includes some old time and folk tunes from America and Britain.

Now Playing: Get up in the Cool Vol. 1 (2017)

I posted about the Get Up in the Cool podcast already. When I caught host Cameron DeWhitt playing at a pub in Newcastle I grabbed a couple of copies of the related CDs. This CD (Vol.1) is more or less a mixtape featuring the show's best performances from 2016.

The tracks are edited together so that, much like the podcast itself, you feel a bit like the fly on the wall at an old time jam. The eclectic nature of the podcast means this album is full of variety with different styles, voices and instruments taking the spotlight from track to track. That said, the presence of Cameron's particular style of banjo playing gives the album a unified quality.

Top tracks Hang Me (with Luke Chohany), Billy in the Lowground (with Brad Kolodner) and Rolling River (with Jake Blount).

It's possible I got one of the last physical copies (or at least one of the last physical copies he had in Australia).

It is however available online or listen here below:

Dorrigo Top 10

I intend to make more posts about individual acts from the 2018 Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival but as I intent to space those out I thought a quick Top 10 post, while my memory is fresh, might be a good idea.

#10 - Honey and Knives  - 5-piece folk band. I caught the end of a set. If I had the chance I'd have liked to hear more so they sneak in at number 10.

#9 - Fireside Celts & Friends - “Fireside Celts” are a seven piece group that interweave Scottish Smallpipes with guitar, keyboard, fiddle, cello, whistles, harmonium, banjo, vocal and a variety of Celtic percussion to voice Scottish and Irish melodies. A highlight of their set was a reading of Henry Lawson's Scots of the Riverina with accompaniment.

#8 - Bluegrass Junction - South Australia's premier bluegrass band. Full post may follow.

#7 - Cameron DeWhitt - Clawhammer banjoist and Old Time musician living in Philadelphia. He hosts the weekly podcast Get Up in the Cool which I Posted on already.

#6 - Liam Gerner - More of a blues and country musician but, as I'll post about sometime, he earned this spot in the list with just one song. Watch this space. 

#5 - Hoot and Holler - Guitarist Mark Kilianski and fiddler Amy Alvey. Like Liam Gerner they won me over with one song and then kept it going with some great traditional tunes.

#4 - Jeff Scroggins & Colorado - Appalachian vocals, solid and energetic rhythm, and a fun stage banter that delighted the crowd (as advertised). Full post to follow.

#3 - John Reischman & Eli West - John is the best mandolinists I've personally seen live and Eli complements him so well. Full post may follow.

#2 - Dosca - Posted about already Sixpiece ensemble of bagpipes, flute, fiddle, guitar, bass and drums. A fine Scottish folk acts. 

#1 - Charlie & Jensen - Posted about already. They really made my weekend so get the top spot on this list.   

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.

I found a spot last weekend, far from the madding crowd as the old saying goes, that seems like the perfect place to sit an play some music - all it lacks is the seat. 

 My Seagull Merlin M4.

L 'allée 

 A seat under these trees would have been ideal but I guess I'll BYO next time.

L'étang

Now Playing: Old Crow Medicine Show - 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde (2017)

Old Crow Medicine Show is a folk, country and old time music band from from Nashville, Tennessee. 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde is a track-for-track live album recreating Bob Dylan's 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. While Dylan's original and this re-imaging follow the same order of tacks, the arrangement of the tracks themselves are distinctly different. Pledging My Time becomes a breakdown and tracks like Obviously 5 Believers becomes a high energy madcap tune. The fiddle playing on both of these tracks is worth the effort alone. The first six tracks are all barn burners with Visions of Johanna and Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again proving that this album was always a good idea. Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine is the energetic high point in the back half of the album. The recording rounds out, as expected, with Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands and Old Crows version puts a little spring into the original.

Little needs to be said about the source material - it's Blond on Blond by BobDylan - what is noteworthy here is the reinterpretation of the songs, the energy brought to bare and the beauty of the result.

Update: ‘Loch MacLeod’ by Donald MacLeod.

I found it!

In my last post I mentioned not being able to find sheet music or tab for 'Loch MacLeod’ by Donald MacLeod. Well I found a great site http://bagpipetunes.intertechnics.com/ that had the song in bww format, then it was just a matter of finding an app or program that could load and display that file.

That done...

Desperately seeking sheet music: ‘Loch MacLeod’ by Donald MacLeod.

DOSCA (who I posted about earlier) recently uploaded this video of one of their sets from Dorrigo to their facebook page. I was in the audience for this one on the weekend. This set is not on their album and was apparently especially arranged for the band’s trip to Australia for the festival.

The first part of this set is ‘Loch MacLeod’ by Donald MacLeod. Its a great tune and I found an event report online from a Piper Society magazine that talked about it being played in 2011, the report reads:

‘Loch MacLeod’, a splendid though little-played retreat march from Donald MacLeod's book. Again, we were encouraged to treat the notation as ‘guidance’ and play the tune in a much freer manner than the title ‘retreat’ would suggest. The tune, in fact, would make a fine slow air.

That kind of feels like what DOSCA has achieved here.

I've been looking online for any sort of sheet music or tab. My thinking being that it might make a great tune for the Seagull Merlin M4.  Unfortunately I've had no luck tracing anything down. It seems the only place to get this tune is in a print addition of a book called Pipe Major Donald MacLeod's Collection Volume 4. I've not found a ready source for this book yet so the search continues.

In the meantime my search for this tune has turned up a couple of other Scottish tunes in the Key of D that look like they could work very well on the Segull Merilin once they have been converted to tab.

Now Playing: Bluegrass Covers playlist on Spotify

A mix of folk and bluegrass covers of pop, rock, hip-hop, folk and indie songs.

From a Sarah Jorosz's cover of Prince's When Doves Cry to Carolina Chocolate Drops' take on the Blu Cantrell Hit 'Em Up Style. From Toto's Africa covered by Love Canon to a truly sublime take on Seal's Kiss From a Rose by Mustered Courage.

This playlist on spotify is quite simply a gateway drug to bluegrass.

Other tracks to note:

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness - covered by Branches
Such Grate Heights by The Postal Service - covered by Joy Kills Sorrow
Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve - covered by Greame James
Rocket Man by Elton John - covered by Mile Twelve
Game of Thrones (Main Theme) - covered by Flatt Lonesome
Shake It Off by Taylor Swift - covered by Pickin' On Series
Low by Flo Rida- covered by The Cleverlys
Down Under by Men at Work - covered by Love Canon
A Hard Days Night by the Beatles - covered by Bill Evans
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson - covered by Honeywagon
Super Freak by Rick James - covered by Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby

Listen to short samples below or on the spotify app for the full tracks.

Now Playing: DOSCA - Meridian (2018)

Another Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival discovery. DOSCA are an energetic folk act from Scotland. Their music mixes Scottish and Irish folk, as well as a hint of jazz and a get up and dance beat. With bagpipes, flute, fiddle, guitar, bass and drums there is a hint of rock but the effect is more high energy folk.

Their album Meridian features ten tracks. Eight of the ten are instrumental. Accidental Thumb, which may or may not be a facebook reference, builds slowly until about the halfway mark before bridging into a lively reel. This track is followed by, Pound A Week Rise (Ed Pickford), the first of the two tracks to feature singing. Two For Joy slows things down to Strathspey level but is quite simply a hope filled gift to the ears.  Oblique is another toe tapper and leads into the second vocal track Arthur McBride (traditional) which is performed with the modern listener in mind but with all the respect to traditional rendering you could ask for. Joe Armstrong who lends his voice to these two track (his talents being deployed on the flute on the rest of the album) has a rich folky timbre that suits these two songs perfectly. The album is rounded out fantastically by the last track Storm.

The album is available on all the usual places online (or you can just listen to it right here below.)



 

Get Up in the Cool - Podcast with Cameron DeWhitt.

As I've previously posted, this blog is not intended to be an authoritative look at Folk, Bluegrass, Celtic, Appalachian, Old-time and so forth but rather a log of my journey as I go deeper into this world I've only just stated to explore.

For that reason one of the things I'm doing is finding sources of good information to learn from. One of the best so far has been the Get Up in the Cool podcast hosted by Cameron DeWhitt. Cameron is a clawhammer banjoist and Old Time musician from Philadelphia. He has recently been touring and recording his podcast in Australia which is how I came across him.

I'll quote this from the podcast page:

Get Up in the Cool features conversations and musical collaborations with some of Old Time music's heaviest hitters, like Ken Perlman, Adam Hurt, Spencer & Rains, and Jake Blount. As an interviewer, Cameron balances an effusive curiosity for the potential of traditional music with a dogged respect for its origins. Serving as audience surrogate, Cameron asks illuminating questions to Old Time's best and brightest while telling the larger story of the tradition's modern era. 

The great thing (from my perspective) is that there is a significant, but not dauntingly huge, back catalogue to dive into already available. Even after listening to just several episodes I felt I was getting a far greater understanding not just of the music and its history but of nomenclature and other key aspects I was so far only vaguely clued into.

I've regularly listened to several podcasts on other topics in the past. Some make you feel like you are being spoken too and others (the best of them) make you feel like you are sitting in the room following along with a great conversation. Get Up in the Cool is up there with the best of them for the fly on the wall experience. For someone without access to an Old Time scene it is a godsend.

The mix of talking about the music and playing the music makes the podcast all the more useful because the discussion is not theoretical but intrinsically linked to the lived experience of the music in that moment. Its exactly what a podcast about any folk tradition should be - an extension of that folk tradition itself. This music is meant to be a small group of people sitting together and sharing songs and stories and that is exactly what Cameron has created with this podcast.

After learning about the podcast at Dorigo I started working my way though the early episodes as well as catching the new ones. I also dropped by when He was performing at a Newcastle pub last weekend. I grabbed this short take with my phone as the night was winding down: 



You can get to the podcast here or if you are reading on an iPhone just click here.

I also grabbed a couple of CD's from Cameron so I expect I'll post a "Now Playing" post(s) related to those at some point.

Now Playing: John and Jamie Hartford - Hartford & Hartford (1991)

This fantastic thrift store find set me back $2 (US$1.40, €1.27, £1.14) a few month ago.

Hartford & Hartford is a 1991 album by Grammy Award winning composer, fiddle, and banjo player John Hartford and his son, mandolin player, Jamie Hartford.

From my reading online folk, country, and bluegrass musician John Hartford had a major influential on contemporary roots music before and after his death in 2001. Among the musicians he inspired his was his son Jamie Hartford. What little I could find online suggests that while Jamie has gone on to emulate his father in musicianship they do have some distinctive differences in style. It seems both have significant music catalogues I'll need to dive into.

This album features three songs composed by Jamie and one by John as well as covers of "When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland" A. P. Carter, "Love Grown Cold" by Johnny Bond, "Run Little Rabbit" by David Akeman and "Killing Floor" by Howlin' Wolf. There is also an arrangement by John of the traditional "Sweet Sunny South".

Highlights include the irreverent "She's Still Gonna Break Your Heart" by Jamie Hartford complete with the lines:

It's a dangerous world we live in, So you'd better keep up your guard. You can have all the safe sex you want to, But she's still gonna break your heart. 

Musically the stand out is "Painful Memories" also by Jamie and "New Love" by John.

My ear is perhaps not as finely tunes as others to picking out (no pun intended) the quality of the musicianship on banjo and mandolin from one album to the next but this seems very fine to me. While I generally favour the bluegrass over the countryesque tunes there is nothing on this album I feel compelled to skip.

It seems the album is not available on Spoitify but is in the iTunes store so get it there or hope you get lucky like me at your local thrift shop.

A Few Photos: Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival

Now Playing: Charlie & Jensen - Whisky Before Breakfast. (2017)

Definitely one of the highlights of the recent Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival was the multi-instrumental duo of Charlie & Jensen. Hunter Beasley (Charlie) and Luke Wright (Jensen) combine Bluegrass and Folk with hints of Classical and Jazz to a collection of vocal originals and instrumental traditional tunes.

Between Luke's century old Gibson mandocello and Hunter's tenor guitar they created some instant intrigue from the outset of their Saturday morning set at Dorrigo. The first song had only just finished when a voice form the audience called out "What instruments are you playing?" Cue them inviting every one to attend their afternoon workshop "A close look at the Mandolin Family".

During the set the guys revealed that they had bonded over the traditional favourite Whisky Before Breakfast, inspiring them to make it the title track of their debut album, before treating the crowed to a frenetic version of the piece. Throughout the performance (and album) Luke switched between the mandocello and guitar while Hunter's tenor guitar made way for the mandolin. The multiple combinations of these four adds real variety to the sound from the first note of each song. With guitar and tenor guitar on one song being replaced by mandocello and tenor guitar on the next then mandocello and mandolin and then guitar with mandolin they likewise blended bluegrass with gypsy jazz one minute and classical with folk the next.

Having picked up the CD at the festival it has gone directly to the top of my rotation of music this week. The album is a collection of single take recordings. As well as the title track, Whisky Before Breakfast, it features other traditional sets Billy In The Lowground, Cherokee Shuffle and Big Sciota. These are combined to good effect with several fantastic original tunes. Finest among these is the subtly named Serenade In F# and toe tapping A' Scarlinatella. 

The album is available on all the usual places online (or you can just listen to it right here below.)

Saturday afternoon session at the Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival 2018

Last weekend I was at the Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival and I took a 360 camera with me. There was a little session going so I set my camera down next to action a got a great little set of what to my inexperienced ear sounds like Cherokee Shuffle.

About half way through the group was joined by Hunter Beasley (Charlie) and Luke Wright (Jensen) of band Charlie & Jensen who were performing at the festival. The video is below. Its a 360 degree video so you can 'click and drag' on the video to 'look around'.

The Mandocello Luke Wright is playing in the video got a lot of attention on the weekend both from those who wanted to know "what is that you are playing?" and those you knew it for what it was - a 100 year old Gibson Mandocello.

I'll post more on Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival and Charlie & Jensen soon. But for now here is the video:

Current I'm:

• Setting up the blog.
• Listening to some music
• Reading some more about Folk and Bluegrass
• Writing some posts.

ShadyWinds - A Folk and Bluegrass blog by a guy you who doesn't now much a about Folk and Bluegrass but knows what he likes.

What purpose does a blog have anyway?

There are many blogs and websites made by people who know a lot about the blogs subject. Some of these sites have wide readerships, some don't. According to one statistical news source for tech stats there were around 350 million blogs on just one common hosting site alone in 2017. Who is reading most of them do you think? I suspect that most common reader on at least 349 million of them is: The same person who is writing them. So I have to wonder what is the purpose of YOU writing a blog about a topic YOU know a lot about if the main reader will be YOU.

It seems to me the best topic for ME to blog about is a topic I like but do not know much about that way MY main reader, namely ME, will benefit from what I write and then read.

I'm sure at some point some random will wander by and read something I've written here. I've blogged before and that happened from time to time. This blog, however, is for me. It will be diary and notebook of my journey exploring Folk and Bluegrass - the music, its history and future.

Current I'm:

• Setting up the blog.
• Listening to some music
• Reading some more about Folk and Bluegrass
• Writing some posts.