Podcasts by Banjo Hangout Top 100 Clawhammer and Old-Time Songs
Top 100 Clawhammer and Old-Time Songs banjo songs which Banjo Hangout members have uploaded to the website.
Further podcasts by Banjo Hangout Members
Podcast on the topic Musik
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Midnight on the Water from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.846904
My submission 12/4/09 for Tuna the Week. A Texas waltz written around the turn of the 20th Century.
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Cousin Sally Brown from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.833488
A tune learned from the playing of North Carolina fiddler Marcus Martin (1881 - 1974). I hear a sad and serious melody.
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Cluck Old Hen from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.827739
Clawhammer style, gDGCD (relative). 1964 Gibson RB-175.
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Little Rabbit from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.759373
Little Rabbit in Double C tuning on a Wildwood.
The Virginia Reel from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.758316
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Alonzo Janes from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.755644
This fantastic little tune comes from Illinois fiddler Mel Durham, and his family got the tune from an ex-slave named Alonzo Janes. The original name of the tune eluded Mel, so it's now named afte...
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Sally in the Garden from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.674754
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High on a Mountain (TOTW) from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.658228
Based on Ola Belle Reed's version for which you can read a lot of background on the Tune of the Week for 1/8/21. I used to think it was a bluegrass song, but it was old-time first.
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Shenadoah Falls from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.656030
Paul Perkins on the 5 string and me on the fiddle. Recorded in my kitchen on a Tascam DR-05
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Rollin' and Tumblin' from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.655171
My friends Kent McDaniel and Tawl Paul Fredrick made a CD of Paul singing mostly blues with rock band backup. They asked me to provide some banjo licks for this Muddy Waters song. The CD is availa...
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Beaumont Rag from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.642781
The recording was made around 1975, at a concert at the First Unitarian Church in Harvard Square. We called ourselves the Beaumont String Band. The mandolin
player was Rose Zak, a young lady...
Home Sweet Home from Clifftop 2012 from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.638743
For a region that has seen generations of young people move away to find work in far away auto plants and steel mills, and in uniform, the song Home Sweet Home has a deep meaning lost on most of us...
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Mulberry Gap (TOTW) from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.636375
Passed down through generations, northern Georgia banjo player Chesley Chancey (1913 - 1980) passed the tune Mulberry Gap from his grandfather on to Stephen Wade in 1979 while Art Rosenbaum recorde...
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Boys, Them Buzzards Are Flyin' from Clifftop 2011 from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.635418
I had a nice jam session early on at Clifftop this year with my good friend Tim Rowell (clawhammertim here on the Hangout and on YouTube). Tim has established and now runs the Traditional Music Pr...
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Pretty POLLY (Hobart Smith/fiddle - clawhammer) from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.631933
Old English ballad... but here i'm playing behind Hobart's high-octane fiddle... lot's o' fun!
Playin' a Romero in G modal tuning... and thanks for listening.
Scolding Wife (CB) from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.625453
As played by North Carolina fiddler Marion Reece (1874 - 1941). I can hear the scolding in the A part very clearly!
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Wild Bill Jones from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.622538
a quick recording I made to demonstrate some of the techniques I use to create variations of a tune. A tab and lesson are available on my website, dropthumb.com
played in open D tuning (f...
Darling Nelly Gray Kyle Creed from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.480098
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Columbus Stockade Blues from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.478592
This style of clawhammer I really only use on stage. Very little melody is played except in the break. I got this song from my dad, who got it from my grandma, who probably got it from the Osborne ...
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Country Blues/Hustling Gambler from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.471012
Dock Boggs' Country Blues/Hustling Gambler in f#CGAD tuned a half step or so low...
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Sitting on Top of the World with Wry Whiskey from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.470020
This recording was made in my living room in 1998; we called our trio Wry Whiskey. I'm picking banjo and singing, such as it is. The guitar player was Brian Clancey, who now plays in a duet wi...
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Rose Conley from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.468995
Rose Conley, 2 finger thumb lead, based on Grayson & Whittier's 1927 version, tuned a half step or so low out of standard "G"
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R.D. Lunceford's Wolves A-Howlin' from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.465546
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 6/2/17, this is R.D. Lunceford's recording from his seminal CD Drop-Thumb, 21 Clawhammer Banjo Solos. He graciously gave permission to upload it here and his ...
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Last Chance from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.464572
Such a compelling old time tune handed down to us from the great Hobart Smith. I prefer to play it at this slow groove tempo.
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Far From Home (TOTW 2/5/2021) from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.463700
TOTW for 2/5/2021. Played CH in G tuning on a Wildwood.
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Shoot That Buffalo from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.450382
Elizabeth Cotten learned this tune in 1910 from a man aged about 50. She added the words.
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Green River (TOTW) from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.449527
A fine Tune of the Week from North Carolina with a crooked part that suits the title Green River.
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Buffalo Nickel from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.448685
Upload for the Old Time TOTW for December 4, 2020. The tune is generally called Too Young to Marry, but the fiddler I learned it from called it Buffalo Nickel.
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Sweet Nell (TOTW) from 2022-02-21T15:31:39.444921
For the old-time Tune of the Week, Sweet Nell is the title name of a CD by a Washington-based group who wrote the tunes. The tune is named for Nell, the daughter of Paul Newman, partners in a char...
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Shaking Down The Acorns-G Modal from 2021-12-19T10:53:33.895793
Diller Tune played on a Reiter Standard.
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Yew Piney Mountain from 2021-12-13T15:49:59.354840
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Old Christmas Morning (French Carpenter) (TOTW) from 2021-10-26T12:20:01.985257
This archaic tune has more than one related version, but this week's old-time Tune of the Week for 12/1/17 focuses on West Virginian fiddler French Carpenter (1905 -1965). I now know why Januar...
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Gone Indian (TOTW) from 2021-10-09T00:25:05.337772
From the playing of the great Texan fiddler Bob Wills and for the old-time Tune of the Week, 9/8/17, it's a treat to have this tune with our old-time repertoire. Mac Benford plays it on banjo a...
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Georgia Railroad (TOTW) from 2021-08-15T15:13:32.548656
For the old-time Tune of the Week, Nov. 3, 2017, Georgia Railroad was popularized by Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers in the 1920's. It's been recorded many times since, sometimes with sil...
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New River Train from 2021-06-30T05:34:48.493117
Played in the key of E with banjo tuned f#(low), A(low), E, A, E. New River Train usually is played in the key of D. Played on a 1903 Fairbanks Whyte Laydie #2.
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Chapter5j - Too Young to Marry from 2021-06-02T06:19:11.716385
Part of a series of recordings based on the tablature from the book "Clawhammer Banjo" by Miles Krassen. (Instrument: Bart Reiter Round Peak)
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Lonesome Road Blues (TOTW) from 2021-04-15T03:30:04.013865
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 5/4/19, Lonesome Road Blues is also known as Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad. Check out the discussion thread for a very thorough coverage of this well-known ...
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Forty Weight of Gingerbread (TOTW) from 2021-03-12T10:07
A fun song to play and sing, Forty Weight of Gingerbread uses some floating lyrics you can cater to your own tastes. It sounds like someone has a sweet tooth!
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Cacklin' Hen with Wry Whiskey from 2021-03-05T09:19:37.964248
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...
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I Wish I was a Mole in the Ground (TOTW) from 2021-02-12T16:25
Based on Doc Watson's banjo playing, he learned this as a child from his uncle Jake Miller and said it was a courting song. It was a pleasure to look at the video, hear his banjo and vocals, an...
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Blackberry Blossom (Emma Lee Dickerson)(TOTW) from 2020-09-26T15:49
A wonderful champion fiddler, Tatiana Hargreaves, plays the Tune of the Week and bases it upon the older fiddler Emma Lee Dickerson. In an interview Tatiana claims that's her doppelg?nger, a ne...
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Old Plank Reel (TOTW) from 2020-08-14T09:49
This is the one of the versions for the old-time Tune of the Week, differing from the famous Uncle Dave Macon song. My arrangement comes from Erich Schroeder (BHO's vrteach). I wish he was sti...
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Coal Creek March from 2020-06-29T16:16
Finger picked on a newly crafted 11"walnut and pecan open back banjo in open D tuning d a f# d f#.
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Walking In The Parlor from 2020-03-21T15:36
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Wolf Creek (DOI)(TOTW) from 2020-03-13T14:51
This version of Wolf Creek is from Harvey "Pappy" Taylor (b.1894), recorded in 1974. Slowed down from the original, it makes a pretty piece in fDGCD tuning. DOI stands for Dear Old Illinois...
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Half Asleep from 2020-02-24T12:21
2 finger picking my Pisgah longneck tubaphone. Double c tuning (3 steps down because it's a longneck)
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Old Tom of Oxford (totw 1/10/2020) from 2020-01-10T06:15
Old Tom of Oxford (totw 1/10/2020). Double C tuning - CH on Wildwood banjo.
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Lovely Jane (clawhammer) from 2019-12-26T07:33
A tune I learned while playing banjo to Melvin Wine's fiddling. aDAde
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The Old Favourite - TOTW 8/30/2019 from 2019-08-30T07:49
TOTW 8/30/2019. A tuning. Clawhammer on a Wildwood Banjo.
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Hills of Mexico (TOTW) from 2019-08-17T11:44
Inspired by RG for this week's TOTW and listening to Roscoe Holcomb, Bruce Molsky, Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby, here's a version of the ballad Hills of Mexico.
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Hills of Mexico from 2019-08-15T19:48
Hills of Mexico - mix of Rosko Halcomb and Bye Hutchins lyrics, banjo tuned eC#F#BC# (fDGCD tuned down a step)
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Spring Creek Gal from 2019-06-23T13:34
played on new walnut and maple 11" open back in double C tuning
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Cuttin' At The Point from 2019-02-23T00:04
From a late night session at Rich Hartness's house in Greensboro, North Carolina in August of 2002. Rich Hartness, fiddle; Tolly Tollefson, guitar, Brendan Doyle, banjo. Complete with Rich holle...
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East Tennessee Blues from 2019-01-18T04:24
For TOTW, 1/18/2019. CH. Double C tuning. Wildwood.
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Christmas Morning (from Melvin Wine) from 2018-12-24T19:32
Played in the key of A using the "John Brown's Dream" or Low Bass tuning--a A(low) A C# E. Banjo is a Fairbanks Whyte Laydie #2.
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Mace Bell's Civil War March from 2018-10-18T18:36
Played thumb-lead two-finger style on a 1960s Paramount reso-tone. Key of G, tuned to gDGCD (sawmill tuning). TOTW for 27 July 2018
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Vance no More from 2018-08-31T06:51
Me on fretless banjo and Rory Robertie on fiddle. Even though we squared it up a bit from the original, it's still a very crooked tune.
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Blackbird Says to the Crow from 2018-06-15T20:11
Cuje Bertram version of Blackbird Says to the Crow with Paul kirk and Stephen Rapp at jam.
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Bread Puddin from 2018-05-27T16:10
Tunaday #157 - Per Anita Kermode in Zepp's site, this is "Willie Moore G/D" tuning - gDGAD.
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Last Shot Got Him from 2018-05-11T19:45
Uploaded for the Old Time Tune of the Week for May 11, 2018. From the Mississippi Possum Hunters, whose 1930 recording was a sort of homage to Mississippi John Hurt.
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Sarah Armstrong's Tune from 2018-04-17T20:30
We had a fun jam with Dan Levenson this past weekend, here in Colorado. Sarah Armstrong's Tune got plenty of play time, and I got motivated to learn it rather than always faking it. Really fun t...
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Susannah Gal (TOTW) from 2018-03-24T11:14
For the old-time Tune of the Week, March 23, 2018. Susannah Gal goes by other titles. This one comes from the duet CD of Tommy Jarrell and Fred Cockerham, both from the Round Peak, NC region. The...
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Rain on the Water from 2017-11-28T23:16
Another one of Tony Ellis' lovely 3/4 time original tunes. The cascading notes remind me of falling water. Though Tony plays 3-finger picking, I play it clawhammer style. The sound of Tony...
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Ida Red (TOTW) from 2017-11-27T09:02
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 11/24/17, Ida Red is also known as Down the Road. This is Tommy Jarrell's version. When I learned Down the Road it was Earl Scrugg's version. It's nea...
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Foggy Foggy Dew from 2017-11-19T17:16
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Double File (TOTW) from 2017-11-14T10:17
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 11/12/17, Double File was recorded by Gaither Carlton. Anything that brings me closer to Doc Watson's family makes me hapy. I added a bit of cello banjo acco...
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Old Jake Gillie from 2017-09-30T09:05
A good ol' Oscar Wright tune that I first learned from Miles Krassen's Clawhammer Banjo book, but I have set here in the Half Shaved tuning (f#DADE).
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Flying Indian from 2017-09-22T01:17
Flying Indian as based on the playing of Bruce Molsky and the Shelor Family, banjo tuned to fCFCD...
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Chinquapin Hunting from 2017-08-21T11:21
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Blind Mary from 2017-05-31T08:28
There was really a harper in Ireland called Maire Dhall (Blind Mary) who is known to have taught harp to friends of Turlough O'Carolan (1670 - 1738), so it's assumed he knew her, too. The me...
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Skillet Good and Greasy from 2017-05-18T22:54
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Step Around Johnny from 2017-04-17T16:55
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Spring Creek Gal/Moses Hoe Your Corn from 2017-04-16T09:08
My highly idiosyncratic version of Spring Creek Gal combined with my slightly idiosyncratic Moses Hoe Your Corn.
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Green Willis (TOTW) from 2017-02-10T07:25
For the old-time Tune of the Week, Green Willis is named for a fiddler from Willis, Virginia. It's also called The Raw Recruit. When it's played in slow jig time, it's called Chapel Hill...
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Season of Hope from 2016-12-23T21:06
I posted tunes the last two holiday seasons so I thought I'd do another this year. Wishing all the best to my BHO friends for the season and the new year. In Double C.
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Half Past Four with Ed Britt from 2016-07-23T02:20
This tune comes from the repertoire of famed Kentucky fiddler Ed Haley (1883-1951). Ed Britt and I recorded this back in November, 2014. Ed is picking clawhammer style on his OME Columbine, in open...
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Fair Morning Hornpipe from 2016-05-18T06:51
This cheerful tune comes from West Virginian Wilson Douglas, though I learned it from Bobby Taylor. I found it examining the very first old-time Tune of the Week dated 7/26/08 and suggested by Eri...
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Opera Reel from 2015-12-18T21:30
From an excellent jam in Tucson. Dan Levenson on fiddle, Dave Firestine on mandolin, Jerry Weinert on bass, George Flink on banjo uke, Greg Smith and Jennifer Levenson on banjo, Pete Bowers and me...
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Camp Chase (TOTW) from 2015-11-20T07:06
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 11/20/15, this version comes from West Virginia fiddler French Carpenter, grandson of Solomon Carpenter who played a tune he called Camp Chase when he was a priso...
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The Blue Goose from 2015-11-17T09:53
Played by Kentucky legendary fiddler Buddy Thomas. Every time I learn one of his tunes I feel like I'm doing extra credit homework for a master's thesis. They're always challenging -- he...
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Jake's Got a BellyAche - TOTW from 2015-11-14T15:21
A West Virginia tune from the Hammons family... which i (quickly) done learnt fer the Tune O' The Week!
Played on a Vance tu-ba-phone, primarily in 2-finger style.
Jake Gillie from 2015-04-19T14:28
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Polly Put the Kettle On (TOTW) from 2015-01-18T15:41
The old-time Tune of the Week for 1/16/15 allowed me to look at many sources. I ended up learning from Kentucky fiddler Emmett Lundy, Virginia banjo player Wade Ward, and traditional children's...
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Sourwood Mountain from 2015-01-12T13:17
I've played this one for a few years now and it has evolved into this. Good ol tune, fune to play and I like it where it is.
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Saint Anne's Reel from 2014-09-11T05:16
Fiddlescratcher (David) from FHO on fiddle. Audio file (sans banjo) originally posted to the FHO Jukebox in 2008. CH banjo accompaniment overdubbed recently by Jack Beuthin. Thanks David for all...
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Chorus Jig from 2014-04-24T08:06
Clawhammer take on trad 3 part dance tune. Supposed to be in D, but I'm in C. Wildwood.
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Reel d'Issoudun from 2013-11-30T12:59
A French-Canadian crooked tune learned from Guy Bouchard. Robin Kearton playing fiddle.
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Sleigh Ride from 2013-11-15T13:55
I re-recorded Sleigh Ride at a faster tempo and it turned out much better. Easier to play too...
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Wild Rose of the Mountain (CH) from 2013-09-22T07:09
J. P. Fraley's album with this title name has a gem of his fiddled tunes. Kentuckian J. P. was influenced greatly listening to Ed Haley as a youngster. Previously I'd arranged this with 3-f...
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Bonaparte's March from 2013-02-11T07:26
This tune comes from fiddler Harvey "Pappy" Taylor (1894-1987), of Effingham, Illinois, collected by the late Gary Harrison. I made this practice tape in 2011, playing my 1964 Ode Model 42, ...
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Shove That Pig's Foot a Little Further Into the Fire from Clifftop 2012 from 2012-08-28T10:23
This tune comes originally from North Carolina fiddler Martin Marcus (1881-1974), who recorded it for the Library of Congress in the early 40s. The rather obtuse title makes sense once you know tha...
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Old Moke Picking On The Banjo from 2012-06-21T21:36
Got this tune from BHO member Bill Reese. I really like the sound of this Sea Shanty!
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Grub Springs from 2011-11-11T11:29
Learned from a Mike Compton mandolin lesson. Its minor key makes it sound different from other versions.
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Sugar in the Gourd from Clifftop 2009 from 2011-10-28T08:33
This is my contribution to the Old Time Tune of the Week for October 28, 2011. This is a recording I made at Clifftop with my pal Don Couchie. Don is on fiddle, leaning on those double stops just...
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Fine Times at Our House from Clifftop 2011 from 2011-08-14T09:46
This is another recording made with Don Couchie on Sunday morning at Clifftop 2011, after we had packed our gear to leave. This is from the repertoire of the legendary West Virginia fiddler Edden ...
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Possum's Tail Is Bare from 2011-01-15T19:59
We find this Melvin Wine fiddle tune irresistible. A pal of mine recorded Jimmy Triplett playing it at a workshop and brought it to our attention. I'm playing my 1927 Gibson resonator banjo capoed ...
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Chandans Walkaround from 2010-07-28T16:31
By Peter David Quinn Boettcher. This is another on the 1850's Jacobs banjo.
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Rose in the Mountain with Don Couchie from 2010-03-14T19:52
BHO member Don Couchie came to Boston for a visit, and we sat right down and started picking. This is the first thing we recorded, with my little Tascam DR-1. I am playing my Tubaphone, and the o...
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