Cuckoo's Last Chance

Another good find from the recent cassette-to-computer transfer. Here I've played the Cuckoo followed by Last Chance (that occasionally dips into the Cuckoo), both in gGDGD.

Cold Frosty Morn in Central Texas

After writing about Ducks on the Frogpond, I decided to really try to figure out how to get cassette recordings on to the laptop. Turns out it isn't that hard at all, so I spent some time the other night wading through tapes and transferring. There are some good tunes and some interesting ideas that I had forgotten about. Here is one, a rendition of Cold Frosty Morn in gGDGD tuning. It's a great tuning, really low and droning, it almost sounds at times out of tune. Or maybe the sound is an archaic one, foreign to my ears while also sounding 'right'. I learned the tuning from the liner notes to the Black Twig Pickers (see Klang icon in my blog list) album called Hobo Handshake, and figured out the song from listening, listening, listening to Mike Gangloff's playing on said album. The Black Twigs are my all time favorite old time band, and to be honest, Mike Gangloff is my favorite banjo player. The Twigs, and Gangloff, are amazing to me because they often play the songs straight while at the same time exploring them, following the tunes into interesting and incredibly evocative terrain. Because of that willingness to explore, they capture the essence of old time music without simply reproducing the tunes note for note. They'll have a 7" out this Saturday for record store day, which I may review once I get it. And also on it's way to me is a cassette they recently recorded. Needless to say I'm very excited for these new sounds! About the song...one of the first banjo songs I heard that really moved me. Beautiful and lonesome, but with a certain kind of heft that makes it seem strong too. Despite the title, I've never got the feeling of a cold frosty morning when listening to it. Sometimes when I play it here in Texas, I think of it as a form of sympathetic magic, maybe by playing the song we'll have a cold frosty morning here sometime.

Valley

Another song sketch, this one in gDGDG tuning. Turns out these low tunings are really amazing to my ears. The sound makes me think of rambling down into a valley, maybe because I've been missing the motherland (Western Pennsylvania). So, the accompanying visual is a photo of Deer Valley, PA as viewed from Table Rock. I used to go camping in Deer Valley when I was younger. Table Rock is a short hike from the campground and affords a beautiful view of the area. O Pennsylvania, take me back into your lovin arms!

Old Time Radio

Recently came across this great online music resource. A really great mix of old and new. http://sugarinthegourd.com/

Working on a new painting the other night and listening to RC Johnston (Ragtime Ralph), he has a new album of reworked, reinterpreted Fahey tunes. Before I started playing banjo, I listened (and still listen) intently to Fahey, Rose etc. These guitar players are immensely influential to me, to the point of affecting how I "hear" my paintings. I know the banjo can be just as expressive an instrument as the guitar, really any instrument can be expressive if the player feels comfortable with the tuning and the layout of the instrument itself. I'm finding that I am becoming more able to play the banjo intuitively, knowing where certain sounds reside and which sounds create harmony or interesting dissonance, without having to stop and think about it. In that way, I see a direct connection between banjo playing and painting. The tuning of the banjo being equivalent to the palette I've set up to paint with, or the mindset I'm in when approaching a painting. The song or sound I follow equivalent to the image that is created on the panel. This way of playing and thinking about playing reminds me of the aforementioned guitar players. And, the other night, I recorded myself following a song around. I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and have decided to call it Take Me Back (posted below). To me the song sounds both hopeful and lost. A lament, a sad but joyous flight. I find that the most compelling banjo tunes to me sound like a conversation, and I think I captured that here. Ducks on the Frogpond...hmmm. In my neighborhood lies a water treatment facility. Near which is a beautiful, reedy pond. I walk a lot at night, and when I near the facility, a block away if not more, I can hear the sound of many, many frogs. It's easy to get lost in the different sounds they make, and I'm hoping to play banjo there soon as I think the combination would be interesting. I didn't have access to a field recorder two weeks ago (when I recorded this) so, just to see what it would sound like, I played back a recording of the frogs, during which I played a song called Ducks on the Pond. I recorded this using my hand held cassette recorder. After recording, I played the cassette back into the mic and recorded that on my laptop. I like the sound a lot, and will definitely record this way again in the future though I'll probably cut out the middle man and just find a way to upload the analog recording onto the laptop. There are at least two songs about ducks and ponds. Ducks on the Pond (the song played here) is a really interesting tune that to me feels both kind of sticky and sharp but also rolling and fluid. I learned it from the Miles Krassen clawhammer book, he learned it from the fiddling of Henry Reed. The other is called Ducks on the Millpond. I am most familiar with Tommy Jarrell's playing of that tune. I've learned how to play it, but find the Reed version more interesting, though of course Jarrell's playing is amazing as always. Later I'll post both versions and have a thing or two to say about them.

Twofer Tuesday! (on Thursday)

Learned a new song (more or less) recently, Last Cold Whiskey by Paul Brown. The song is in an amazing tuning f#DF#AD, which sounds so beautiful to me, perfect balance between growl and coo. And the song is beautiful too. I added a few things of my own to Brown's composition, because that's what we do. Usually when I try out a new tuning I see what other songs, not written for that tuning, sound like and often times come up with interesting results. So I tried Speckled Dog (writ by myself) and turns out it was made for this tuning (for now). So here are two recordings made this morning in the aforementioned tuning. A little rough, but that's the way I like my old time music.