The hits just keep on comin! Here's an interesting one. I first heard it on the amazing album 'Come Back Boys & Feed the Horses' by Christian Wig and Mark Ward. Mr. Wig plays it solo fiddle on the album.
My next encounter with the song was via the internet, Tim Rowell plays an excellent version and his website offers up a tab for the tune.
Tim mentions that he heard it on the Banjo Gathering album as played by Tom Sauber. Banjo Gathering is another astounding album, go get it!!!
Christian Wig plays it as 'Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (Bonaparte's March)' whereas the other sources mentioned above call it 'Bell's March'.
What I've gathered from various sources is that the tune was originally published in Baltimore in the 1820s, and after being played for a time was made popular as 'Bell's March' by the Texas fiddler P.T. Bell, who named it 'Mace Bell's Civil War March' in honor of his father who served in the Confederate States of America during the war.
No matter what you call it, it's a beautiful tune. Here I've played it on the fretless banjo with nylgut strings, tuned eBEAB. 

Shady Grove

Tune #2 of the week; this one is an old standard. I've always liked Shady Grove, but never really fell in love with it until I heard Wade Ward playing it on John Cohen's 'High Atmosphere' lp. I have to say, I absolutely love Wade Ward's style of playing. He plays with a direct, driving rhythm but in no way sacrifices the subtlety of a tune.
To be honest I haven't ever looked into a history of this one as it just seems to have already existed in my consciousness. I'll post more when I dig a little deeper.

Wade Ward

Charleston Girls

 I have some time off during the holidays so I'm going to try to record some new tunes. Here is a nicely scrappy playing of Charleston Girls, which is a song I've been really liking a lot recently. I've been keeping notes about the songs I have learned, here is what I've written so far about this tune.... Learned initially from R.D. Lunceford's 'Cotton Blossom' book. His version is based on the song as it appears in Phil Rice's 'Correct Method for Banjo, With or Without a Master' published in 1858. The tune has a nice swing to it, kind of dancey. I sort of memorized it a while ago, forgot it then it suddenly popped into my head recently and I've been much more interested in it as of late.

In my 'Treasury of American Folklore' book it appears under the 'Negro Folk Song' section with the following lyrics:

As I walked down the new-cut road,
I met the tap and then the toad,
The toad commenced to whistle and sing,
and the possum cut the pigeon wing.

Along come an old man riding by,
Old man if you don't mind your horse will die,
If he dies I'll tan his skin,
And if he lives I'll ride him again,

Chorus: Hi ho for Charleston girls X3
Charleston girls are the girls for me

As I went walking down the street,
Up steps Charleston girls to take a walk with me,
I kep a walking and they kep a talking,
Danced with a gal with a hole in her stocking,

Chorus

The Haints also play it, with different lyrics. The second part of their version sounds a lot like the song 'Texas'.

It's been a while since I've posted anything, I hope this makes up for it. A few days ago I had a great time at the AFTM sponsored Squaredance and Swap at the HOPE farmer's market. This painting was initially intended to be my swap item, but after it was finished I was reluctant to part with it so quickly. Maybe it'll get swapped next time! It is a 12"x12" Oil on Canvas portrait of two of my favorite banjo players, Mike Gangloff and Nathan Bowles, both of the Black Twig Pickers. The setting is a place made up of pieces of landscape from back home in Pennsylvania. 'Lost Up the Holler' is the name of a song from one of the Black Twigs' albums-Midnight Has Come and Gone-which is a stunner that I highly recommend everyone on earth listen to daily.