This weekend we had fun visiting long lost cousins and playing a gig (which was an actual 'concert') last Sunday night in Milbank, SD. A huge part of the weekend was absorbing stories and reconnecting with cousins (most of whom I haven't seen for many years). The cousins range in age from 55 to 75 and they have many kids and grandkids. It was interesting to see how many of the extended family were musicians and/or computer people. I found that my cousin Tom and I still had much in common - Tom's the same age as I am and the cousin with whom I spent the most time with as a kid. He's an engineer who's worked with computers but is really a 'rocket scientist' (working for Raytheon as a system architect designing missiles etc) - he also plays guitar and sings a true high tenor. At the Sunday concert he joined Lynn, Marly and me in my computer geek gospel tune 'God 2.0'.
At the concert we did 4 numbers with the Dixon Family Singers -- Marly, Jody and Erin did a number -- Erin, Joceclyn & Jenny sang a hymn with Lynn on piano -- and Lynn & I did about a dozen from our old time repertoire. (Marly is my brother-in-law, the others are nieces).
We saw some flyers that were produced using the Bob&Lynn myspace picture - we were billed as the award winning "Dixon Family" Bluegrass Band from Shakopee, Minnesota. I tried to set a few things straight on our introduction. After the concert we found out that this was set up by my cousins' church's Worship committee. Lynn was worried that it wasn't religious enough, but I thought we did just fine - we had a number of straight gospel numbers and closed with 'Give me Jesus' and Amazing Grace.
During the performance, I thought it was a little hard to read the audience (not that I'm necessarily a good audience reader), but we got plenty of kind words from our very musical cousins plus I got good comments from non-relatives after the concert. There were maybe 150 or more people (they had to bring extra chairs) and we sold the most demo CDs we ever have (13) - of course half of those sold were probably to relatives.
One women told me she really enjoyed hearing 'When the Work's All done this Fall' - her father was from Tennessee and used to sing this when she was a child. I also had a man come up to me to make sure he had the title right for the guitar tune I did (Bonaparte crossing the Rhine).
This was a good performing experience for Lynn and me and we had lots of fun doing the family group numbers. As a final note, it was gratifying that a mostly traditional 'old-time' concert can resonate with a 'general' audience.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Getting Ready for the 'gig' in Milbank, SD this weekend
There are many ways of getting gigs, but having your cousin Phylis hear you and your family rehearsing music for your mother's funeral is a new one for me. My mother died a year ago last March from Alzheimer's and there was plenty of music at her funeral. Lynn and I aren't the only musicians in the family, so we did music with my siblings, inlaws and nieces and nephews - a few songs featured the 'Dixon family band & chorus'. Phylis started talking to some of her sisters who still lived in SD and we've ended up with a gig in Milbank this weekend. (6:00pm Sunday at the Methodist church - open to all if you're in Milbank).
My Dad's two older sister's married two farmers who farmed near Milbank, SD. One family had 8 kids and the other 10. They now range in age from 50 to 75 and have kids and grandkids of their own. When I was a kid I spent many summers at the farm and spent a lot of time with my cousin Tom who is the same age. So part of this weekend is a family reunion: I saw some folk at my Mom's funeral but many I haven't seen for 15-20 years or longer. My cousin Shirley is arranging a tour of Milbank 'hi-lights' on Sunday Afternoon, this includes my grandparents 'retirement' home in Twin Brooks, SD (a blip on the map). I mainly remember that my grandmother kept chickens... and I used to build 'traps' for them.
Shirley will direct a 'cousins' choir which last performed when her father (My uncle Henry) turned 80. (That was a while ago (15 years?) - he was the last survivor of that generation and died a few years later: but was still vigorous for his 80th). The choir will perform at church and the Dixon family singers may do a number as well as a preview for Sunday night's performance.
The 'gig' itself is at 6:00 on Sunday the 22nd at the fellowship hall in the Methodist Church in Milbank. My impression is that this is a regular or semi-regular occurrence as there is a somewhat set idea of how it goes: thus, we'll play for about an hour, then we'll break for an intermission (where they 'pass the hat') than we play a short 20 minute set to finish up.
We're gonna do about four Dixon Family Band/Chorus numbers. There are also a couple of numbers that Lynn and I will do with Marly (our brother-in-law) and Kim ( our niece). As well, Kim will do one of her pieces and Marly, Kim and Erin( Kim's sister) plan to do a number. We'll be closing with the Dixon Family band leading the whole audience in Amazing Grace. (My cousins have a number of strong voices as well, so we should have a nice big sound to finish).
Lynn and I will fill out the set (which comes out to around a dozen songs). Some of the songs we plan to do that we haven't done recently are:
My Old Cottage Home: I learned this originally from Big Medicine but I've also been listening to a couple of source versions so it has evolved. I know the original is probably some mountain cabin, but going to see my grandparents old house (which is a cottage-style) brought this one to mind.
Going to the West: one of Lynn songs - she's using Kate Brislin's version as a starting point. One of the few duets where I'm playing mandolin. (We hope to add more). South Dakota is west of Minnesota, but Milbank is pretty close to the MN border.
When the Work's All Done this Fall: a cowboy song that I've played forever - I think I originally finger-picked it in A, but lately I've been flat-picking - recently moved it from C to D. It hasn't been part of the bob-i-lynn repertoire but I think we're getting it into shape.
We are doing one song we've learned recently:
What are They Doing in Heaven Today: like any large family, there have been many losses. In fact cousin Phylis couldn't stay for my Mom's funeral because she was on the way to the funeral of one of her sisters' son - (it was a sad time). I heard Riley Baugus do this a while back and thought it would be a good one to do in Milbank. At Lanesboro I got Washington Phillips doing the original (from the 30's). I'm finger-picking in F (Guitar in Drop D, capo on the 3rd fret). Lynn is adding fiddle and harmony. We performed at our church and it went well. As a gospel song I like it 'cause you get to sing about heaven without dying first.
We've also got a Swedish fiddle tune and flatpick Guitar number planned as well as the gospel song I wrote for Computer Geeks:
God 2.0: this has played well at Unitarian and Congregational churches, we'll see how a probably more conservative audience takes to it (on the other hand, some of my cousins went into very technical fields, working for NASA or something similar) so I'm guessing they'll like it just fine. We'll be performing this with Marly and Kim.
We'll be bringing our sound system and my 16 year old nephew will be running it. Marly and Cindy hopes that it helps keep him interested in a trip that otherwise is just seeing a bunch of relatives. (I recall family trips as a teen-ager, not always my first choice in ways to spend my free time).
My Dad's two older sister's married two farmers who farmed near Milbank, SD. One family had 8 kids and the other 10. They now range in age from 50 to 75 and have kids and grandkids of their own. When I was a kid I spent many summers at the farm and spent a lot of time with my cousin Tom who is the same age. So part of this weekend is a family reunion: I saw some folk at my Mom's funeral but many I haven't seen for 15-20 years or longer. My cousin Shirley is arranging a tour of Milbank 'hi-lights' on Sunday Afternoon, this includes my grandparents 'retirement' home in Twin Brooks, SD (a blip on the map). I mainly remember that my grandmother kept chickens... and I used to build 'traps' for them.
Shirley will direct a 'cousins' choir which last performed when her father (My uncle Henry) turned 80. (That was a while ago (15 years?) - he was the last survivor of that generation and died a few years later: but was still vigorous for his 80th). The choir will perform at church and the Dixon family singers may do a number as well as a preview for Sunday night's performance.
The 'gig' itself is at 6:00 on Sunday the 22nd at the fellowship hall in the Methodist Church in Milbank. My impression is that this is a regular or semi-regular occurrence as there is a somewhat set idea of how it goes: thus, we'll play for about an hour, then we'll break for an intermission (where they 'pass the hat') than we play a short 20 minute set to finish up.
We're gonna do about four Dixon Family Band/Chorus numbers. There are also a couple of numbers that Lynn and I will do with Marly (our brother-in-law) and Kim ( our niece). As well, Kim will do one of her pieces and Marly, Kim and Erin( Kim's sister) plan to do a number. We'll be closing with the Dixon Family band leading the whole audience in Amazing Grace. (My cousins have a number of strong voices as well, so we should have a nice big sound to finish).
Lynn and I will fill out the set (which comes out to around a dozen songs). Some of the songs we plan to do that we haven't done recently are:
My Old Cottage Home: I learned this originally from Big Medicine but I've also been listening to a couple of source versions so it has evolved. I know the original is probably some mountain cabin, but going to see my grandparents old house (which is a cottage-style) brought this one to mind.
Going to the West: one of Lynn songs - she's using Kate Brislin's version as a starting point. One of the few duets where I'm playing mandolin. (We hope to add more). South Dakota is west of Minnesota, but Milbank is pretty close to the MN border.
When the Work's All Done this Fall: a cowboy song that I've played forever - I think I originally finger-picked it in A, but lately I've been flat-picking - recently moved it from C to D. It hasn't been part of the bob-i-lynn repertoire but I think we're getting it into shape.
We are doing one song we've learned recently:
What are They Doing in Heaven Today: like any large family, there have been many losses. In fact cousin Phylis couldn't stay for my Mom's funeral because she was on the way to the funeral of one of her sisters' son - (it was a sad time). I heard Riley Baugus do this a while back and thought it would be a good one to do in Milbank. At Lanesboro I got Washington Phillips doing the original (from the 30's). I'm finger-picking in F (Guitar in Drop D, capo on the 3rd fret). Lynn is adding fiddle and harmony. We performed at our church and it went well. As a gospel song I like it 'cause you get to sing about heaven without dying first.
We've also got a Swedish fiddle tune and flatpick Guitar number planned as well as the gospel song I wrote for Computer Geeks:
God 2.0: this has played well at Unitarian and Congregational churches, we'll see how a probably more conservative audience takes to it (on the other hand, some of my cousins went into very technical fields, working for NASA or something similar) so I'm guessing they'll like it just fine. We'll be performing this with Marly and Kim.
We'll be bringing our sound system and my 16 year old nephew will be running it. Marly and Cindy hopes that it helps keep him interested in a trip that otherwise is just seeing a bunch of relatives. (I recall family trips as a teen-ager, not always my first choice in ways to spend my free time).
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Old Time Music (more)
I remember reading an article about the fact that a musician listens to music 'differently' from other people and that even musicians differ if they are listening to a piece which features 'their instrument': the example given was a trumpet player listening to a trumpet concerto. I couldn't find that article, but this link explores similar themes: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/arts/music/31thom.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=d43df0d955119e0c&ex=1184904000
Listening to old time music affects the brain similarly, especially listening to 'source' music that was originally on 78s. As you listen more you start hearing the 'music' and not the limited acoustics of the medium. You also start hearing it differently from some one who is not familiar with this type of music.
Many of the songs that I've learned I heard originally from a 'secondary' source. In the last couple years I've started to listen to more original sources and often can compare several newer and older versions of the same songs. On a Troublesome Creek CD, a group we heard at last year's Winter Bluegrass Weekend, they list the group they originally heard do a song and the 'older' source. I'll do something similar with a few songs that Lynn and I perform. (Future CD liner notes?)
My Old Cottage Home: I learned this originally from Big Medicine (from the CD Too Old to be Controlled). On their version, the lead is sung by LaNelle Davis, their bass player at the time. I switched the key to G to fit my vocal range with Lynn and I singing 'full' duet on both voice and chorus. I also have the Carter family version and a 78 version on MP3 by John McGhee. (An aside, I saw Big Medicine again with a new bass player, and with a male vocalist, they were now singing it in G - the chorus as I recall is closer to John McGhee's version). I recently listened to all of the versions I had and also the one we did for our demo CD: on the demo we're doing it slower than any other version, although we've currently upped the tempo a bit. I also developed a Carter-style break and intro which I do in a low and higher octave. (This is one of the reasons I think I started doing - in G, the melody fits on the low strings in standard tuning - many of the 'low' breaks that Maybelle does are on a low-tuned guitar (1 to 1&1/2 steps lower than standard)). On Big Medicine's version, they feature mandolin, John McGhee's version features the fiddle and on the Carter Family version, AP is singing the lead and it sounds like Maybelle is doing finger style guitar. I know that if I had just heard the Carter Family version, I probably wouldn't have learned the song. I'm not a reconstructionist per se, and almost every song that I learn has something in it that appeals to me in a 'present-day' sort of way. I first heard this song when my mother was in a nursing home with Alzheimer's so the 2nd verse (with a reference to 'my mothers prayers') probably influenced my deciding to learn it. She died a year and a half ago so the 3rd verse also resonates ('one-by-one they have left that old cottage home'). We did it most recently in our South Dakota concert after paying a visit to my grandparents 'cottage home' in Twin Brooks, SD. In any event, the way Lynn and I currently do My Old Cottage Home differs considerably from Big Medicine's version as well as from the 'original' sources.
Lonesome Pine Special: I heard this first on a Hazel Dickens LP from the '70's on which she had two different 'bands' accompany her - one was a traditional country band, the other was Norman and Nancy Blake during their Rising Fawn String Band Period (sort of Baroque old time). The original appeal was partly Norman's rolling guitar breaks and the kind of sound they provided. Unfortunately, he was doing it in G position (key of B-flat) which suited Hazel's range, but not mine. Even open G was a bit high, so I ended up doing it in the key of F playing in C position with the capo on the 5th fret (Lynn plays in D with Capo on 3rd fret). This is case where the 'tune' has just as much appeal as the words, although since we were learning it during the 2004 election, some of our political friends turned the chorus "take me back to Texas" to 'send him back to Texas". I have also heard the original Carter family do this, but I haven't spent much time to listening to either version since I first learned it. Lynn and I sing full duet-mode for the verses and chorus and our current tempo is considerably faster than Hazel's version. Lynn has also worked out some neat bass runs (this is on our demo CD and myspace page so take a listen). We like it as an set opener and we've also used it for the duet contest.
Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow: This is a Carter family song which I learned from the original Carter family version. I changed the arrangement slightly to use the title verse as the chorus (this is the last verse of the original). The last time I heard Foghorn play, they had added this to their repertoire, but I don't think they've recorded it yet (there version is different from ours, but they do have 'ain't gonna work' as a chorus). I learned the song because it matches my career goal (i.e. to retire or quit the day job). Although, Lynn points out that this guy who has 'lost the girl' is only gonna miss a day or two of work. I'm not too familiar with other versions, although I've heard at least one 'happy days' version on the radio where the guy's gonna miss work because he's getting 'married', not because the girl has 'gone and turned her back on me'. One of the things that I like about our version is that the guitar breaks I do are pretty close to old-time guitar bass runs. This is another one where Lynn and I do full duet treatment through-out and it is up-tempo so we can use it as a 'break' from some of our slower tunes.
Since Lynn and I are often singing to audiences that are not 'old time audiences', I like the fact that our treatment of an old time song seems to connect with people with different musical backgrounds. Like other groups, the Bob-i-Lynn band has a certain sound. If I hear a tune and especially a song from an band that I'm familiar with, I can usually identify the band even if I haven't heard the song before. This is true for contemporary old time bands such as Foghorn or Uncle Earl or some earlier groups like the Carter Family, Charlie Poole or the Delmore Brothers.
I'm probably too ADD to ever learn a guitar break or song exactly as it is played, although I do a number of things that are pretty close. Any song that I end up learning is something that I know I'm going to have to 'practice' dozens if not hundreds of times, so if it ends up in the repertoire it's gonna be something that I personally like a lot - there are many, many songs that I've started to learn that just don't hold up. Once I learn a song, I usually don't go back to compare it to the original - and when I do hear the original, I am always struck by how different our version has become.
Listening to old time music affects the brain similarly, especially listening to 'source' music that was originally on 78s. As you listen more you start hearing the 'music' and not the limited acoustics of the medium. You also start hearing it differently from some one who is not familiar with this type of music.
Many of the songs that I've learned I heard originally from a 'secondary' source. In the last couple years I've started to listen to more original sources and often can compare several newer and older versions of the same songs. On a Troublesome Creek CD, a group we heard at last year's Winter Bluegrass Weekend, they list the group they originally heard do a song and the 'older' source. I'll do something similar with a few songs that Lynn and I perform. (Future CD liner notes?)
My Old Cottage Home: I learned this originally from Big Medicine (from the CD Too Old to be Controlled). On their version, the lead is sung by LaNelle Davis, their bass player at the time. I switched the key to G to fit my vocal range with Lynn and I singing 'full' duet on both voice and chorus. I also have the Carter family version and a 78 version on MP3 by John McGhee. (An aside, I saw Big Medicine again with a new bass player, and with a male vocalist, they were now singing it in G - the chorus as I recall is closer to John McGhee's version). I recently listened to all of the versions I had and also the one we did for our demo CD: on the demo we're doing it slower than any other version, although we've currently upped the tempo a bit. I also developed a Carter-style break and intro which I do in a low and higher octave. (This is one of the reasons I think I started doing - in G, the melody fits on the low strings in standard tuning - many of the 'low' breaks that Maybelle does are on a low-tuned guitar (1 to 1&1/2 steps lower than standard)). On Big Medicine's version, they feature mandolin, John McGhee's version features the fiddle and on the Carter Family version, AP is singing the lead and it sounds like Maybelle is doing finger style guitar. I know that if I had just heard the Carter Family version, I probably wouldn't have learned the song. I'm not a reconstructionist per se, and almost every song that I learn has something in it that appeals to me in a 'present-day' sort of way. I first heard this song when my mother was in a nursing home with Alzheimer's so the 2nd verse (with a reference to 'my mothers prayers') probably influenced my deciding to learn it. She died a year and a half ago so the 3rd verse also resonates ('one-by-one they have left that old cottage home'). We did it most recently in our South Dakota concert after paying a visit to my grandparents 'cottage home' in Twin Brooks, SD. In any event, the way Lynn and I currently do My Old Cottage Home differs considerably from Big Medicine's version as well as from the 'original' sources.
Lonesome Pine Special: I heard this first on a Hazel Dickens LP from the '70's on which she had two different 'bands' accompany her - one was a traditional country band, the other was Norman and Nancy Blake during their Rising Fawn String Band Period (sort of Baroque old time). The original appeal was partly Norman's rolling guitar breaks and the kind of sound they provided. Unfortunately, he was doing it in G position (key of B-flat) which suited Hazel's range, but not mine. Even open G was a bit high, so I ended up doing it in the key of F playing in C position with the capo on the 5th fret (Lynn plays in D with Capo on 3rd fret). This is case where the 'tune' has just as much appeal as the words, although since we were learning it during the 2004 election, some of our political friends turned the chorus "take me back to Texas" to 'send him back to Texas". I have also heard the original Carter family do this, but I haven't spent much time to listening to either version since I first learned it. Lynn and I sing full duet-mode for the verses and chorus and our current tempo is considerably faster than Hazel's version. Lynn has also worked out some neat bass runs (this is on our demo CD and myspace page so take a listen). We like it as an set opener and we've also used it for the duet contest.
Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow: This is a Carter family song which I learned from the original Carter family version. I changed the arrangement slightly to use the title verse as the chorus (this is the last verse of the original). The last time I heard Foghorn play, they had added this to their repertoire, but I don't think they've recorded it yet (there version is different from ours, but they do have 'ain't gonna work' as a chorus). I learned the song because it matches my career goal (i.e. to retire or quit the day job). Although, Lynn points out that this guy who has 'lost the girl' is only gonna miss a day or two of work. I'm not too familiar with other versions, although I've heard at least one 'happy days' version on the radio where the guy's gonna miss work because he's getting 'married', not because the girl has 'gone and turned her back on me'. One of the things that I like about our version is that the guitar breaks I do are pretty close to old-time guitar bass runs. This is another one where Lynn and I do full duet treatment through-out and it is up-tempo so we can use it as a 'break' from some of our slower tunes.
Since Lynn and I are often singing to audiences that are not 'old time audiences', I like the fact that our treatment of an old time song seems to connect with people with different musical backgrounds. Like other groups, the Bob-i-Lynn band has a certain sound. If I hear a tune and especially a song from an band that I'm familiar with, I can usually identify the band even if I haven't heard the song before. This is true for contemporary old time bands such as Foghorn or Uncle Earl or some earlier groups like the Carter Family, Charlie Poole or the Delmore Brothers.
I'm probably too ADD to ever learn a guitar break or song exactly as it is played, although I do a number of things that are pretty close. Any song that I end up learning is something that I know I'm going to have to 'practice' dozens if not hundreds of times, so if it ends up in the repertoire it's gonna be something that I personally like a lot - there are many, many songs that I've started to learn that just don't hold up. Once I learn a song, I usually don't go back to compare it to the original - and when I do hear the original, I am always struck by how different our version has become.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Old Time Music (part 2)
Most of the 'traditional' or 0ld-time songs that I know were originally learned using secondary sources. My first exposure to this type of music was in high school during the 'folk boom'. I listened to Peter Paul & Mary, Kingston Trio... groups like that. With a couple of other high school buddies I was in a 'folk trio' with Guitar, Banjo and Bass. We played at 'hootenanny's', etc and we even made $90 once playing at a supermarket parking lot. In college, I also got into Doc Watson, Tom Paxton as well as the Beatles and other 'pop' groups. I also spent time in the summer going to a coffee house in Minneapolis and hearing Dave Ray, Leo Kottke and Blind Bill Lucas.
When Lynn and I moved to Minneapolis in 1970 (after a year of teaching high school in Montana), I started working as a bartender at the Black Forest Inn. There were some musicians among the regulars and workers who would get together and jam. One of the cooks did John Prine songs, a sculptor (Bruce Thomas) knew some Carter Family tunes, Noel Johnson sang blues tunes and I did some Doc Watson and other folks songs (Jesse James, Wabash Cannonball, etc). I did a few nursing home gigs with a college friend and Lynn and I did some duets (like Paxton's "last thing on my mind"). We lived in a house with a bunch of college friends - one of whom had a Green Brier Boys Album which is where I think I got 'Life is like a Mountain Railroad' and 'Amelia Earhart'.
In the 1970's there was a fairly vibrant acoustic music 'scene' in Mpls, especially on the West Bank, but I didn't really get into it; however, I do have a couple of LPs from era: Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn, etc. I've since gotten to know some of the musicians who were part of that scene, like Bob Douglas & Adam Granger (who were on the early Prairie Home Companion shows). Note that a lot of my listening in the 70's was to pop-folk singers like Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac.
I also turned my focus to classical guitar: taking lessons and Music Theory classes at the U of M. In 1976 or so, a guitarist friend who had achieved what I was going for (MFA or some such), started looking for work in academia - he couldn't find anything so he took a job as a manager at a Perkins restaurant. So when the Black Forest decided they needed a front-in manager, I took the job and quit school (and gradually started playing more folk-oriented guitar).
In the 80's I was again busy with school (training for a software programming job) and kids (Alex born in 1978, Tommy in 1985). In 1986 or 1987 the church Lynn was going to started a variety show called 'The Lynnhurst Home Companion' - Lynn and I with a couple other musicians from church formed the 'Hot Dish String Band' which was the house band for the show. Every year we did 3 or 4 numbers including 'hokey' gospel numbers like 'Drop Kick Me Jesus' or 'We need a whole lot more of Jesus and a lot less rock and roll', but also one or tow folk and blue grass tunes. At these shows Lynn and I would usually do a duet as well.
This got me listening to more acoustic music and on the lookout for 'songs to sing': both for 'Hot Dish' and for the Bob-i-Lynn duet. I started getting CDs by Hot Rise, Laurie Lewis, Alison Krauss (before 'o brother' made her a relative mega-star) and other 'mainstream' bluegrass groups. We joined MBOTMA and started going to the August Bluegrass festival (where we started being 'exposed' to old time music as well as bluegrass ). In the early 90's Lynn and I took a couple of Bluegrass Jam classes with Brian Wicklund and Kevin Barnes (then members of Stoney Lonesome).
Of course, since MBOTMA is a bluegrass and oldtime music association, Lynn and I were also exposed to old time groups like Big Hoedown, Reeltime travelers and musicians like Bruce Molsky and Rayna Gellert -- we also started catching some of these groups when they came to Mpls to play at venues like the Cedar -- and I started adding "old-time" CDs to my collection.
During the dotcom boom my company split in two and I went with the 'dotcom' company - with the bust in 2001, I was laid off but was fortunately hired by the 'software' side and resumed work within 3 weeks. During my 'career' years I'd spent a lot of time learning new skills on off hours. After the layoff routine, I decided to start devoting that time to guitar, mandolin and learning new songs and tunes. I re-learned words to many songs I'd sung before and decided to learn new songs based on whatever I was into at the time. I was on a Norman Blake kick for while so learned a few he wrote as well as his take on traditional songs.
My mandolin skills were improving playing for folk dances and I started learning more fiddle tunes on mandolin. Although I had been flat-picking a few tunes on guitar for many years, I became more focused in 2003 when MBOTMA started sponsoring the duet/flat-picking contest at the state fair. I started going to flat-picking jams and have 'won' the senior championship for a few years (there have usually been only a couple of entries in the over 56 category). Lynn and I also took part in the duet contests and came in 3rd last year!.
As Lynn and I started playing out, I started looking for songs that would work as duets. Looking for something different, I started getting old LPs on e-bay - in some cases they were bluegrass and old time bands from the 70s and 80s in other cases collections of 78s. A friend also gave me CDs with 4 or 5 of the New City Lost Ramblers (transcribed from his LP collection). I also got CDs of the complete Carter Family and early Delmore brothers. Often we'd learn a song based on a contemporary rendition, but I'd also listen to an older source.
Last November, I got an IPod for my birthday (thanks! Lynn& Alex), and I have put most of my CD collection and some of my LP collection on it. (over 7,000 songs). On walks and at work I listen to it in shuffle mode and make note of something that might work as a Bob-i-Lynn tune. (Especially with CD Collections or CD-ROM mp3's of 78s, I might hear something for the first time on the IPod).
Thus, for some of our recent songs, we are learning songs from an original source (or at least a source recorded in the 20s or 30s), rather than from an 'interpretation'. In at least one case hearing the 'original' has led me to put a song on the 'to consider' list, even though I had heard several other groups do it before (This is 'Bear Creek' from the Carter Family- I'm trying to come up with something similar to Maybelle's guitar part but so far it's still in the 'working on' category).
Currently my way of tracking a song 'to consider' is to create a new document in Google Docs with at least the title (and often with whatever words I can grab on the internet). Of the 60 or more songs I've considered over the last 9 months, about 3 or 4 have actually gotten into our repertoire.
This post has been a sort of musical autobiography - next time I'll talk a bit about bringing a song from the 'to consider stage' to actually performing it and what the heck all this has to do with old-time purists, etc.
When Lynn and I moved to Minneapolis in 1970 (after a year of teaching high school in Montana), I started working as a bartender at the Black Forest Inn. There were some musicians among the regulars and workers who would get together and jam. One of the cooks did John Prine songs, a sculptor (Bruce Thomas) knew some Carter Family tunes, Noel Johnson sang blues tunes and I did some Doc Watson and other folks songs (Jesse James, Wabash Cannonball, etc). I did a few nursing home gigs with a college friend and Lynn and I did some duets (like Paxton's "last thing on my mind"). We lived in a house with a bunch of college friends - one of whom had a Green Brier Boys Album which is where I think I got 'Life is like a Mountain Railroad' and 'Amelia Earhart'.
In the 1970's there was a fairly vibrant acoustic music 'scene' in Mpls, especially on the West Bank, but I didn't really get into it; however, I do have a couple of LPs from era: Dakota Dave Hull & Sean Blackburn, etc. I've since gotten to know some of the musicians who were part of that scene, like Bob Douglas & Adam Granger (who were on the early Prairie Home Companion shows). Note that a lot of my listening in the 70's was to pop-folk singers like Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac.
I also turned my focus to classical guitar: taking lessons and Music Theory classes at the U of M. In 1976 or so, a guitarist friend who had achieved what I was going for (MFA or some such), started looking for work in academia - he couldn't find anything so he took a job as a manager at a Perkins restaurant. So when the Black Forest decided they needed a front-in manager, I took the job and quit school (and gradually started playing more folk-oriented guitar).
In the 80's I was again busy with school (training for a software programming job) and kids (Alex born in 1978, Tommy in 1985). In 1986 or 1987 the church Lynn was going to started a variety show called 'The Lynnhurst Home Companion' - Lynn and I with a couple other musicians from church formed the 'Hot Dish String Band' which was the house band for the show. Every year we did 3 or 4 numbers including 'hokey' gospel numbers like 'Drop Kick Me Jesus' or 'We need a whole lot more of Jesus and a lot less rock and roll', but also one or tow folk and blue grass tunes. At these shows Lynn and I would usually do a duet as well.
This got me listening to more acoustic music and on the lookout for 'songs to sing': both for 'Hot Dish' and for the Bob-i-Lynn duet. I started getting CDs by Hot Rise, Laurie Lewis, Alison Krauss (before 'o brother' made her a relative mega-star) and other 'mainstream' bluegrass groups. We joined MBOTMA and started going to the August Bluegrass festival (where we started being 'exposed' to old time music as well as bluegrass ). In the early 90's Lynn and I took a couple of Bluegrass Jam classes with Brian Wicklund and Kevin Barnes (then members of Stoney Lonesome).
Of course, since MBOTMA is a bluegrass and oldtime music association, Lynn and I were also exposed to old time groups like Big Hoedown, Reeltime travelers and musicians like Bruce Molsky and Rayna Gellert -- we also started catching some of these groups when they came to Mpls to play at venues like the Cedar -- and I started adding "old-time" CDs to my collection.
During the dotcom boom my company split in two and I went with the 'dotcom' company - with the bust in 2001, I was laid off but was fortunately hired by the 'software' side and resumed work within 3 weeks. During my 'career' years I'd spent a lot of time learning new skills on off hours. After the layoff routine, I decided to start devoting that time to guitar, mandolin and learning new songs and tunes. I re-learned words to many songs I'd sung before and decided to learn new songs based on whatever I was into at the time. I was on a Norman Blake kick for while so learned a few he wrote as well as his take on traditional songs.
My mandolin skills were improving playing for folk dances and I started learning more fiddle tunes on mandolin. Although I had been flat-picking a few tunes on guitar for many years, I became more focused in 2003 when MBOTMA started sponsoring the duet/flat-picking contest at the state fair. I started going to flat-picking jams and have 'won' the senior championship for a few years (there have usually been only a couple of entries in the over 56 category). Lynn and I also took part in the duet contests and came in 3rd last year!.
As Lynn and I started playing out, I started looking for songs that would work as duets. Looking for something different, I started getting old LPs on e-bay - in some cases they were bluegrass and old time bands from the 70s and 80s in other cases collections of 78s. A friend also gave me CDs with 4 or 5 of the New City Lost Ramblers (transcribed from his LP collection). I also got CDs of the complete Carter Family and early Delmore brothers. Often we'd learn a song based on a contemporary rendition, but I'd also listen to an older source.
Last November, I got an IPod for my birthday (thanks! Lynn& Alex), and I have put most of my CD collection and some of my LP collection on it. (over 7,000 songs). On walks and at work I listen to it in shuffle mode and make note of something that might work as a Bob-i-Lynn tune. (Especially with CD Collections or CD-ROM mp3's of 78s, I might hear something for the first time on the IPod).
Thus, for some of our recent songs, we are learning songs from an original source (or at least a source recorded in the 20s or 30s), rather than from an 'interpretation'. In at least one case hearing the 'original' has led me to put a song on the 'to consider' list, even though I had heard several other groups do it before (This is 'Bear Creek' from the Carter Family- I'm trying to come up with something similar to Maybelle's guitar part but so far it's still in the 'working on' category).
Currently my way of tracking a song 'to consider' is to create a new document in Google Docs with at least the title (and often with whatever words I can grab on the internet). Of the 60 or more songs I've considered over the last 9 months, about 3 or 4 have actually gotten into our repertoire.
This post has been a sort of musical autobiography - next time I'll talk a bit about bringing a song from the 'to consider stage' to actually performing it and what the heck all this has to do with old-time purists, etc.
Monday, July 9, 2007
You know you're getting old when you list your son as your emergency contact
Getting ready for an eye exam, I was filling out the forms and came to the Emergency Contact Field (someone other than your spouse living at a different address). I have usually listed one of my sisters, but then I thought: why not Alex -- he's employed, owns a house, a hybrid car and is certainly more stable then I am. So a new first in the aging process: listing your son as the 'emergency contact'. Of course, soon enough he'll be driving me to all of these doctor appointments .
Which reminds me - why do I have to keep filling out forms with information that already exists in electronic format? My day job consists of writing software that transfers information from one computer to another and I even wrote a module specifically to transfer medical documents while adhering to HIPPA (privacy) guidelines - Holy Inefficiency Batman! - and folks wonder why health care costs keep going up.
Which reminds me - why do I have to keep filling out forms with information that already exists in electronic format? My day job consists of writing software that transfers information from one computer to another and I even wrote a module specifically to transfer medical documents while adhering to HIPPA (privacy) guidelines - Holy Inefficiency Batman! - and folks wonder why health care costs keep going up.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Old Time Music (part 1)
Lynn and I have been members of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association (MBOTMA) for over 15 years and a few years ago, became a MBOTMA 'member' band. When we first joined, my main interest was bluegrass: in the early 90's we took a bluegrass jam class offered by Brian Wicklund and Kevin Barnes, then members of Stoney Lonesome. But over the years I became more interested in 'old time' music and as a duo, Lynn and I focus mostly on the old-time tradition. MBOTMA has 3 categories for band: Bluegrass, Old-time and Related - we registered as an old-time band, mostly because most of the new songs we were learning - Carter Family, Delmore Brothers, etc - were firmly in the 'old-time' tradition.
Something I read in the Old-Time Herald a few months back got me to thinking about what it means to perform music in the 'old-time' tradition. It was a review of a CD and the reviewer was bemoaning the fact that the music didn't sound exactly like some performance she'd heard on a 78 - she said something more or less like 'I suppose folk must make new recordings' (some day I'll find that review and put the exact quotes here). When we were at Lanesboro I was also in a couple conversations with people bemoaning the fact that so-and-so was 'beatifying' the sound in order to make it more palatable. So I did a little checking around to find out how 'old time' music was defined. Two links seem to do a good job of defining it:
http://www.oldtimemusic.com/otdef.html
http://mikeseeger.info/html/oldtime.html
I like this comment from the old time music link:
Resonant in meaning and methodology, `old time music' had been the heartbeat of Anglo-Celtic Southern America for many generations. By the time it became a marketing label which celebrated its own quaintness, its days were numbered. The technology which enables us to savor Fiddlin' John Carson 70 years after his heyday also heralded the demise of the charmed circle of oral tradition and relative isolation which had nurtured old time music since the coming of the South's first Anglo-Celtic settlers.
Thus the direct record of old time music can be thought of as the 78 recordings of the 1920's and 1930's - however, this is just a snapshot of music that had been played and evolved throughout the 18th,19th and early 20th century: for the most part, these recordings were commercial - they were made to sell. Field recordings may give a better insight into non-commercial music, but the earliest date from the 20th century on as well. Thus to state categorically that old time music done in this small window is the only way to do it seems extreme: I am willing to grant a great deal more lee-way to how old-time music should sound and be performed.
Mike Seeger's comments were originally published about 10 years ago in Bluegrass Unlimited and is addressed to bluegrass fans: he gives a number of recordings of old-time music that would give a bluegrass fan a sense of the 'roots' of bluegrass. His comment that 'speaks to me' is:
I suspect that many of us play this older style music for some of the same reasons that most bluegrass musicians play bluegrass, because we like it and it fits us. We can think of all kinds of reasons such as "I was raised with it," "I like its sound," "I like to be able to play the music myself or with friends without plugging in," and I can add "it's timeless, meaningful and I value its continuity with the past." All of those and more fit me. I can talk on and on about reasons for liking old-time and bluegrass music but really it all boils down to "it just suits me."
Although I didn't really set out to be an old-time musician, I'm finding more and more that "it just suits me". One final quote from Kenny Jackson's Web site sums it up for me for now:
Old-time music is now found in American families from diverse backgrounds, and while it recalls bygone times and places, it's also very much a living, contemporary music. Most of my friends play and sing it, and I can't think of old-time music without also thinking of those good friends whom I'll meet up with at fiddlers conventions and festivals, or in kitchens and on front porches, going late into the night leaning into long, wild fiddle tunes, and singing tragic old ballads, heart songs, banjo songs, blues.
Old-time music may have a name that would make it seem something from bygone eras—and yes, it does invoke spirits of the past—but it continues to be the most exciting, relevent, and in-the-moment musical experience of many people's lives. And I'm glad to be one of them!
http://www.kenejackson.com/
(more in a later post I'm sure)
Something I read in the Old-Time Herald a few months back got me to thinking about what it means to perform music in the 'old-time' tradition. It was a review of a CD and the reviewer was bemoaning the fact that the music didn't sound exactly like some performance she'd heard on a 78 - she said something more or less like 'I suppose folk must make new recordings' (some day I'll find that review and put the exact quotes here). When we were at Lanesboro I was also in a couple conversations with people bemoaning the fact that so-and-so was 'beatifying' the sound in order to make it more palatable. So I did a little checking around to find out how 'old time' music was defined. Two links seem to do a good job of defining it:
http://www.oldtimemusic.com/otdef.html
http://mikeseeger.info/html/oldtime.html
I like this comment from the old time music link:
Resonant in meaning and methodology, `old time music' had been the heartbeat of Anglo-Celtic Southern America for many generations. By the time it became a marketing label which celebrated its own quaintness, its days were numbered. The technology which enables us to savor Fiddlin' John Carson 70 years after his heyday also heralded the demise of the charmed circle of oral tradition and relative isolation which had nurtured old time music since the coming of the South's first Anglo-Celtic settlers.
Thus the direct record of old time music can be thought of as the 78 recordings of the 1920's and 1930's - however, this is just a snapshot of music that had been played and evolved throughout the 18th,19th and early 20th century: for the most part, these recordings were commercial - they were made to sell. Field recordings may give a better insight into non-commercial music, but the earliest date from the 20th century on as well. Thus to state categorically that old time music done in this small window is the only way to do it seems extreme: I am willing to grant a great deal more lee-way to how old-time music should sound and be performed.
Mike Seeger's comments were originally published about 10 years ago in Bluegrass Unlimited and is addressed to bluegrass fans: he gives a number of recordings of old-time music that would give a bluegrass fan a sense of the 'roots' of bluegrass. His comment that 'speaks to me' is:
I suspect that many of us play this older style music for some of the same reasons that most bluegrass musicians play bluegrass, because we like it and it fits us. We can think of all kinds of reasons such as "I was raised with it," "I like its sound," "I like to be able to play the music myself or with friends without plugging in," and I can add "it's timeless, meaningful and I value its continuity with the past." All of those and more fit me. I can talk on and on about reasons for liking old-time and bluegrass music but really it all boils down to "it just suits me."
Although I didn't really set out to be an old-time musician, I'm finding more and more that "it just suits me". One final quote from Kenny Jackson's Web site sums it up for me for now:
Old-time music is now found in American families from diverse backgrounds, and while it recalls bygone times and places, it's also very much a living, contemporary music. Most of my friends play and sing it, and I can't think of old-time music without also thinking of those good friends whom I'll meet up with at fiddlers conventions and festivals, or in kitchens and on front porches, going late into the night leaning into long, wild fiddle tunes, and singing tragic old ballads, heart songs, banjo songs, blues.
Old-time music may have a name that would make it seem something from bygone eras—and yes, it does invoke spirits of the past—but it continues to be the most exciting, relevent, and in-the-moment musical experience of many people's lives. And I'm glad to be one of them!
http://www.kenejackson.com/
(more in a later post I'm sure)
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