Last farmer's market gig of the season.

We played at the Prior Lake Farmer's Market this morning as the 'Rhubarbarians' - Lynn and I are 'guest artists' usually playing with Tom Thull and Bob Estes, who are 'real' Rhubarians (Dave & Joe are the other originals, but they don't travel out of Mpls ). This week Tom couldn't make it, so it was really the Bob-i-Lynn band featuring Bob Estes of the Rhubarbarians.

I usually pay close attention to the weather but I missed checking it earlier in the week;however, this morning at the Coffee Shop reading yesterday's paper it looked like the morning would be windy but sunny. Although it looked cloudy starting out, I saw enough glimmers of blue to hold out hope - Lynn's sighting of lightning as we drove onto hiway 13 proved to be the truer portent.

At earlier sessions, we had brought our full plug-in sound system; but using some battery powered amps at Bloomington's farmers markets the previous two weeks convinced us to go with the portable setup for Prior Lake. I brought our pignose & Bob E brought a borrowed microcube and a Crate Amp. (The Crate is the best solution as it as a real mike input plus an instrument pickup, plus RCA plugs which can theoretically be leverage - I'll probably pick one up for next season and for use as a monitor).

This sped up our set up time and as we were glad to discover: our tear down time as well.

Through the morning the clouds stayed and it was gusty enough that I would occasionally have to grab one of my guitars. A few of the other 'tents' were billowing and one partially overturned, but the sandbags that Bob has kept our shelter stable. Without Tom, we missed many of our 'pop' hits, but Lynn and I got to try out East Virginia Blues for the first time and Lynn did Going to the West. Bob sang the John Prine song Paradise Valley and we tried a few 'new' fiddle tunes including St Anne's Reel, Liberty and a version of Devil's dream where I did a 'uke' like accompaniment on the tenor banjo (capoed at the 7th fret). My sister showed up (all of my siblings live South of the River, Carol teaches at Prior Lake High School). She's known as Otto at school and we sang Otto Wood in her honor. She said that a few weeks ago one of her students was talking about a group that did the song 'Otto' wood and she was glad to tell him it was her brother. (Carol's husband is also known as Otto and I actually learned the song for him - he had other priorities this AM).

At 10:30 or so it started to sprinkle. The sprinkling became a drizzle and we rearranged a few things to get everything under shelter. The 12 string and tenor banjo went into their cases. The only saving grace was that the breeze died down, but the droplets on my '69 Martin (last of the Brazilians) caused concern. During our last set, it started to really come down at 11:30 or so and we wrapped it up. As if on signal, when the music stopped, the other folk started packing up as well. (After we got home, we checked everything and I'm happy to report that no instruments were harmed during the performance of this gig).

I'm not sure how Bob E got wind of the Prior Lake Market, but it's our second year doing it. One of the good things about this and the Bloomington Market is that they actually budget $100 for the band. We still put out the hat, but usually the total tip take is less than 50 bucks (today was 21, but splitting 3 ways meant that Lynn and I make almost $80 combined). Of course, the money isn't the reason we do it, but it is a recognition and without it we wouldn't be driving the 50 mile round trip to and from Prior Lake. (We are still bummed from a dance gig last spring for which we were stiffed because enough people didn't show up ).

Although Bob talks about rehearsing, it really becomes just a kind of jam session. Of course since we do a half-dozen of these a season, we do come up with 'arrangements' for some of the songs. At both Bloomington and Prior Lake we've gotten lots of good compliments from customers as well as vendors. We'll be invited back and we'll do as many as our schedule permits. Until next year...

New Alternate Blog

For non musical musings check out Cudgels of the Curmudgeon - the other blog I just started.

New Songs etc

After our gig at the LCO Casino in August, I created a post about expanding our repertoire. Of the songs mentioned, the only ones we are currently working on is 'East Virginia Blues', although now that I've reread it I might look at some of the others. In the mean time, the new songs on which we are really working are the following:

East Virginia Blues: I have at least a half dozen versions of this. We've pretty much settled on the Stanley Brothers version recorded in 1956 (released in a recent CD: An EveningLong Ago). This is a YAFSWTV (yet another folk song with transferable verses) and the Stanley brothers version is more distilled than most (i.e. fewer verses to learn). I'd been kicking this around for a while, trying to come up with a way to do it with mandolin; however, after hearing the Carter Family version, we're now going with two guitars with Carter Family style instrumental breaks. We're singing full duet on all the verses so it is a candidate for the duet contest. So far we're playing it fairly up tempo, not as fast as the Stanley Brothers, but certainly faster than some of the other versions I've heard.

If I Lose, Let me Lose: from eBay I've purchased Vols 1-4 of a Charlie Poole LP set. I had transferred a few of these to MP3's but had missed Vol 2. Turning an LP into MP3 is a fairly time consuming task, but it turned out to be a good opportunity to listen to some of the songs and If I Lose, Let me Lose seemed like a good one to learn. After hearing Adam Kiesling of the Mill City Ramblers do 'Battleship of Maine', we realized that some of the verses are shared ('The boys was fightin' the Spaniards while I was fight gnat', etc) ;the verse melodies are almost identical but the chorus melodies are different: so I guess it is YAFSWTV. We've gone through this a couple of times and are having fun with it so I'm pretty sure we'll have it ready soon. It seems to be working out well with 2 guitars, although Charlie Poole songs often work with fiddle-guitar (which is how we do Milwaulkee Blues). I figure if we get enough of his work added to our repertoire, we can go to the Charlie Poole Festival in North Carolina and enter the Best Charlie Poole Song Contest.

You've Been That Friend To Me: this is a Carter family song that quite a few people do, although the only other recorded version I have is Pop Wagner's. Hearing the original Carter Family version got me thinking of doing it and we're following their version fairly closely, even to the point of keeping it in the same key, F ( Sara Carter's range is similar to mine on many of their songs). The current plan is for 2 guitars and full duet treatment, and, since I except a number of people in the old-time community will sing along on the chorus, we repeat the chorus the last time through, perhaps partially acappella (although that can become a cliche).

Bear Creek Blues: another Carter Family song for which I have several versions, but it was hearing the Carter Family do it that brought it into the 'Songs to Learn' category. I'm patterning our treatment after the original Carter version: of the other versions I have, Big Medicine take on it comes closest. We are keeping it in the key of E (same key used by Big Medicine), but I'm currently playing the lead part with the Capo on the 4th fret (C-position). Big Medicine plays it in open E; I'm guessing the Maybelle might be playing a low tuned guitar in G position, although she could be in open E. With Lynn on open E our version should sound pretty good. This is one that will take a while to get up to speed, so don't expect to hear it at any gig soon.

I'm also trying to come up with with a version of The Wabash Cannonball - probably based on the Delmore brothers lyrics, but with a verse from the Carter Family and some changes to the chorus. I've also just started to look at the Delmore song Weary Lonesome Blues since it is 'different' in the same way the Blue Railroad Train has broadened our sound. In our last rehearsal Lynn also went over What Does the Deep Sea Say. We are patterning it after a version that Tim O'Brien does with an Irish (female) vocalist on one of his 'crossings' album, although our version will be less 'produced' (to say the least).

I've also been going over the Charlie Poole song: The Baltimore Fire. Lynn hasn't climbed on board yet, but I kind of like the melody (and it does need fiddle). Lyle Lofgren, who writes for MBOTMA's Inside Bluegrass & the Old Time Herald (& probably more), has a discussion of the song here: http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-BaltimoreFire.html .

This is another song from the Charlie Poole Vol 2 LP and I was transferring it to MP3 shortly after the 35W bridge collapse - the following from the Wikepedia article added contemporary relevance:

One reason for the fire's duration was the lack of national standards in fire-fighting equipment. Although fire engines from nearby cities (such as Philadelphia and Washington, as well as units from New York City, Wilmington, and Atlantic City) responded, many were useless because their hose couplings failed to fit Baltimore hydrants. As a result, the fire burned over 30 hours, destroying 1,526 buildings spanning 70 city blocks.

Geezer Guitar Blog quoted in MBOTMA 'Inside Bluegrass' newsletter

Katryn Conlin, one of the organizers of the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old Time Music Association's Duet and Flatpicking contest at the State fair this year ran an extensive quote from my Sept 4th Blog. She also quoted Lynn. The newsletter doesn't have an online version, but you can get information about it here: http://www.minnesotabluegrass.org/newsletter/index.html

Of course I haven't posted anything of substance since then, but maybe this will spur me on to creating some new posts.

Bob with Rhubarbarian's on city council member web site

Just got an email from Linda Madsen (a fellow musician from our church) : a picture of me (as well as Dave and Tom from the Rhubarbarians is on Elizabeth Gibbons Website. She's the council member for ward 8 and this is from an event that we played in that ward a year ago last summer.
It's pretty tiny, but you can sort of recognize us ;-)


http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward8/

MBOTMA Duet and Flatpicking Contest

It's Labor Day and I'm tired. This weekend we competed in the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association (MBOTMA) Duet and Guitar Flat-picking Contests. In the duet contest on Friday, Lynn and I were happy to make the finals for the 2nd year in a row: every duo who entered were high level performers. A bunch of our friends were in the audience which always helps. This year we again placed third and feel good about our showing.

On Saturday there were only 10 entrants for the guitar contest, but as I looked around as the guitar players gathered, I knew that there was no chance of making the final 5 unless 3 or 4 of them crashed and burned. For the first time in a long time there were actually 3 of us in the 'senior' division (56 and over), and my 3 year reign as Geezer Champ is over. I thought I played as well as I good, but I had a number of mess-ups in the 2nd number. Bob Dodds who turned 56 this year came in as top geezer, I was 2nd. (However, I can certainly keep my blog's name as GeezerGuitar since I was once again the oldest picker in the contest. )

This was the 5th annual MBOTMA duet/flatpick contests at the state fair and I am pretty sure that Lynn and I are the only ones to play in all 10 events. And we'll probably continue since as Lynn put it "we're still getting things out of these".

Here are some of the reasons I play and will continue to come back:

• It's an event put on for the general public - many similar contests are held at Bluegrass or oldtime festivals. At the state fair you're getting the music out to a broader audience. By participating, Lynn and I feel like we're helping out MBOTMA as well as doing a bit of promotion for the bob-i-lynn band.
• It's a performance opportunity. There was a full crowd both days - rather than a dozen or two people at a coffee shop, you're playing for hundreds of people in a concert setting. This year, Lynn and I also had a chance to play a couple of our songs (both days) as 'filler' entertainment while the judges were taking a break or scores were calculated.
• It's a chance to connect with the MBOTMA community. Before we started 'competing', we knew a few people who were in the MBOTMA bands, but now we are really starting to feel like members of the 'performing' community. And they are all really nice people. This year we met Chuck Millar and Sandi Scott (long time bluegrass performers) for the first time and reconnected with Jerry and Shirley from Blue Wolf as well as Lincoln and Bill & Kathy Liners from Ivory Bridge as well as many others.
  
• If provides focus. Even though we get a bit 'tired' of the duets that we prepare for the contest, it forces us to have complete arrangements for the songs and to really listen to what we're doing. A couple of nice comments this year: Lincoln from Ivory Bridge said our stage presence as really improved; Sherry Minnick (a judge), said it sounded like we've been recording and listening to ourselves compared to last year. (Actually, we've just been playing out more and have started to have official bob-i-lynn rehearsals once a week).
• Improves my guitar technique. I will never go to Winfield and compete in the National Guitar Flat-pickers guitar contest. (At least one of the top five finishers this year is going). However, just the extra practice and focus of preparing for the contest has really helped my overall musician-ship and tightened my arrangements for the bob-i-lynn band. (And I can now jam with Bill Cagley at his Roots Music Showcases ( Bill is one of the judges).

I'm glad it's over and I'm really ready to work on some different material (I went over new song and tune possibilities today); but I'm guessing we'll be back next year.