Stone Arch 2010 Set List

We play at 1:15 on Saturday at the City Pages Stage for about 45 minute.

We will have done a number of these at the Coffee Grounds on Thurs, the 17th, but a few differences. Also, there are all songs and tunes we've performed for a while.

Lonesome Pine Special

Raging Sea

Rambling Boy

Going to the West

Across The Illinois Plains

When the Work’s All Done this Fall

Over the Waterfall

Highway Man

I've Got a Bulldog

Dear Companion

Bear Creek Blues

Last Thing on My Mind

Set List for Roots Showcase (Thursday, June 17,2010 at 7:00)

We are playing for 50-55 minutes and have 14 songs lined up - may drop or add some on order to finish in time -- Bill will be playing at 8:00 sharp! There is a fair overlap with the set at Stonearch, but we've mixed it up a bit. Plus we are 'premiering' two new songs (old songs, but new-to-us) that we won't be doing at Stone Arch: Over the Mountain and All the Good Times are Past and Gone.

We are planning to perform sitting down: the Coffee Grounds is an intimate space and a good listening room. Stonearch performance is Saturday, June 19th at 1:15pm for 45 minutes (we will stand)

Lonesome Pine Special

Raging Sea

Over the Mountain

When the Work’s All Done this Fall

Across The Illinois Plains

Dog Treed a Possum up a White Oak Tree (mando/fiddle tune from Illinois)

Highway Man

Baltimore Fire

Xander's Tune (Swedish fiddle tune)

Bear Creek Blues

Dear Companion

All the Good Times are Past and Gone

Rambling Boy

Last Thing on My Mind

Two Big Shows This Week

From the email sent to folks on our email list.

What: Bill Cagley’s Roots Showcase with the Dixons
When: Thursday, June 17, 7:00 to 8:00 pm
Where: The Coffee Grounds, Hamline and Hoyt, St Paul
More info: thecoffeegrounds.net

Bob and Lynn Dixon perform from 7 to 8; then Bill Cagley does the next hour to close out the evening.


What: Stone Arch Festival of the Arts
When: Saturday, June 19, 1:15 to 2pm
Where: City Pages Stage, under the Central Avenue Bridge by St Anthony Main (food court right by the stage)
More info: www.stonearchfestival.com

Stop by for lunch and hear our show!


What we do:

Bob & Lynn Dixon
Old-Time Songs and Tunes

Bob and Lynn Dixon have stood the test of time...and so have the songs they sing: old time songs and tunes for the 21st century; songs of lost love and hard times with fine duet singing, and guitar, mandolin and fiddle.

Lynn Dixon

Bob and Lynn Dixon
www.myspace.com/bobandlynn
www.facebook.com/pages/Bob-and-Lynn-Dixon/8360399102
dixon@visi.com

June Events for Bob and Lynn

All events are the Bob&Lynn Myspace Calendar as well as on the Bob & Lynn Page on Facebook as well. Hope to see you one place or the other!

Jun 6 2010 12:30P

Bob & Lynn at MBOTMA MN Homegrown Kickoff Richmond,MN

Jun 12 2010 9:00A

Bob & Lynn at Prior Lake Farmer’s Market Minneapolis,MN

Jun 13 2010 10:00A

Bob & Lynn Dixon sing at church (Lynnhurst UCC) Minneapolis,MN

Jun 17 2010 7:00P

Bob & Lynn Dixon @ Coffee Grounds Falcon Heights,MN

Jun 19 2010 1:15P

Bob & Lynn at Stone Arch Festival of the Arts Minneapolis,MN

Set List for MBOTMA Winter Weekend

Lynn and I are playing for 35-40 minutes at 6:30 in the Eureka room during the 'banquet'. Our set was originally on Friday night but someone needed to switch. As Lynn said, we'll have a 'captive' audience... hopefully we'll make a few more fans and even sell a couple of CDs. Full schedule is here.

We have 11 songs 'planned' but will likely have to skip one or two. A couple of them are fairly new.

Little Annie: Carter Family with some Norman Blake style guitar thrown in. One of our few happy songs. This is on our CD 'Blue-eyed Boatman'.

Broken Hearted Love: a Carter Family song we learned from Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin. Not a happy song.

Milwaukee Blues: This is a Charlie Poole song on our CD. Lynn fiddles and I sing. The phrase 'fix the roads' can apply to our broken infrastructure or simply to pothole season.

Highway Man: This is another Charley Poole Song with a 'ragged waltz' rhythm. It's a variant of "Slack your rope, Hangman" which Lynn and I remember from the 60's folk era. This is our first time performing this one outside of Farmer's markets.

I've Got a Bulldog: the 'Sweet Brothers' version is our source - Lynn plays fiddle on yet another song about lost love.

Louis Collins: from Mississippi John Hurt. A cover by Lucinda Williams brought this to my attention, but we are using his 1928 recording as the source. I finger-pick this one. We learned this about a year ago, but haven't performed it much.

Rambling Boy: from the original Carter Family - the lyrics, especially the last verse, are a little strange. If our next CD is titled "Plenty of Dry Goods", this is where it came from.

New River Train: I've sung a version that I got from a Blake and Rice CD for years in jams. However, I'm now singing it using Ernest Stoneman's version as the source. I'm on Mandolin and sing it as a duet.

Rolling River: Illinois fiddle tune I do on mandolin. From the book & CD set: Dear Old Illinois.

Going to the West: Lynn does this on the CD, but we've changed the key to D (from F). I am on mandolin.

Pretty Little Miss: this is a 'folk song' that the Stanley Brothers got from the New Lost City Ramblers to put on an album in the early 60's. I first heard Big Medicine do it but we use the Stanley Brother's version as our main source.

I doubt that we will have time to fit all the above in, but we do have a few songs in reserve:

I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes

Otto Wood

Raging Sea

Set List for Homegrown Kickoff

This weekend we're playing a 40 minute set at the MBOTMA Homegrown Kickoff.  This is the first MBOTMA event we are playing since our CD was finished so we start and end with songs from the CD; however, we are doing a lot of material we've learned since we did the actual recording in March 2008.  Here's the songs (and 1 tune) that we're working up:

East Virginia Blues: from the CD, it includes the line "Blue-Eyed Boatman" which is the title of the CD.  

Raging Sea: Our son Tommy is an actual blue-eyed boatman who works in San Francico sailing boats - so this jolly little song about death at sea is a little strange.  I have versions by Ernest Stoneman and the New Lost City Ramblers.

Last Gold Dollar: we've done this for a while and it's one where Lynn sings lead; we learned it from Jim and Kim Lansford --from theri liner notes: it is originally from was one of only a total of two sides recorded by Ephraim Woodie and the Henpecked Husbands who were from Furches, near Ashe County in North Carolina.  The "Husbands" one and only record was made for Columbia in 1929.

(Note: since learning this, I have acquired the source recording, but we're much closer to Kim and Jim's verison).

Bear Creek Blues:  ours sticks pretty close to the Carter Family Version.

More Pretty Girls Than One:  this another one on the CD, it's one I orignally learned from Doc Watson - I've since dropped the minor chord and added a 3rd verse - Lynn plays fiddle.

I've Got a Bulldog: the 'Sweet Brothers' version is our source - Lynn plays fiddle on yet another song about lost love.

Dog Treed a Possum up a White Oak Tree: a tune we found in Garry Harrison's book Dear Old Illinois; we got it when the New Mules performed at the MBOTMA winter weekend. Our contra dance band played it at a dance a couple of weeks later and Lynn and I have worked it out for mandolin and fiddle.

 

Across The Illinois Plains:  another song from the Dear Old Illinois book. This is on the New Mules CD. We do it as a duet and have restored one of the verses from the book.   It is related to other old-time songs about 'The Girl I Left Behind Me".

Rambling Boy: from the original Carter Family - the lyrics, especially the last verse, are a little strange.  If our next CD is titled "Plenty of Dry Goods", this is where it came from.

Little Annie:  a song on our CD - it was suggested I learn this by Bruce Johnson who is in the band Hello Stranger (playing immediately before us).  Carter Family with some Norman Blake style guitar thrown in.

My Old Cottage Home: closing song on our CD.  Learned originally from a Big Medicine CD, but I have versions from the Carter family and others.

We'll be lucky to fit all 11 of the above in our set, but we do have the following in reserve:

Pretty Little Miss 

I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes 

If I Lose, Let Me Lose

Bluff Country Gathering in Lanesboro, MN

Lynn and I spent last weekend at the Bluff Country Gathering in Lanesboro, Mn.  This is an event organized by Bob Bovee and Gail Heil that has been going on for many years. This is our 3rd year attending.  I thought I better capture a few impressions while it's still fresh.

Instead of camping in our Van, we stayed in a B&B: Lynn claims it was for my hip ;-) -- I did appreciate not tramping across the park several times a day and having a bathroom handy.  We put up at the Scandanavian Inn and enjoyed 3 great breakfastes.  It was about 4 blocks from the 'Gathering' and we may very well stay there again. 

I went to 2 mandolin and 3 guitar workshops and otherwise attended some Carter Family singing sessions as well as some 'mini-concerts'.  The Friday night concert was excellent and the dance was fun (although my hip issue prevents me from square dancing).  Oh, and we bought about 8 CDs ;-)

At most of these types of events there is always a performer or something else that is unexpected.  One of the suprises for me was to hear Skip Gorman in an intimate setting - he had been at a MBOTMA festival a number of years ago and I just didn't 'connect' -- I was talking to Bob Bovee about this - wondering if it was because I was still transitioning from bluegrass to old-time (or as he put it, coming over from the dark-side);however,   I think Bob hit it on the head by saying that to see and hear Skip in a smaller and more intimate setting  might have a lot to do with it.  Skip is a very sensitve and skilled fiddler and mandolinist and is one of the best 'cowboy' singers around.   I especially liked the way he addressed some hackneyed songs, like Streets of Laredo, and invested them with new life (often by singing an original, older version than the one that was in my head).

The last workshop I took was on 'Carter' Style guitar presented by Darren Moore and Jeremy Stevens with the New North Carolina Ramblers.  I had seen them perform Carter Family songs the day before and Darren, who knows all but 16 Carter family songs by-heart was playing in the style of Maybelle Carter on a low-tuned guitar using thumb and index finger (with picks).  In the workshop I was able to get flatten out one my finger picks so that it kind of worked for the Maybelle scratch (you brush the top strings back and forth).  Once I got home I tuned my 'farmers-market' Epiphone 3 frets down (C#,F#,B,E,G#,C#) and have tried it out on a few songs.  I also order the same kind of finger-pick that Darren uses which should make the back and forth easier.  We'll see what develops.

In years past Lynn and I have been in some 'vocal jams' - last year with Alice Gerrard!  This didn't transpire this year but there were a couple of tune jams at the Sons of Norway Hall that we sat in on.  I play  mandolin for contradances but most of the tunes I know are not in the 'old-time' repertoire.  However, I was able to play along tolerably well and Lynn and I 'introduced' a tune that we got from the Dear Old Illinois book: Dog chased a Possum up the White Oak Tree.  Later Gail Heil told Lynn that she liked the tune and was gonna learn it.

There was much more, but this will have to do for now.

New Songs

Lynn and I are taking a short break from performing since our son Alex is getting married in May.  Our first CD "Blue-Eyed Boatman" is finished and we've been selling/giving it away to folks, but really haven't had any gigs to promote it.  (Probably later this summer).  I've been working on a few new songs and Lynn and I are in process working out arrangements.

All I've Got Is Gone:  Uncle Dave Macon recorded this first, but the version(s) we're learning are based on Ernest Stoneman's recordings.  From one site I found this:  According to Don Kent, this tune refers to a 1907 flood in central Tennessee and the resulting comment of a friend of Uncle Dave Macon: "All I got's gone."  In the original, there are a couple of problematic verses.  We have a recording from the Bluff Country Gathering with a version by Bill Dillof - he simply skips the problematic verses so that has been our approach as well.  At last year's Bluff Country Gathering we also heard an updated version by Mac and Jenny Traynham with references to current day events; however, we're sticking with the original.  Of course either version seem to have a comptempary relevance.  

Over the Mountain:   while listening to my ipod on 'shuffle' I was struck with Kenny Jackson's version on his CD titled Over the Mountain. Reviewing the liner notes, I found that his source was Uncle Dave Macon so I promptly purchased some Dave Macon CDs.  Lynn was listening to these and then told me about this Dave Macon song we should learn: Over the Mountain.  She also did some research and found the original sheet music from 1882.  So we learning from lyrics which are an amalgamation of Dave Macon's and this sheet music.  (We're keeping the Yodelling).

Across the Plains of Illinois: At MBOTMA's Winter Weekend, we heard The New Mules and both of us liked this song a lot.  It is on there CD and the 'source' (from Ollie Barnard) is in the book Dear Old Illinois.  Although the book indicates there is an original recording from the 1950's, we have only listened to The New Mules do it.  The song is related to other songs - the Folk Music Index indicates it is related to Maggie Wallker Blues.  The song relates what can happen to the 'Girl I left Behind'.   We're doing it in G with me on Mandolin and Lynn on Guitar (capoed to the 5th fret).  It is our 'New Favorite'.

Set List for Roots Showcase: Coffee Grounds Thurs 3/19 @ 7pm

Lynn and I doing two Thursday gigs at Coffee Houses 2 weeks in a row - this week we'll be at The Coffee Grounds as part of Bill Cagley's Roots Showcase.  We have the whole show (Bill will be in Arkansas).  Our CD will be ready and we'll bring copies.  The set list includes songs from the CD as well as some of the newer things we've learned.  This runs from 7 to about 8:45 and we're hoping for about 2 45 minute sets.  The 2nd sets starts off with 3 numbers as part of my effort to revive the Old Time String Band 12-string guitar tradition.  So far the only evidence I've found is a picture on Mike Seegar's Southern Guitar CD - this shows a 12-string made in 1927; however, the only 12 string numbers he appears to play are associated with Leadbelly - a fine musician but hardly in the old-time string band tradition.

Tentative Set List:

Raging Sea

Green Grows the Laurel

Lonesome Pine Special [CD]

East Virginia Blues [CD]

Milwaukee Blues [CD]

I've Got a Bulldog

Spotted Pony

Charmin’ Betsy

Dear Companion

Rambling Boy [NEW]

Broken Hearted Love (I’ve been dreaming ...)

John Hardy [12-string]

When First Unto this Country [12-string CD]

Cannon Ball Blues [12-string NEW]

Louis Collins [NEW]

Last Gold Dollar

Bear Creek Blues

Baltimore Fire [CD]

Emma

Pretty Little Miss

I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes [CD]

MBOTMA Winter Weekend & The New Mules

Last weekend Lynn and I went to the MBOMTA Winter Weekend on Friday & Saturday.  Although we had tentative plans to go Sunday, we were just plain too tired.  Also, we performed Saturday and the extra weight of two guitars and a backpack full of stands  put a strain on my 'bad' leg.  

Our performance Saturday night was billed as part of the Dinner special in the Europa room, although by the time we played at 8:45 most of the dinner crowd had left.   There were about half-a-dozen fellow musicians however, who came to see us.  We had fun playing and did well except for a few word issues.

The definite high point of the festival for me was seeing The New Mules, a group from Illinois that plays mostly traditional music from Illinois.   Much of their material is from the book Dear Old Illinois, co-written by New Mules Fiddler, Garry Harrison.  The other fiddler is Garry's daughter Genevieve (Gena), so all the traditional tunes were played with (unison) double fiddles.  Their instrumentals were just plain fun and I can see why they took first place in the traditional band competition at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia.  Since I mostly sing, I also enjoyed their songs, most of which were sung by Gena.  

I had read a review of Dear Old Illinois a while back in the Old Time Herald and in the last Dec-January OTH had an inteview with Garry Harrison.  So I was plenty excited to see that they were coming to Minnesota and was really glad to hear them. 

We also bought the New Mules CD as well as the book and accompanying CD for Dear Old Illinois.  Since the festival, I've listened some and tried out some of the tunes in the book.  Our contradance band, Danebodium, is rehearsing a couple of times this month and I've got a few tunes to try out - in addition, there's at least one song I'm trying to learn.

Set List for MBOTMA Winter Weekend

Lynn and I are getting ready to play a 35 minute set at the MBOTMA Winter Weekend: Sat, March 7, 8:45 in the Europa room. We've selected 9 songs for the set. Since our CD Blue-Eyed Boatman will not be ready, but since it should be available in a couple of weeks, we are doing 4 numbers that are on the CD. We're also doing some new songs ( new-to-us songs, they are of course, old traditional songs otherwise). One of the new songs is on 12 string so I get to explain how I am 'reviving' the old-time 12-string tradition (in my own mind at least).

• I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow [CD opening song]
• East Virginia Blues [CD - contains title 'blue-eyed boatmn']
• Cannon Ball Blues [BRAND NEW - 12 string]
• Otto Wood
• I've Got a Bulldog [ PRETTY NEW ]
• More Pretty Girls Than One [CD]
• Blue Railroad Train
• Rambling Boy [BRAND NEW]
• My Old Cottage Home [CD closing song]

Otto Wood and Blue Railroad Train were recorded during our CD sessions, but didn't make the cut. They may be on a future project.

Lynn is pretty busy with her Arts High Musical Rehearsals: they missed a rehearsal last week, so rehearsals go until 7:00 this week. We'll be squeezing in our own rehearsals when she gets home.

We're looking forward to jamming and listening, too. We'll be there Friday and Saturday for sure, and hopefully Sunday.

Our first CD enters production

For the last month Lynn and Dan Miggler, the designer at Noiseland, have emailing pdf's and corrections back-and-forth of the artwork for our first CD "Blue-eyed Boatman". A week ago she went into their office and sat with Dan for an hour and a half to go over the last major issues.

The last two corrections were sent yesterday and the final proof came in email today. It was OK. - Lynn approved and it's going into production today.

Manufacturing will take about two weeks so it will not be ready for the MBOTMA Winter Festival but we will announce the 'sales' outlets as soon as we know. This is exciting!

As I was writing this, the cover image came in:

Update

Compared with some months, this February has been quiet for the Bob&Lynn band- our church's annual talent show 'The Lynnhurst Home Companion' is coming up this Saturday - we're doing 2 numbers with the 'Hot Dish String Band' (a once-a-year band) and one duet: Louis Collins - from Mississippi John Hurt. Lynn is also doing a number with the Women's Quartet and playing piano for the Choir Number (while Bob just sings tenor).

Lynn is busy working as an accompanist for the Perpich Arts High production of HMS Pinafore. The performances are in mid-March. She's also been the main coordinator with the designer at Noiseland for our CD - it is looking good and she's going in to work out final details next week.

In March, we're performing at the MBOTMA Winter Bluegrass Weekend (8:45pm Sat March 7th) and will probably be playing for TwinCitiesRadio.net (details to come). There is a chance the CD will be done by then, but this is not a deadline - we want it to be as 'correct' as possible. Danebodium is playing at Tapestry for the Contradance on Sat, March 28th. That's probably it until the MBOTMA Homegrown Kickoff - we're starting a major remodeling project any day now AND our oldest son is getting married on May 9th.

We will probably be setting up some Farmer's market dates for the summer (these are usually arranged in March). We also will be doing an official CD release, but given our current schedule, probably not until summer.

New 'Monitors' for the sound system

About a year ago, Lynn and I first played at Dulono's, a long-running bluegrass/oldtime venue in Minneapolis. We discovered that our sound system was not up to the job. I had it maxed out and people in the back could still not hear it. This was a 200 Watt Yamaha system. Last spring we upgraded to a more powerful Yamaha system based on the EMX512SC power amp with SM10V speakers.

I didn't want to spend any extra for monitors so we used Lynn's Roland Keyboard Amp as a monitor. This worked, but the amp and stand were out in the audience. We played a couple of gigs with this setup but I knew we'd need something more convenient eventually.

For the past few summers Lynn and I have been playing farmers' markets in Prior Lake and Bloomington, usually with Bob Estes and the Rhubarbarians. Once or twice we brought our old Yamaha system and plugged it in with about 300 feet of extension chord. However, this was a lot of work to set up and was kind of overkill. At some point, Bob E. borrowed a Crate Taxi Portable Amp which supported a couple of inputs. We had a PigNose which added one more mike, but the Crate was definitely superior for the purpose. I bought one and then a second so that Lynn and I each had our own Crate Amp. This is sold as a guitar 'combo' amp with one Microphone input plus an instrument line-in (as well as an RCA dual jack). Bob E has a preamp and uses all 4 inputs. Lynn and I don't plug in our guitars; however, an I use an IMP converter to route the 2nd mike to the guitar input.

Last fall, we had a gig for a retiree luncheon at a hotel ballroom. We had to provide the sound and I brought along one of the Crate amps to use as a monitor. (At least 1/2 the size and weight of the Roland). It worked well. I got to thinking this would be much better for Dulono's than the Roland -- and it would be even better if I could set it up to use both of the Crates.

I did a little research and found a signal splitter that would take the monitor output from the Yamaha power amp and redirect to both of the Crates. (The Crate does not have its own output, only inputs). Before the Dulono's gig I set up everything in the living room and both of the Crates were pushing out sound.

At Dulono's we were able to put the 2 Crates on stage and so Lynn and I each had a monitor with nothing out in the audience area. We had to play a little with the placement and volume settings to avoid feedback, but they work well as monitors. Since we were playing two nights, I brought the AC adapter/chargers and plugged the Crates in. But for most normal gigs, the battery would easily carry you through and avoid a bit more stage clutter.

As a side note, our system is now 'Loud Enough' - we had to turn it down so that the folk at Dulono's could hear their phone-in orders.

It may very well be that our sound system needs are set for awhile...

Trip to Noiseland

On Monday Lynn and I met with the folks at Noiseland, in Northeast Minneapolis, to initiate the design and manufacturing process for our CD tentatively titled Blue-Eyed Boatman.

We first met with the owner/manager (Andrew?) and discussed packaging. We hope to go with the 'digipak' rather than a jewel case (compare here); however, the digipak adds $$ to the project (about 40 cents per CD). Noiseland is local and both our recording and mixing engineer are familiar with the company (and the folk at Noiseland knows both of them!).

After some of the business discussion , Andrew brought over Dan, one of their designers, who has an interest in old-timey music - at one point he brought over the Yazoo CD, The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of, which is a collection of rare 78s with artwork by Robert Crumb (himself a 78 collector).

Lynn, who is fronting the artwork from our end, had brought her computer and showed Dan the photo shoot by Tracy Nielsen taken at Lake Harriet in October. Some of the pictures are on our page on facebook and should be on our myspace site soon.

As they looked through the photos, both Dan pointed out a picture he thought might make a good album cover: Lynn had been looking at the same picture. We are starting to feel pretty good about choosing Noiseland. Here's the picture (before the photo-shopping to make us look like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie):



At the Noiseland office, I also noticed CDs from local bluegrass artists like The High 48s and Becky Schlegel plus one from our friends 'The Roe Family Singers', that we had just bought at the latest 416 club concert at the Cedar Cultural Center. We're in good company ;-)

Andrew is preparing a contract and estimate: Dan is going to start with a mockup of the cover. We'll get in touch with David Gardner from Magneto to send over the final master. There will be PDFs, feedback and tweaking going over email, but once the final design is set,the time for production will be about two weeks. We will definitely have our first CD out before the snow melts!

Thinking about "Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes"

The Carter Family song "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" is one of the first Carter Family songs I learned and it has been in the Bob&Lynn Dixon Band's repertoire since we first started playing out. I have always sung the chorus:

Oh, I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes
Who is sailing far over the sea
I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes
And I wonder if he/she ever thinks of me

( I sing "if she ever thinks of me")

Recently, I heard a slightly different chorus done by Doc Watson and in two different Jams it seemed that the other singers were using the 'altered' version - this goes:

Oh, I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes
Who is sailing far over the sea
I'm thinking tonight of him/her only
And I wonder if he/she ever thinks of me

This got me wondering if I just learned it wrong or if there just two versions of it.

So the other day I checked my recordings of the Original Carter Family: they recorded it at least twice and both are the way I learned it. The Doc Watson recording with the 2nd version is from the album the 'Vanguard years' so he recorded in the '60s or '70s.

I went on Google and found the following in published lyrics for other versions (these don't always match what is actually sung):

• Gene Autry (1942) & Ralph Stanley(2006) use the 'original' version.
• In addition to Doc Watson, Dolly Parton and June Carter sing the 'altered' version.

It may be that June Carter created the altered version or that Sarah Carter changed it at some point. In a biography of the Carter Family, there is the story of how Sarah sang this on the radio appealing to the man she loved to contact her - maybe she sang the altered version.

As for me, I'll continue to sing the original chorus. I'm used to it and it is the one I prefer.

Dulono's this weekend

Lynn and I are pleased to be playing at Dulono's both nights this weekend. We're billing it as our 2nd annual post-holiday palate cleanser (no carols or cookies, just pizza, beer and old-time music).

Last year it seemed like everyone we knew came to see us and many could not find a seat or had trouble hearing us. We're hoping to get the same big crowd spread over two nights, plus we've upgraded our sound system.

A year ago January was our first Dulono's appearance and we've played 2 other times. (March, 2008 we played a full weekend and a Friday night in September). We usually plan 3 sets with a 15-20 minute break in between and so fill the 8-midnight slot.

The set list for each night will contain about 45 songs and tunes. We're working on Friday's set list now and then will rearrange things and swap out 5-10 songs for Saturday's set list. We've added around a dozen songs and tunes in the last year and will be playing 3 songs for the first time:

Rambling Boy (Carter Family)
Cannonball Blues (Carter Family - with 12-string!)
The Highwayman (Charlie Poole)

We've also worked on some new 'dance' tunes arranged for mandolin and fiddle. All-in-all we have a dozen new songs/tunes to share this time around.

We really look forward to showcasing the full extent of our repertoire, but are well aware that this will be a marathon session. Each night is the equivalent of 2 normal shows, plus we need to set up and tear down all the sound. (We're hoping to engage our 23 year old son as a roady).

I do have the week off from my day job, so we should have plenty of time to review songs and get "plenty of rest" before the gig.

Quick note on a 'new' song.

The Raging Sea is a song I started to learn last summer and has now become part of the Bob&Lynn repertoire. I learned it first from the New Lost City Ramblers, than located their source: a 78rpm Ernest Stoneman (which I found on an LP). Both feature a fiddle doing the melody and Stoneman's version adds banjo and harmonica. I worked out a Carter Family type lead and we ended up on two guitars - Lynn is singing harmony on both the verses and chorus.

On my way back from the office today (right after lunch because of current and impending snow), the shuffle on IPod played The Wave on the Sea by the Carter Family: this is a 'variant' and sure enough Maybelle was doing a nice guitar part - different from but similar to what I had worked out. I don't know if what she does will change the way I do it, but I like what she does and feel that using the guitar as a lead instrument can still be 'true' to the original source material.

Searching through my itunes, I also discovered that the Mill City Grinders do the Carter Family version on their album No Corn in the Crib --- with fiddle and banjo picking up the melody. What goes around comes around!

About last Saturday's Contradance Band...

In 1996, shortly after I started playing the mandolin our family started going to the Danebod family camp in Tyler, Mn. Folk dancing is an important part of the Danebod tradition and the June camp had a strong 'live' band tradition. Although guitar is my main instrument, I started playing mostly mandolin with the Danebod Folk Band. Around the same time, Tommy was taking fiddle lessons from Brian Wicklund. Lynn and I alternated driving duties and also took a fiddle(Lynn) or mandolin (me) lesson from Brian as well. So I started learning 'fiddle' tunes on the mandolin.

Twin City musicians in the Danebod band would play live dance events under the name of 'Wild Rhubarb' and eventually even held formal rehearsals as part of the Twin Cities Urban Folk School.

Ken Steffenson, another musician who attends Danebod, has played fiddle for contra dances for over twenty years. About 4 or 5 years ago, Lynn played a dance or two with Ken as the rhythm pianist and I started tagging along (mostly to haul her keyboard, but I'd try to keep up on mandolin). In 2004 or so, Ken formed Danebodium, which added Daniel Leussler on bass to Ken, Lynn and me. I think it was Sept 2004 that we played our first dance at the Tapestry Folk Dance Center. I practiced for weeks trying to learn about 30-40 tunes. I also discovered that 'dance speed' was at a much faster tempo than I was used to playing. However, as Danebodium continued, my proficiency on mandolin improved and playing for these dances become 'easier' and actually a lot of fun. As a group we also started playing at a higher level and have been called one of the most 'mature' contra dance bands that play at Tapestry.

Ken works out the booking with Tapestry: we played a dance in September and in October he booked us to play on December 13th (last Saturday). A couple of weeks ago Lynn had a recurrence of a back problem which took a turn for the worse last Tuesday. At that point she wasn't sure if she could play piano for the dance; however, I didn't worry too much since with Ken on Fiddle, I could play more rhythm guitar and we could make it as a trio. However, on Thursday Ken called saying he had a conflict and would need to get a substitute for himself. At this point it was clear that Lynn would probably not be playing so we were really short 2 musicians. Ken called Pat O'Loughlin who has played in various bands over the years and he was available (Pat plays concertina and banjo). Thursday night I was headed for Bill Cagley's Roots Showcase at the Coffee Grounds - Ken joined me with the idea of seeing if Bill could cover rhythm guitar for the contra-dance. Bill was late and it wasn't until my 'set' (with Bill and Ken accompanying) that we asked him if he was available - he wasn't, but afterwards Stew Leleivre, one of the other guitar players at the Coffee Grounds said he could play, but didn't have any experience playing contra-dances. Ken was still trying to contact a couple of experienced rhythm players he knew so I told Stew I'd let him know as soon as the scoop.

Friday around supper time, Lynn talked to Ken - he had not found anyone, but hadn't been able to get a hold of Jim Parker who plays with Pigs Eye Landing. Ken had a phone number for Jim, but when Lynn tried it she found it was wrong or out-of-date. Since she had once played piano with Pig-eye (as Jim's substitute), she had the phone number of their fiddler, Tim Reese. She called Tim and found that Jim was just walking through the door - Jim was available so we were set for Saturday. Pat, Jim, Daniel and me - 2 melody players and 2 on rhythm. (I emailed Stew that he was 'off the hook', but that he was now 'on our list of players'!).

Friday night, Pat and Daniel came over and we found the sets of reels and jigs from the Danebodium repertoire that we had in common. Since Pat had played for years with Ken, he knew most of the tunes. We had a couple sets with some tunes I wrote and after playing through them a few times, Pat picked them up, we ended up with a set list of 8 reels, 4 jigs and 2 waltzes (at the break and at the end of the contradance, the band plays a waltz for couples to dance to). We played through most of these and by the end of this rehearsal I was feeling a lot better about Saturday night.

Then on Saturday, a little after 6:30 just before I was getting ready to go, I got a call from Jim Parker: his mother had a health emergency and he was going to have to deal with it since other family members were not available. I said we'd be pretty thin without him , but that we'd set up a mike just in case he could make it. After Jim hung up, I remembered Stew's offer so I gave him a call - he was home and willing to play, but his wife had the car. Stew lives in St. Paul so I said I'd pick him up. By this time it was 6:45 - the contradance starts at 7:30 but the 1st 1/2 hour is teaching so I figured we'd get there in time to do a sound check before the 'real' dancing starts at 8:00. Lynn said she'd try to get in touch with Daniel and/or Pat to let them know what was going on.

Fortunately, traffic was light and I got to Stew's a bit after 7:00 (I overshot his house, but by that time he had seen me and was outside waiting). We used the Ford bridge to get over to Minneapolis and after a few wrong turns finally pulled in to the Tapestry parking lot at 7:30. During the ride, Lynn called me to say that she'd heard back from Daniel that Jim was at Tapestry. (Jim's brother, who was supposed to be 'on duty' had finally appeared). So we ended up with a 'big' band: bass, 2 (or 3 guitars) with mando, banjo or concertina. We added a chair & on extra mike for Stew and were ready to go by 8:00.

Fortunately, I had made copies of the music for a '3rd' book (Lynn and my Danebodium books were the 1st and 2nd). Lynn had also made a clear and big type version of the set list with medleys numbered according to their position in the master Danebodium book. We had a copy for David Kirchner so he would sometimes pick a specific medley rather than just a reel or jig set. We ended up using 11 out of the 12 medleys so we had 'just enough' music with one jig set left over.

We had a blast - Pat, with decades of experience, always set the initial tempo and warned us when we going too fast. The new thing for me was that I was 'The Leader of the Band' - for Contra dances I had never played with anyone but Ken and I was used to him taking the lead and indeed 'leaning' on him at times. I was in the middle and was the person calling the changes and 'setting the tone'. Of course, having Daniel on bass was another life-saver - he worked with Jim to set a steady rocking rhythm. We had a number of musical high points. I brought a guitar, even though I wasn't expecting to use it much, if at all. However, for a couple of sets I switched to flatpicking the guitar and on one piece, Over the Waterfall, all three of the guitar players were flatpicking the melody. Jim had a blast and even said I did a great job on mandolin and as 'leader'.

A final note: Stew told us about a party at a musician friend (who I knew slightly) in St. Paul close to his house. He gave Pat directions and on the drive back to St. Paul, Stew pointed out the party house to me (we saw Pat arriving). At the party, I immediately saw a number of the usual suspects (musicians I knew). Stew and I ended up in a jam with some folks we knew and played until 2:30 - I got home about 3 AM. Exhilarated but exhausted.

New 'new' songs

In a previous post, I went over some 'new' songs that we played at our gigs in November; however, I have also started to look at some other songs. Lynn and I have started to work out arrangements and I'm hoping that a couple of them might be ready for our Dulono's gig in January. But at the moment they are definitely works in progress:

The Rambling Boy:

This is from the Carter Family - I was struck by Maybelle's guitar part, so I tackled that first. There is a slight 'swing' rhythm with almost a triplet feel. They do it in G with Sara singing the lead but in 3 part harmony for most of the song. At times AP's and Maybelle's voices are stronger than Sara, so it made it a little hard to pick out the actual melody. But with some help from Lynn and using the guitar interludes I came up with a melody line that makes sense to me. Initially I pitched it in F playing in the C position with the Capo at the 5th fret. When I started going over the song with Lynn, we slid it up to F#, but she couldn't get her guitar part to sound right (playing in D at 4th fret). We finally tried in G with my guitar capoed at the 7th fret while Lynn is playing open. This is a combination I've seen other duos used, but the first time that we've had our capo's that far apart: we like the sound and it turns out that once again I am singing in the same key as Sara Carter. I also have a version by the New Lost City Ramblers that appears to be based on the Carter family version, although they have straigtened the rhythm and to my ear, have a less interesting melody. They also changed the last verse to something more bland, here's what the Carter family (and we) sing:

Now when I die, don't bury me at all
Just place me away in alcohol
My forty-four laying by my feet
Please tell them I am just asleep

However, I did find words in the New City Ramblers version that I am using instead of some Carter family words that I found 'problematic'. A version of the lyrics that is close to what we do is here.

Joan Baez also does a version she calls 'the Rake and Rambling boy' and from Wikipedia I found that the original source is from an Irish song: Newry Highwayman which dates to the 1830s.

The Highway Man:

This is a Charley Poole Song with a 'ragged waltz' rhythm. It's a variant of "Slack your rope, Hangman" which Lynn and I remember from the 60's folk era. Both the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary had versions of 'Hangman' and Lynn said she used to do it as well.

However, The Highway Man has a different melody and dispenses with all the relatives: only two verses refer to 'paying the fee'. Lyle Lofgren's article describing Pool's version and origins is here. This original 'original' source is the Child ballad #95 which is found here.

It was mostly the tune and fiddle part that got me first thinking about the song and it wasn't until I was learning the lyrics that I figured out the 'Hangman, slack your rope' relationship. We're keeping in the key of C and Lynn is playing fiddle throughout.

Louis Collins:

This a Mississippi John Hurt song which I first thought about doing after hearing a version by Lucinda Williams on a tribute album. I have two versions by Mississippi John Hurt, one from around 1928, the other from about 1963 after he was rediscovered during the 'folk revival'. I've ended up using the words from the 1928 version, but I raised the key to E-flat (Capo on 3 using the C position). So far I'm finger-picking it but not trying to exactly replicate his version. I worked on it once or twice with Lynn but we're a ways from coming up with a performance version. This should be a nice contrast to some of our usual old-time songs.

Cannonball Blues:

The Carter Family recorded two versions of this: one where AP is singing the 'lead', the other with Sarah. A few years ago, before I heard the Carter Family versions, I started to learn a variant called 'Solid Gone' by Doc Watson, but never ended up doing much with it. There is also a youtube version with Sarah and Maybelle (from the 1960s?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlFyGPNmOvI.

I knew of AP's version first and since it was singable for me in 'F', I started working out a 12-string arrangement - instrumentally, the breaks contain a 'bridge' followed by the melody: this meant that there was about a 2 to one ratio of guitar-breaks to vocal. At some point after I started learning this I heard a couple of local groups do it. The Mill City Grinders move it to a string band setting with banjo and fiddle but otherwise follow AP's version. A number of months later I heard a version by The Roe Family Singers. This had an additional verse or two and Kim was playing the washboard so it had a rollicky-rhythm: I don't recall the rest of the arrangement. After their set, I was talking to Quillan and Kim and Quillan clued me in to the youtube video of Sarah and Maybelle.

Then a couple of months ago, I was walking and listening to my IPod on shuffle and I finally heard the version that Sarah recorded a few years after the AP version (in the 1930's) which had additional verses. So lately I've been working on learning that version and have played it a few times with Lynn. We seem to be sticking to the 12-string with Lynn on guitar (6-string capoed 3 playing in D position) and full duet harmony throughout. The 'bridge' is still there but only done every other verse: the instrumental and vocal are more balanced.

In all 3 Carter Family versions, Maybelle is finger-picking with the melody on the treble strings. For the 12 string, I use finger picks, but I'm using the thumb for the melody notes (this is the typical way I play 'old-time' 12-string).

Both Lynn and I think this is a fun song to do and we can't wait to perform it (once we actually learn it!)