Well, after 3 days of work, last week's festival is fading into the past, but just a few more notes before I let go.
As mentioned I like the fact that this is both an old-time and bluegrass festival: from going to the Bluff Country Gathering and other old-time events, Lynn and I have gotten to know many folk in the local old-time community. I noticed that any time an 'old-time' planned played, we saw our old-time friends - we really get a chance to go to any square dances, but at the Cajun dance saw a fair sampling as well.
At Mike Seeger's showcases and main stage appearances I started noticing the same set of young men (in their early twenties) - they were completely engaged - taking pictures and videos. Good to see that the old-time traditions will continue.
The Monroe Crossing sets were very engaging - they tour a lot regionally, but I haven't really seen them that often. They are among the best at using the single mike setup (but wisely have a separate mike for the guitar). I caught the last part of their 'song-arranging' showcase - where they started to put together a song that they 'knew' but had never arranged. I was amazed when they performed it an hour or so later on the main stage - Lisa had a sheet with the words, but otherwise you'd never know it was only hours old...
Since Lynn and I have started to 'play out', we have spent most of our time at festivals listening to the bands (or hopefully performing like we did a year ago at the Homegrown Kickoff). We set up our VW Camper-van on a reserved site - we have electricity but are far away from most of the jamming happening in the 'rough' camping area. However, on Friday we ran into a few friends and figured out where they were gonna jam later by trekking to their campsite Saturday afternoon (find it first in daylight - El Ranchero Manana is huge). So Saturday night we walked to their site and jammed until 2:30/3:00 AM. Great time playing with folks I've played with and some new ones. What I liked was that everyone was a good musician without being 'intimidating'.
Since the festival, Lynn and I spent some time Monday figuring out which cuts to include on our CD (this is our rehearsal night - we were too tired to play). Since the duet and guitar contest is coming up in a couple weeks, we are gonna try to get some extra practice in. We're out of town again this weekend, so we're shooting for tomorrow (Thursday). Our fall schedule is getting pretty full, so we will continue to be active in the local music scene!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
MBOTMA Festival (cont')
For me, one of the highlights of this year's festival was the old-time Banjo Showcase on Friday afternoon. I don't play the banjo, but both Riley Baugus and Mike Seeger were part of it. Riley opened by singing a haunting melody with his banjo (danged if I can remember the title). After this, Mike Seeger said ... 'maybe I'll just do an instrumental'. As the showcase went on Riley would mention a banjo player that influenced him and then comment that Mike had actually got to meet and play with his 'banjo hero'. (Riley is in his 30's I'd guess, Mike Seeger is over 70).
Mike Seeger was recovering from a cold, so his voice was a little rugged (he actually tuned his instruments a half step flat to accommodate). I think I caught most of his main stage and showcase appearances. I especially liked the showcase on 'Early Southern Guitar Sounds' - I had already heard the CD , but it was good to see him demonstrate the styles. He is working on a DVD so I'll probably get that as well. (We bought a couple of his CD's that I didn't already have).
In the 'bluegrass' side of things, I enjoyed the Brennen Leigh set quite a bit - since she has local roots, I had seen her name for the last few years but never got a chance to hear her. Nice alto voice and the songs were good.
Another group I had looked forward to seeing was the Stairwell sisters. For their first set, the sound was a little off, so I wasn't 'blown away'; however, the more I heard them the more engaged I became. They played an unamplified set in the marketplace tent at Saturday Super time. For the last 2 numbers I finally got a place under the tent and I really appreciated hearing them in the real old time way - no electronics between you and the music.
I could write more and may post another blog another day, but for now, that's all ;-)
Mike Seeger was recovering from a cold, so his voice was a little rugged (he actually tuned his instruments a half step flat to accommodate). I think I caught most of his main stage and showcase appearances. I especially liked the showcase on 'Early Southern Guitar Sounds' - I had already heard the CD , but it was good to see him demonstrate the styles. He is working on a DVD so I'll probably get that as well. (We bought a couple of his CD's that I didn't already have).
In the 'bluegrass' side of things, I enjoyed the Brennen Leigh set quite a bit - since she has local roots, I had seen her name for the last few years but never got a chance to hear her. Nice alto voice and the songs were good.
Another group I had looked forward to seeing was the Stairwell sisters. For their first set, the sound was a little off, so I wasn't 'blown away'; however, the more I heard them the more engaged I became. They played an unamplified set in the marketplace tent at Saturday Super time. For the last 2 numbers I finally got a place under the tent and I really appreciated hearing them in the real old time way - no electronics between you and the music.
I could write more and may post another blog another day, but for now, that's all ;-)
Monday, August 11, 2008
MBOTMA Festival
We're just back from the MBOTMA August Festival at El Rancho Mañana in Richmond, MN (about 90 miles North-west of Mpls). We missed last year's festival to attend my uncle's 65th Wedding Anniversary and had to miss this spring's Homegrown Kickoff (where we were scheduled to perform) because of Lynn's mother's failing health. So we came early on Thursday afternoon and stayed as late on Sunday as we ever have (and got caught in the coming-back-from-up-north traffic on the way home).
We didn't perform but got a chance to hear most of the groups on the schedule. Lynn and I are mostly focused on old-time music these days, so we got to as many of the old-time performances and 'showcases' as we could. (Neither of us attended a workshop this year). The national acts were The Stairwell Sisters, The Dirk Powell Band, and Mike Seeger. The members of the Dirk Powell band also performed as the Cajun group Balfa Toujours. Local old-time groups we saw included The Ditch Lilies, Poor Benny, and The Roe Family Singers.
A great thing about this festival is that it is both Bluegrass and Old-time, so we also saw some great national and local bluegrass groups. Cadillac Sky and Mountain Heart are 'cutting edge' groups while Michael Cleveland and Grasstowne have a more traditional sound. It was fun to see Monroe's Crossing, which is Minnesota based and probably Minnesota's only 'full-time' bluegrass band as well as Brennen Leigh who now lives in Austin, but has North Dakota, Minnesota roots. Ivory Bridge, Sawtooth, Morgan's Run and Bag o' Dirt Band were the other local groups we saw.
When I first started coming to this Festival in the early 90's I was mostly a bluegrass fan; however, I would usually listen to the old time music as well. Now I mostly come for the old-time music, but I really like the fact that I can keep up with the bluegrass side of things as well.
That's all for today, hoping to post a few more things during the week while it's still fresh.
We didn't perform but got a chance to hear most of the groups on the schedule. Lynn and I are mostly focused on old-time music these days, so we got to as many of the old-time performances and 'showcases' as we could. (Neither of us attended a workshop this year). The national acts were The Stairwell Sisters, The Dirk Powell Band, and Mike Seeger. The members of the Dirk Powell band also performed as the Cajun group Balfa Toujours. Local old-time groups we saw included The Ditch Lilies, Poor Benny, and The Roe Family Singers.
A great thing about this festival is that it is both Bluegrass and Old-time, so we also saw some great national and local bluegrass groups. Cadillac Sky and Mountain Heart are 'cutting edge' groups while Michael Cleveland and Grasstowne have a more traditional sound. It was fun to see Monroe's Crossing, which is Minnesota based and probably Minnesota's only 'full-time' bluegrass band as well as Brennen Leigh who now lives in Austin, but has North Dakota, Minnesota roots. Ivory Bridge, Sawtooth, Morgan's Run and Bag o' Dirt Band were the other local groups we saw.
When I first started coming to this Festival in the early 90's I was mostly a bluegrass fan; however, I would usually listen to the old time music as well. Now I mostly come for the old-time music, but I really like the fact that I can keep up with the bluegrass side of things as well.
That's all for today, hoping to post a few more things during the week while it's still fresh.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Performing for the Stonearch Festival
Last year we were contacted by Stacy Schwartz to perform at the Stonearch Festival of the Arts held on the 'St. Anthony Main' side of the river (that would be the Mississippi river as it wends through Minneapolis). Since my bike route for commuting to work goes over the Stonearch Bridge ( see here) I was intrigued, so we said yes and we had a great time. It was a performance that a lot of our friends could make and we played for a number of new people.
We're playing at the Festival again at 12:15 this Saturday, June 14th at the City Pages Stage again. (This is the acoustic venue by the 3rd Avenue Bridge - right next to the beer and wine area). Lynn located the set list from last year so for this year we are doing mostly different songs, including new songs we've learned in the past year (marked as 'new', although we have performed most of them at Dulono's or a MBOTMA festival). I've given details for most of these before, so I'll just show the tentative set list for this year:
In addition to 4 or 5 performing stages there are 250 Juried Art Exhibits, a Classic Car exhibit and more - see the official Stonearch Website.
Last year we were able to hang out and listen to a few of the other acts and we got some pictures of me in our friend Frank Howard '74 Lotus. However, this year we'll be leaving shortly after we perform in order to get to my niece's graduation party in Savage, MN.
We're playing at the Festival again at 12:15 this Saturday, June 14th at the City Pages Stage again. (This is the acoustic venue by the 3rd Avenue Bridge - right next to the beer and wine area). Lynn located the set list from last year so for this year we are doing mostly different songs, including new songs we've learned in the past year (marked as 'new', although we have performed most of them at Dulono's or a MBOTMA festival). I've given details for most of these before, so I'll just show the tentative set list for this year:
- Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow
- If I Lose Let Me Lose (new)
- East Virginia Blues (new)
- Milwaukee Blues
- More Pretty Girls Than One (new)
- Baltimore Fire
- Muddy Creek (fiddle/mandolin tune)
- When the Work's All Done this Fall (new arrangement, with mandolin)
- Last Gold Dollar
- Bear Creek Blues (new)
- I've Been Dreaming of You Darling
In addition to 4 or 5 performing stages there are 250 Juried Art Exhibits, a Classic Car exhibit and more - see the official Stonearch Website.
Last year we were able to hang out and listen to a few of the other acts and we got some pictures of me in our friend Frank Howard '74 Lotus. However, this year we'll be leaving shortly after we perform in order to get to my niece's graduation party in Savage, MN.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Farmers Market gigs
Lynn and I were in Prior Lake Saturday playing the Farmer's Market with the 'Rhubarbarians'. The Rhubarbarians is a band headed by Bob Estes that have been playing for many years. However, only Bob and Tom like to travel to Prior Lake, so Lynn and I often guest. The common repertoire are a number of dance tunes that we also play at Danebod Folk camp. Tom has a number of folk/pop numbers which we jam along with;and Bob and Tom 'jam' with us on the Bob-i-Lynn tunes. Since I have a number of relatives that live 'South of the River' (the Minnesota river), I usually see a few of them. I also went to high school in Shakopee (which borders Prior Lake), so will sometimes see an old high school friend or two.
This was our first farmers market of the year and was especially fun since we had had to cancel our appearance at MBOTMA's homegrown kickoff the previous weekend because of a family emergency.
The weather had been threating and we even had a few sprinkles just before we set up; however, the skies cleared and there seemed to be a bigger 'crowd' than usual.
Although, in the past we have brought our plug-in sound system (with two long extension cords), we've now moved to a total battery powered system. Bob got a Crate TAXI system which he has jerry rigged to have 4 inputs (2 is usual), I have a Pignose and Tom has a Vox system so we had 6 inputs going. This seems to be enough for the venue.
My sister and brother-in-law showed up and Lynn and I visited Otto's mother Norma afterwards.
On Sunday, Bob had scheduled the regular band at Kingfield Market in Minneapolis; however, Dave couldn't make it and Joe and Tom had to leave early. Lynn dropped me off on her way to church; when she came to pick me up it was just me and Bob (we renamed ourselves the Rhu-bob-arians) -we took a break and Lynn joined us for a few last songs.
Good to be playing again - we'll be at Prior Lake again on July 5th and Lynn and I are playing the Stone Arch Festival Saturday, June 14th at 12:15.
This was our first farmers market of the year and was especially fun since we had had to cancel our appearance at MBOTMA's homegrown kickoff the previous weekend because of a family emergency.
The weather had been threating and we even had a few sprinkles just before we set up; however, the skies cleared and there seemed to be a bigger 'crowd' than usual.
Although, in the past we have brought our plug-in sound system (with two long extension cords), we've now moved to a total battery powered system. Bob got a Crate TAXI system which he has jerry rigged to have 4 inputs (2 is usual), I have a Pignose and Tom has a Vox system so we had 6 inputs going. This seems to be enough for the venue.
My sister and brother-in-law showed up and Lynn and I visited Otto's mother Norma afterwards.
On Sunday, Bob had scheduled the regular band at Kingfield Market in Minneapolis; however, Dave couldn't make it and Joe and Tom had to leave early. Lynn dropped me off on her way to church; when she came to pick me up it was just me and Bob (we renamed ourselves the Rhu-bob-arians) -we took a break and Lynn joined us for a few last songs.
Good to be playing again - we'll be at Prior Lake again on July 5th and Lynn and I are playing the Stone Arch Festival Saturday, June 14th at 12:15.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Bluff Country Gathering
Lynn and I are just back from the Bluff Country Gathering in Lanesboro, MN. "The Bluff Country Gathering is a four-day event presenting traditional American music, dance and singing styles. Workshops conducted by a staff of nationally acclaimed musicians, singers, dancers and folklorists, are designed to pass along the traditions of old-time music to participants at all levels of experience."
This is our 2nd year there and it is probably on our annual list of things to do. We had to miss Saturday's workshops to attend a memorial service for my sister's father-in-law in Prior Lake, but we did drive back in time for the dance on Saturday night.
We did attend workshops on Friday and I ended up going to both of the harmonica workshops led by Dave Rice. Since I've started to listen to more 'original' old-time music on 78's I have noticed that a lot of music features harmonica. Dave's showcase on Thursday demonstrated that you can produce a lot of music from 20 reeds and the 'beginning' workshop led me to take the second one. Not sure if I'll have the time that will be needed to become proficient but it helped to learn things like 'tongue blocking' and other techniques.
At the end of the dance on Saturday, Lynn and I went to the Sons of Norway Hall and joined Sherri Minnick in a 'singing jam'. Most of the jams at an old time gathering are 'tune' jams - I have a 'desire' to learn the repertoire but haven't really gotten into the old-time jam scene so I a singing jam was more up my alley. Early on, we were playing with the cooks from Kansas City - after they went to bed (they had to be up early to cook the sunday brunch), some of the teaching staff joined in, including Alice Gerrard, Steve Rosen and Mac Traynham: definitely a treat to hear them harmonize on some Country Western Standards and to hear Alice do 'Ain't no ash can burn'. Steve taught a guitar workshop I attended and played banjo at the dance. At the jam, he played mandolin - one of the highlights of the weekend and definitely made the drive back for Saturday night worth it!
This is our 2nd year there and it is probably on our annual list of things to do. We had to miss Saturday's workshops to attend a memorial service for my sister's father-in-law in Prior Lake, but we did drive back in time for the dance on Saturday night.
We did attend workshops on Friday and I ended up going to both of the harmonica workshops led by Dave Rice. Since I've started to listen to more 'original' old-time music on 78's I have noticed that a lot of music features harmonica. Dave's showcase on Thursday demonstrated that you can produce a lot of music from 20 reeds and the 'beginning' workshop led me to take the second one. Not sure if I'll have the time that will be needed to become proficient but it helped to learn things like 'tongue blocking' and other techniques.
At the end of the dance on Saturday, Lynn and I went to the Sons of Norway Hall and joined Sherri Minnick in a 'singing jam'. Most of the jams at an old time gathering are 'tune' jams - I have a 'desire' to learn the repertoire but haven't really gotten into the old-time jam scene so I a singing jam was more up my alley. Early on, we were playing with the cooks from Kansas City - after they went to bed (they had to be up early to cook the sunday brunch), some of the teaching staff joined in, including Alice Gerrard, Steve Rosen and Mac Traynham: definitely a treat to hear them harmonize on some Country Western Standards and to hear Alice do 'Ain't no ash can burn'. Steve taught a guitar workshop I attended and played banjo at the dance. At the jam, he played mandolin - one of the highlights of the weekend and definitely made the drive back for Saturday night worth it!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Some new songs
Between the recording project and the Dulono's gigs, I haven't spent a lot of time on new material; however, I have been working on a few new songs. The following may break into the bob-i-lynn repertoire at some point this spring or summer (Farmer's markets are a good venue to try new material):
Pretty Little Miss In The Garden: 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 (live , I think, but I have their CD as well). When I decided to learn it, I bought a Stanley Brother's Collection as well. Although the approaches are similar, we'll probably do it closer to the Stanley Brothers version. The New Lost City Ramblers do it as well, but I haven't heard their version. Tim O'Brien has a variant called 'Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden' and I also have a unaccompanied version of 'Pretty Fair Damsel' by Tom Ashley that Mike Seeger recorded in 'Close to Home'. Currently, I am doing it in the key of F# - capo on the 6th fret and playing out of 1st position (Lynn will be on 4th fret playing in D).
The Raging Sea, How it Roars: I first heard the New Lost City Rambler's version of the song but knew it was originally released by Ernest Stoneman and the Blue Ridge Cornshucker's on 78. The only recording I could find of this (other than the original 78) was on an LP that Rounder released in th 1970's. I started looking for it an EBay and was able to get it within a few weeks after starting my search. Both recordings are similar, but it's good to have 'the original'. This is based on a Child Ballad called 'The Mermaid', but there is no mention of the mermaid in this song. Lyle Lofgren has an excellent article on the song which was originally published in MBOTMA's Inside Bluegrass magazine. In addition to these two recordings, I also have an unaccompanied version by Crockett and Perline Ward (originally on 78). Norman & Nancy Blake have recently recorded 'The Mermaid' which actually preserves the mermaid. The current plan is to play in the key of E flat using two guitars, but we're still working out the arrangement.
Deep Elem Blues: part of the reason I picked this was that the Lone Star Cowboy's version features 'old-time' mandolin: I am always looking to add to our vocal/mandolin/guitar repertoire. according to this link, 'Deep Elem' apparently was the red light district in Dallas. The song describes trips to Deep Elem as life altering events:
Now I once knew a preacher,
Preached the Bible through and through,
He went down into Deep Elem,
Now his preaching days are through.
There is also a variant called Black Bottom Blues - turns out I have versions of these, including a version by Gene Autry with yodeling. We're doing it in D, the original may have been in C (it sounds like C# on our recording). I'm on mandolin and Lynn has tried it in C-position with Capo on 2nd fret.
I Got A Bulldog: We heard Troublesome Creek at MBOTMA's Winter Bluegrass Weekend a year or so back and this is on their CD. However, hearing the original 78 got me thinking about adding it to the bob-i-lynn repertoire. Nothing profound here, but it fits into the male bravdo/vulnerable genre (I'll figure what that means later). I have various collections that contain this, but they all are the same version by The Sweet Brothers and Ernest Stoneman.
We haven't done much with this so far, but it looks like a fiddle/guitar combination in G.
After I had started working on these songs, we received the latest issue of The Old Time Herald:
one of the articles in the issue (April/May 2008) is entitled Essential Hillbilly Commercial Recordings on 78s; interestingly, both Raging Sea and I Got a Bulldog are on the list of 100 or so essential sides. Note that the online version contains the introduction, you need access to the print addition to get the actual list. I'll be checking this list to both fill up gaps in my collection, plus maybe find another song or too to learn.
I have some other songs that I'm considering, but nothing that has percolated up far enough as something to spend a lot of time on. Lynn is working on a couple of songs, so we hope to add one or two that she sings this summer as well.
Pretty Little Miss In The Garden: 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 (live , I think, but I have their CD as well). When I decided to learn it, I bought a Stanley Brother's Collection as well. Although the approaches are similar, we'll probably do it closer to the Stanley Brothers version. The New Lost City Ramblers do it as well, but I haven't heard their version. Tim O'Brien has a variant called 'Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden' and I also have a unaccompanied version of 'Pretty Fair Damsel' by Tom Ashley that Mike Seeger recorded in 'Close to Home'. Currently, I am doing it in the key of F# - capo on the 6th fret and playing out of 1st position (Lynn will be on 4th fret playing in D).
The Raging Sea, How it Roars: I first heard the New Lost City Rambler's version of the song but knew it was originally released by Ernest Stoneman and the Blue Ridge Cornshucker's on 78. The only recording I could find of this (other than the original 78) was on an LP that Rounder released in th 1970's. I started looking for it an EBay and was able to get it within a few weeks after starting my search. Both recordings are similar, but it's good to have 'the original'. This is based on a Child Ballad called 'The Mermaid', but there is no mention of the mermaid in this song. Lyle Lofgren has an excellent article on the song which was originally published in MBOTMA's Inside Bluegrass magazine. In addition to these two recordings, I also have an unaccompanied version by Crockett and Perline Ward (originally on 78). Norman & Nancy Blake have recently recorded 'The Mermaid' which actually preserves the mermaid. The current plan is to play in the key of E flat using two guitars, but we're still working out the arrangement.
Deep Elem Blues: part of the reason I picked this was that the Lone Star Cowboy's version features 'old-time' mandolin: I am always looking to add to our vocal/mandolin/guitar repertoire. according to this link, 'Deep Elem' apparently was the red light district in Dallas. The song describes trips to Deep Elem as life altering events:
Now I once knew a preacher,
Preached the Bible through and through,
He went down into Deep Elem,
Now his preaching days are through.
There is also a variant called Black Bottom Blues - turns out I have versions of these, including a version by Gene Autry with yodeling. We're doing it in D, the original may have been in C (it sounds like C# on our recording). I'm on mandolin and Lynn has tried it in C-position with Capo on 2nd fret.
I Got A Bulldog: We heard Troublesome Creek at MBOTMA's Winter Bluegrass Weekend a year or so back and this is on their CD. However, hearing the original 78 got me thinking about adding it to the bob-i-lynn repertoire. Nothing profound here, but it fits into the male bravdo/vulnerable genre (I'll figure what that means later). I have various collections that contain this, but they all are the same version by The Sweet Brothers and Ernest Stoneman.
We haven't done much with this so far, but it looks like a fiddle/guitar combination in G.
After I had started working on these songs, we received the latest issue of The Old Time Herald:
one of the articles in the issue (April/May 2008) is entitled Essential Hillbilly Commercial Recordings on 78s; interestingly, both Raging Sea and I Got a Bulldog are on the list of 100 or so essential sides. Note that the online version contains the introduction, you need access to the print addition to get the actual list. I'll be checking this list to both fill up gaps in my collection, plus maybe find another song or too to learn.
I have some other songs that I'm considering, but nothing that has percolated up far enough as something to spend a lot of time on. Lynn is working on a couple of songs, so we hope to add one or two that she sings this summer as well.
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