July-August 2010

Sugar Foot Rag

By David Bragger

May's 5th Ever Old Time Social was an explosive three days of hot old-time action!! On Saturday I had the honor of teaching some old-time workshops with another Sausage Grinder musician, Chris Berry, at this fabulous event. Collectively, we taught some great Kentucky fiddle tunes, Old Aunt Jenny and Going Across the Sea, for the fiddlers and some raggy old-time chord progressions for tunes like Carbolic Rag, Peacock Rag, and Alabama Blues. Before the workshops, I was able to hang out and play some music with some friends I rarely see, while sipping the awesome home brew concoctions of Triple Chicken Foot's Ben Guzman. During one of these impromptu jams fiddler Paul Jarrell was playing Sugar Foot Rag, a lesser-known Tommy Jarrell tune. It is already a staple tune in my fiddle lessons. Especially for students working on their "synco-shuffles." This particular bowing pattern is found throughout Tommy Jarrell's playing and is one of those grand rhythm patterns that can be thrown into a tune to give it that syncopated bite. Throw a little bow rocking into the mix and you don't sound like you're from California anymore!! I present Sugar Foot Rag.

May-June 2010

LOS ANGELES OLD-TIME RENAISSANCE

By David Bragger

For decades, the greater Los Angeles area has been an unlikely nexus for some fine players of old time music including legends Mel Durham, Ed Lowe and Earl Collins. Contrary to what some have thought, there has always been old-time music here. However, in the past couple years, things have dramatically changed. We are experiencing the first chapter of an old-time renaissance. I've added my two cents by teaching old-time music, writing this column, and co-founding the old-time string band Sausage Grinder. But others have made different contributions that have really brought the spotlight back to Los Angeles.

March-April 2010

Old Bunch of Keys

By David Bragger

For the last year, I've been posting lessons that often draw from the realm of obscure fiddle tunes. This month I'm presenting a substantially less obscure tune from the rhythm master Tommy Jarrell: Old Bunch of Keys. It is commercially available on the Oscar Jenkins, Fred Cockerham, & Tommy Jarrell CD Stay All Night and Don't Go Home. The first time I encountered the tune outside of Tommy Jarrell's recording was from the playing/teaching of Tom Sauber. Something about this tune on fiddle and banjo really grabs me. There are some other great versions available too. You can find driving modern versions on Bob Carlin's Banging and Sawing as well as Uncle Earl's She Waits for Night. I also can't get enough of Sidna & Fulton Myers' version from Peter Hoover's field recordings. These are available from the Field Recorders Collective website. The Myers CD conveys an explosive, earthy wonder that no old time music fan should miss. My favorite interpretation is found on the holy grail of modern old-time albums, Waitin' on the Break of Day by Dan Gellert. His version stays true to the tune as it swings and pulsates with a low, dirty, modal funk. I've never heard a treatment like it. So to get you started, tune your fiddles to AEAE and enjoy.

January-February 2010

Old Time Grindhouse
Alonzo Janes

By David Bragger

One of my favorite fiddle tunes is Alonzo Janes. It's been that way since I started playing fiddle. There's something about its cyclical, repetitive and primitive attitude that grabs me in that "special" way.  Edden Hammons' Digging Potaotoes and L.N. Porter's Blackjack Grove do the same thing for me. Alonzo Janes was one of the first tunes I heard played by a living old-timer so it really resonates with me. Before getting a primer in bowing via lessons and long distance travels to fiddler homes, I started attending a Sunday jam session at Highland Grounds in Hollywood. When Illinois fiddler Mel Durham, who lived in Orange County, was present, he started just about every tune. It rubbed some of the non-OT musicians the wrong way, but most of us loved hearing old tunes from the Durham family repertoire. I especially loved to see the elder fiddler lead the way. One of his tunes was Alonzo Janes. The Durham family learned it from an ex-slave named Alonzo Janes. Enjoy.

November-December 2009

The Old Time Grindhouse:
The Horney Ewe

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Goleta Fiddler's Convention

By David Bragger 

  On October 11 we had another whopping old-time music infused day at the 38^th Annual Old-Time Fiddler's Convention in Goleta. It is one of the biggest days of the year for me. Several of my students compete, many musicians jam throughout the grounds, and bands play on the performance stage. The line-up was strong as well as diverse this year. Molly's Revenge spun the audience into a Celtic frenzy, Laurie Lewis performed with her partner Tom Rozum, and finally Sausage Grinder pounded the audience with old-time string band music and naughty blues tunes. This year we introduced workshops led by Christopher Berry (old-time blues guitar) and myself on the old-time fiddle. I nearly lost my voice teaching everyone!! If you missed it this year, make a point of going in 2010. There are rumors of a square dance!!

For this month's fiddle tune, I'm going to teach something more approachable for the beginners and early intermediate fiddlers. It was a huge success as my workshop tune at Goleta this year. It's a tune by West Virginia fiddler Ernie Carpenter called The Horney Ewe, pronounced Horny-O. It short, rhythmic and a little crooked. Enjoy!!

September-October 2009

Fiddle Lesson #7: Meg Gray

By David Bragger

One of my students just returned from the Swannanoa Old-Time week in North Carolina. After learning a few Bruce Greene tunes from me she discovered that he was teaching fiddle workshops this year at the Swannanoa Gathering. She packed her bags for a week and a half of concentrated old-time instruction. When she came back she brandished two CDs that Bruce made for her. They are copies of his earlier cassette tape releases, Vintage Fiddle Tunes and Fiddler's Dozen. Go to his website and order them if they're still available! Until now I've obsessed on his Five Miles of Ellum Wood CD, hoping to come across these earlier recordings. Both recordings provide an excellent window into the old Kentucky fiddle sounds Bruce is known for. One track in particular struck me this past week: Meg Gray. It's a tune by George Lee Hawkins. Bruce's rendition is moving. It's bouncy yet haunting. Today's fiddle lesson is that tune. It's in standard tuning and has two parts. Enjoy.

July-August 2009

Old Time Grindhouse - Fiddle Lesson:

Tie Your Dog, Sally Gal

By David Bragger

In this column, fiddlers can learn a tune found on Mike Seeger's Close to Home CD. It's from a 1952 field recording Seeger made of a guy named Will Adams. Seeger came across this black fiddler while recording others in the Rockville area of Maryland. Adams hadn't played in about 30 years when he was recorded. He even had to borrow Mike Seeger's de-tuned fiddle for the recording. This tune has circled its way through my brain for several years now. I recently had the opportunity to teach a workshop on black fiddle tunes for the Los Angeles Old-Time Social. This is the one I chose. Tie Your Dog, Sally Gal certainly falls into the category of circular, trance-like fiddle tunes. It has endless potential for melodic and bowing variations. Here are a couple videos to get you started. Enjoy.

May-June 2009

Old Time Grindhouse - Fiddle Lesson:

Possum's Tail is Bare

By David Bragger

Here's a beautiful Melvin Wine tune that I picked up from a visit with West Virginia fiddler Dave Bing. It's called "Possum's Tail is Bare." Not having heard it before on any of my Melvin Wine recordings I finally found a recording of it on MySpace. Go figure. The first time I heard Melvin was in a jam session at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival. If you haven't been, you must go.  It's located at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, West Virginia. The "Clifftop" festival set me on course for learning old-time music. It has changed the lives of many musician. "Clifftop" is a must go for any lover of old-time music, jamming and camping. If you haven't seen it, checkout the 30-minute documentary about "Clifftop." Enjoy.

March-April 2009

Old Time Grindhouse -- Fiddle Lesson #4:

The Wild Goose Chase

By David Bragger

When I started playing old time music I heard mucho buzz about a fiddler named Bruce Greene. His CD Five Miles of Ellum Wood was highly praised. I purchased it and heard a disc overflowing with mesmerizing, crooked, de-tuned solo fiddle performances that blew my mind. It somehow functioned as an old time recording that demanded intense study and focused listening while serving as a perfect CD to play in the background at a dinner soiree. I have driven with it, read by it, learned from it, slept to it, taught from it and dreamt about it.

Here's the peculiar thing...

January-February 2009

Old Time Grindhouse
Fiddle Lesson #3:

BIG HOEDOWN

By David Bragger

So let's grind in the New Year with a wonderful crooked tune by my favorite fiddler: Edden Hammons. Edden was a West Virginia fiddler who lived a colorful life. Much of it reads like a folktale. You can get a sense of his character if you read Play of a Fiddle by Gerry Milnes. There are also two volumes of field recordings available on CD.

November-December 2008

Old Time Grindhouse -- Fiddle Lesson #2:

Tucker's Barn

By David Bragger 

One of the great crimes associated with the mass production of traditional music is that one cannot go to County Sales or Amazon and purchase a Gaither Carlton CD. He is one of the greatest old-time musicians to have ever lived and echoes of his sound can be found on few compilations.  Many have heard him on the Doc Watson Family albums. In fact Doc Watson learned how to pick many of his fiddle tunes on guitar after learning them from Gaither’s extraordinary old-time fiddle playing. Hopefully Doc or someone at Smithsonian will release a Gaither Carlton CD with dense liner notes. It is long over due.

September-October 2008

Welcome to the Old Time Grindhouse -- Fiddle Lesson #1:

Old Greasy Coat

By David Bragger

For nearly two years I've been getting requests to post instructional fiddle tune videos online. As a teacher of traditional music, nothing compares to the interactive process of live one on one interaction during lessons. In my opinion, a teacher who doesn't listen to his students is not really teaching. However, there is a great and growing number of people who don't have any kind of access to honest fiddle instruction. In desperation they're digging into the bowels of the internet only to come away frustrated and empty-handed. Under the guise of the Old-Time Grindhouse, I will start teaching fiddle tunes with bowing on FolkWorks. Each tune will have three videos: Fast, medium and slow with bow directions.

July-August 2008

Old Time Music, Harry Smith and the Bluegrass Whipping Post

By David Bragger

When my students ask me about the finest recordings of old-time music available, I often have a lot to say. It’s difficult to consolidate the gargantuan catalog of early American music recordings into only a few CDs. Often I’ll recommend some contemporary artists for my newer students such as the supreme fiddle/banjo deity Dan Gellert or the modern day virtuoso Bruce Molsky. The New Lost City Ramblers are probably the best modern example even though they started recording a half-century ago. Unfortunately the hiss and crackle of the older recordings can be distracting to the untrained ear. So I rope my students into the world of traditional music with today’s torchbearers of banjo and fiddle majesty. 

May-June 2008

Sword Swallowers, Sausage Grinders, and Lightbulb Eaters or The Strangest Gig of My Life

By David Bragger

When I entered the California Institute of Abnormal Arts (CIA) for sound check, I was greeted by the old time sounds of a calliope huffing and puffing the fiddle tune Arkansas Traveler. We seated ourselves on the stage and fumbled through our microphones and cables while the soundman frantically ran around trying to locate the source of feedback. It's still debatable whether the issue was ever resolved. While they were working on methods for amplifying the jug and slide whistle, I just stared into the weirdness that is CIA. This is a dream venue for the old time musician.

March-April 2008

A Black Mirror Resonates With Songs Far and Ancient

By David Bragger

Once again, Dust-To-Digital (www.dust-digital.com) has delivered a kaleidoscopic ride into the other side of time: Black Mirror-- Reflections in Global Musics. Pat Conte's Secret Museum of Mankind series left me dumbfounded and wanting more old-time world music. Fortunately, we have Ian Nagoski, Baltimore record store owner/experimental musician. Nagoski is the curator behind this compilation of world music 78 recordings.

January-February 2008

Black and Blues

By David Bragger

About a month ago during an epic San Francisco tattoo excursion, I stopped by Amoeba Records. Despite the condition that the Japanese tattoo master Shige left my leg in, I still felt compelled to limp and whine my way into the Amoeba’s music megalopolis. As usual I picked up a couple JSP box sets. It you aren’t aware of this label you need to be. They reissue massive amounts of early country, old-time, blues, Hawaiian, bluegrass etc.  The greatest aspect of JSP Records is the price.  Usually the product is a 4 CD box set for $25! The sound quality is excellent, the notes are thorough, but the packaging is minimal. What do you expect for only $25? In the end, it’s the music we want and JSP really delivers. So. I finally picked up the Sleepy John Estes/Yank Rachell set and noticed something else available: That’s What They Want—Jook Joint Blues—Good Time Rhythm & Blues 1943-1956. I was curious.

November-December 2007

Marcus Martin: North Carolina Fiddle Mage

By David Bragger

Marcus Martin was born August 2, 1881 in Macon County, North Carolina. He was a farmer, logger, postmaster, woodworker, and watchman. In my world he's a legendary North Carolina fiddler. My first introduction to him was through two tracks found on the classic American Fiddle Tunes LP. His Cotton-Eyed Joe and Sugar in the Gourd are mesmerizing renditions. By the way, if you don't have American Fiddle Tunes you're missing out on another wonderful fiddle collection. Soon after hearing these two tracks I started hearing some of his other well-known tunes surface at jam sessions, as well as on tenth-generation cassette copies of jam sessions. Happy Hollow Booth and Shove the Pig's Foot a Little Farther in the Fire top that list.

September October 2007

Sounds Like a Load of Bull

By David Bragger

The upright bass has been a source of great conflict in my life. Initially, I used it as a courtship device to meet girls in the high school orchestra. Even though it worked, I immediately realized those were NOT the girls I wanted to chase. Later on I realized that those were the EXACT girls I wanted to chase, but that's a "nighttime" story not fit for these pages. I once used my bass as a subject for a hand-tinted, first place photograph. The bass functioned as a spacecraft and Joshua tree simultaneously. I shot the instrument at the legendary Vasquez Rocks backdrop that we've all seen in a myriad of science fiction movies, TV shows, and commercials. My photography teacher hated it and the contest judges loved it. Typical. Soon after, my bass skills were used for experimental music recordings and other artistic musings until it drifted out of my hands and life altogether. The "bull fiddle," as it's often called, reappeared when I started playing old-time music.

July-August 2007

 Friends of Old Time or A Foe to the Folkies

By David Bragger

For those of you that don't know the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music, buy it and allow your lives to be changed. For those of you that have been infected by its sonic wonders, there's a new box set worth your time and cash. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings recently released Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961-1965. The 3-CD set contains the "historic concerts that introduced traditional music to city audiences." Usually when I spy a box set of American music that contains the words "folk arrival" I clench my guts in anticipation of an IBS episode. I can do without "protest" songs, Joan Baez, or Peter, Paul, and Mary. In fact if I even suspect a recording has any of the sap oozing from the pie-holes of the New Christy Minstrels or Ian & Sylvia, I'll buy some Death Metal to cleanse the palate. The "folk" groups of the 1950s and 1960s certainly destroyed the term "folk." But, moving on... This set, despite its neutered title, is one of the best recent releases I've heard.

May-June 2007

The Banjo Tattoo:

Dan Gellert's Mojo Alchemy 
Or  An Introduction to Musical Homogeny and Mediocrity in Old-Time Music

By Dave Bragger

One may recall the story from last issue about my meeting with traditional tattoo master/banjoist Scott Harrison. Since that article, I've revisited him in Portland, OR to complete the tattoo he started in December 2006. It was the most painful banjo experience of my life. He gave me a vintage style rose with a fretless minstrel banjo cradled within its petals. In fact, banjos were quite the theme of the day. I randomly met three clawhammer banjo players just hours before arriving at Atlas Tattoo. Portland certainly lives up to its reputation as an old-time music hub!

As Scott machined the ink into my inner arm, we discussed banjos and tattoo classifications among other things. He noted that the categories used to classify tattoos are very limiting these days. It's true. Most tattoo converts feel compelled to get some "meaningful" tattoo which then must fall into one of a small handful of genres (Japanese, black and gray, neo-traditional, bio-mechanical, etc.). In a moment of glorious insight he mentioned that clients never get a design simply because it's cool or has "soul." What a brilliant observation. I started to think about old-time music.

Ink, Banjos, and Crumb

By David Bragger

For years I’ve loved folk art, old-time music, and comic books. As 2006 came to a close, these three interests served as backdrop for an intense December involving travel, peeling skin, visits with old compadres and two unexpected deaths of friend and kin. It’s been one of those months.

January--February 2007

Kentucky Kernels

By David Bragger

Three summers ago, I spent a day with legendary old-time Kentucky fiddler Clyde Davenport. A friend and I spent a day in his home and listened in awe to his fiddle and banjo playing. His smooth slippery bow style and reedy tone left us mesmerized the entire day. His wife Lorene's surprise feast also contributed to the spell we were under. Homegrown supper, old stories and authentic fiddle playing are the recipe for old-time Heaven. An image that's burned forever in my memory is of Clyde playing a certain tune that day. Slouched back on his crochet-covered couch and draped in his trademark overalls, Clyde effortlessly sawed through the classic fiddle tune Ladies on the Steamboat.