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What Is Old Time Music?
Labels are necessary components of the ideas and experiences we fit into our lives. With labels, we differentiate. Where would marketing be without them? Some labels have the ability to be simultaneously pleasing and/or pejorative, depending on one's point of view. Such a label is ‘old time music.’ We may interpret it to denote (A) hopelessly outdated music or (B) deeply authentic music. Could it be both, music rooted in pre-video (even pre-radio) rural America and thus heroically anachronistic?
Old time music may suggest sounds rooted in pre-mass media Americana, but it is no less a marketing label than is ‘urban’ (contemporary black music) or ‘young country’ (post-Garth Nashville pop). It's just an older sales hook. This one can be traced to 1923, when Georgia’s Fiddlin’ John Carson waxed The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane and The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow for the OKeh label. Legendary A&R [Artist and Repertoire]-man Ralph Peer deemed Carson’s performance “pluperfect awful,” but enough rural Americans disagreed to make the record a hit, the first in the history of what’s now called country music. (Ever the pragmatist, Carson remarked at his first whiff of success: “I’ll have to quit making moonshine and start making records.”) Carson’s paean to barnyard fertility rites and bucolic cabins initially appeared in OKeh’s popular music catalog, where it kept uneasy company with slicker stuff. Where to put such downhome keening and sawing? The company which had three years prior pioneered ‘race’ recording with Mamie Smith’s Crazy Blues opted for ‘old time music’ as a descriptive moniker for records by artists of Carson’s ilk, and OKeh’s label has prevailed. Tony Russell, a leading authority on old time music (he once edited a magazine named Old Time Music), reports that several other record companies took up the ‘old time tunes’ tag in their record catalogs, or variants such as ‘Old Familiar Tunes.’78s of this music were often labeled ‘old time singing and playing.’ As a generic description, ‘old time music’ in those exact words may not have become common till the folk revival decades later, though John McGhee recorded Bring Back the Old Time Music in 1928.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - fiddle/mandolin
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Jorsh "Big Boy Baby" Orkin - winds
David Bragger - fiddle and mandolin
Margie Royall - singing and washboard
Christopher Berry - singing and guitar
Bobby Reed - singing and banjo
Matthew Orkin - mandolin
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Body Snatchers
Frank Hoppe
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Screaming Earwigs:
Tom Sauber – fiddle
Patrick Sauber – guitar
Mike Sauber – bass
Steve Lewis – banjo
Tom Sauber 626-484-5737 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Turtle Creek:
Daniel Slosberg - fiddle
Steve Lewis – banjo
Gaili Schoen – piano
Steve Lewis 661-255-2149 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or Daniel Slosberg 310-880-5828 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Brown Bag Band:
Ben Guzman – fiddle
Kelly Martin – guitar
Mike Heinle – bass
Steve Lewis - banjo
Steve Lewis 661-255-2149 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Southern Exposure:
Joe Wack - fiddle
Laura Osborn – guitar
Steve Lewis - banjo
Steve Lewis 661-255-2149 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Lone Hill Ramblers:
Paul Jarrell - fiddle
Joe Wack - guitar
Steve Lewis - banjo
Steve Lewis 661-255-2149 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ragged Edge:
Steve Shapiro - fiddle, banjo and mandolin
Emil Olguin - mandolin
Mike Gurzi - guitar
Natan Olguin - bass
Steve Shapiro 818-785-3839 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Susan Michaels - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cory Marie - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Square Dance
Contradance
626-205-2044
Culver City English Country Dances
www.geocities.com/sbecd/schedule/dancecalendar.html
Wednesday ECD in Santa Barbara
Legends of Old Time Music - Features performances by Pete Steele, Tommy Jarrell, The Walker Family, Jean & Edna Ritchie, Sam McGee, Doc Watson, and more. VEST-DVD13026
Sprout Wings and Fly – Tommy Jarrell, FlowerFilms 1111
Alan Lomax's American Patchwork- Appalachian Journey:From the Original Ballad of Tom Dooley to the Origins of Bluegrass,VEST-V13079
Melvin Wine: Old Time Music Maker by Robert S.Boles
Shady Grove - Old time music from N.Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky featuring Kilby Snow, rare footage of Dock Boggs and more, VEST-DVD13071
Traditional Music Classics - Doc Watson, Kilby Snow, Roscoe Holcomb, and Buell Kazee, YAZ-DVD516
Elizabeth Cotton: In Concert 1969, 1978, & 1980- VEST-DVD13019
Legends of Traditional Fingerstyle Guitar - MerleTravis, Elizabeth Cotten, Mance Lipscomb, Brownie McGhee, Doc & Merle Watson, Rev. Gary Davis, and more,VEST-DVD13004
Legends of Country Blues Guitar, Vol. 1, 2, & 3 -Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Reverend Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy,, Mance Lipscomb, and more, VEST-DVD13003, VEST-DVD13016, VEST-DVD13037
Shades of Clyde – Clyde Davenport, Cedar Glade007
Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest and Folk Festival
Third Sunday in May 17th
818-382-4819 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
P.O. Box 571955
Tarzana, CA 91357
Los Angeles Old-Time Social
Thursday, Friday and Saturday prior to Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest
Goleta Old-Time Fiddlers' Convention and Festival
At Stow House
304 N. Los Carneros Road
Goleta, California
Gary Jenson, Rotary Club Of SantaBarbara Sunrise
(805) 969-4974
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hilda E. Wenner, Co-Coordinator
(805) 966-1191
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
McCabe's Guitar Shop
3101 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Business Hours:
Monday to Thursday 10 AM-10 PM
Friday and Saturday 10 AM-6 PM
Sunday NOON-5 PM
310-828-4497 Fax: 310-453-4962 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
World of Strings www.worldofstrings.net/
1738 E. 7th Street, Long Beach, CA 90813
Monday – Friday 9:30am - 6:00pm
Saturday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Closed Sundays
562-599-3913 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Folk Music Center www.folkmusiccenter.com/
220 Yale Avenue, Claremont CA 91711
909-624-2928
Morey's Music
4834 Woodruff Avenue, Lakewood, CA 90713
562-420-9532
Norm's Rare Guitars www.normansrareguitars.com
18969 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, California 91356
818-344-8300
Time Warp Music
Venice Blvd., Mar Vista, CA 90713
562.420.9532
Cremona Violin Shop
3213 Midvale Ave., West L.A.
by appointment at (310) 475-5897
www.laweekly.com/2006-10-05/news/best-fiddler-s-friend/
Mr. Kyozo Watanabe, proprietor of this home-based shop,has saved my musical butt countless times. He works not only on violins but onother instruments in the string family. He does all my bow rehairs andfunctions as my Center For Emergency String Procurement. Definitely call aheadto let him know you're coming.
Buffalo Brothers
4901 El Camino Real, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Phone:760-434-4567
Store hours:
Monday thru Friday, 9am-6pm.
Saturday, 10am- 5pm.
Sunday, 12noon- 4pm
Directions:
From I-5:
Take the Cannon Road Exit heading East, as if you were going to Legoland.
Go about 2.5miles to El Camino Real and turn left heading North.
Go about 1/2mile and we're on the left hand side of the road.
Look for the Chicken on the roof!
There's a nursery next door as well.
McCabe's Guitar Shop
3101 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Business Hours:
Monday to Thursday 10AM - 10PM
Friday and Saturday 10AM - 6PM
Sunday NOON- 5PM
Phone: 310 - 828-4497 Fax: 310-453-4962
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World of Strings
1738 E. 7th Street, Long Beach, CA 90813
(562) 599-3913
Monday - Friday 9:30 - 6:00
Saturday 9:30 - 5:30
Closed Sundays
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Folk Music Center
220 Yale Avenue, Claremont CA 91711
909-624-2928
Boulevard Music, Culver City
California Traditional Music Society
16953 Ventura Blvd.
Encino CA 91316
First Sunday of each month
1-4 pm
Led by Steve Lewis
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Hyperion Tavern
1940 Hyperion
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Third Thursday of each month
9pm-midnight or 1am
Led by Triple Chicken Foot
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Audubon
Audubon Center at Debs Park
4700 North Griffin Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90031
Fourth Saturday of each month
1-4pm
Led by Joe Wack
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cameron Pasadena Jam
Third Sunday of each month
11am-4pm
Led by Andy and Barbara Cameron
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Westside Jam
657 Porter Lane
Hermosa Beach,CA 90254
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Led by JimHamilton
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Glendessary Jam
Wednesdays in Santa Barbara
Tom Sauber
Fiddle, Banjo, Guitar
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626-574-0292
David Bragger
Fiddle, banjo and mandolin in the old-time, pre-warstyle.
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818-324-6123
Cymra Haskell
Fiddle, Banjo, Guitar
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Steve Parker
old-time mandolin and clawhammer banjo lessons in theSan Fernando Valley at my house.
All levels welcome.
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Clifford Latimer
Mandolin, old-time
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McCabe's Guitar Shop
Zac Sokolow *
Specifically frailing and clawhammer style
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
310- 678-6434
Bob Applebaum
Mandolin
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
310-399-3917
Fred Sokolow *
All styles
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
310-838-4215
Laura Kass *
Classical violin and Appalachian fiddle, includingWestern swing and other improv styles
(310)-268-6650
* Available Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays
Old-TimeHerald - www.oldtimeherald.org
Fiddler'sMagazine - www.fiddle.com
ARSC Journal- www.arsc-audio.org/journal.html
Play of a Fiddle: Traditional Music, Dance, &Folklore of West Virginia – Gerry Milnes
Fiddling Way Out Yonder: The Life and Music of MelvinWine – Drew Beisswenger
Ring the Banjar! – Robert Lloyd Webb
Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women – Ricky Jay
African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia – CeceliaConway
The Devil’s Box – Charles Wolfe
Old-Time String Band Songbook – Cohen/Seeger/Wood
Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes – Jeff Todd Titon
The Fiddle Book – Marion Thede
The Art of the Mountain Banjo – Art Rosenbaum
Minstrel Banjo: Briggs’ Banjo Instructor – JosephWeidlich
The Old-Time Fiddler’s Repertory Volume 2 – R.P.Christeson
The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 16 – Robert Crumb
Strings of Life: Conversations with Old TimeMusicians - Kevin Donleavy
Long Steel Rail – Norm Cohen
Ragtime forFiddle & Mandolin &150 Hot Tunes for Fiddle& Mandolin--Steve Parker
When I want to see a tune, I go here:
JC's ABC Tune Finder --trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tunefind
When I want to learn about a tune, I go here:
Fiddler'sCompanion -- www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/index.html
When I want to hear a tune (or snippet thereof) andiTunes fails me, I go here:
Amazon Song/Tune Search --tinyurl.com/54wx9m
When I want to find French Canadian music, I go here:
Trente Sous Zéro - Thirty Below-- www.trentesouszero.com/
Traditional Music & Living History (& PierreCruzatte)
For us mandolin geeks www.mandolincafe.com is thebest web resource around. All styles.
The Old-Time Music Home Page - www.oldtimemusic.com/
Roots of American Fiddle Music - www.1001tunes.com/
Mike Seeger's Website -mikeseeger.info/index.html
Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry ReedCollection
memory.loc.gov/ammem/hrhtml/hrhome.html
Old Time Kentucky Fiddler Clyde Davenport
www.stg.brown.edu/projects/davenport/CLYDE_DAVENPORT.html
Old-Time Herald - www.oldtimeherald.org/
Digital Library of Appalachia -www.aca-dla.org/index.html
County Sales - www.countysales.com/
Elderly Instruments - www.elderly.com/
Folk Music Index, useful index for traditional fiddletunes - www.ibiblio.org/folkindex/
WeenieCampbell.com, devoted to old-time country blues
Bubba Guitar- www.bubbaguitar.com
Yazoo Records - www.yazoorecords.com/index.htm
Document Records - www.document-records.com/
North American Tradition Series - www.rounder.com/series/nat/
Sugar in the Gourd - internet streaming old-time music,www.sugarinthegourd.com/
Field Recorders' Collective, www.traditional-music.com/index.html
