I had the pleasure of filling in for the missing Bruce King at a recent New Pioneers show. Here's some footage from the show... and even more footage if you're crazy like that... or on YouTube if that's your thing.

The show turned out to be a bit of a Bluegrass-smack-upside-the-head. It reminded me that I've been spending a lot of time in the Old-Time world and neglecting the 'Grass. Message received.

Click image to play

QuickTime 7 required.

And please note, because Internet Explorer totally sucks, I can't embed quicktime safely any more. Please stop using Microsoft products where possible. I'd appreciate it.

Here’s one just for fun… This is my Hartford inspired (read: stolen) version of “Bring Your Clothes Back Home”. Not sure where he got it but it’s almost certainly an old Blues/stringband tune. The title may also be “Try Me One More Time”. Not sure. Surely there’s a crusty historian out there who would love nothing better than to shred their larynx berating me for my stupidity on the subject… uncle?

Click image to play
QuickTime 7 required.

I woke up feeling extremely funky this morning… I’ve been kinda couch-ridden all day and thus, mando playing. My mando is also feeling kinda funky today. Her strings are crusty and stale. Together in our mutual funks, we produced this odd little version of Evening Prayer Blues. A tune with a loose (extremely loose) lineage of DeFord Bailey to Monroe to Compton and then to me.

Click image to play
QuickTime 7 required.

Old Mountaineer is one of those fantastic, yet obscure Monroe tunes. I stole it (like so many things) off of Mike Compton. Interestingly, I learned it off of the bootlegs from a house concert in Madison, WI (before I moved here) and have since become good friends with Bobby and Lori, who had hosted that show. If you don’t have that show, you should… but you can find the tune on Stomp as well.

Sidebar: while I’m on it, I’l throw out a quick rant for bootlegs… Some musicians feel that bootlegs cut into their bottom line and/or don’t care for folks to hear their “off” shows. I understand these opinions and have no problem with it… except that I disagree with them. My favorite shows are live. Live performances offer a true look into a musician. The allow me to hear tunes that they’re working into a set or are playing off the cuff. Mistakes provide more depth in understanding their playing. Eg. how one handles a mistake in music, like in life, tells a lot about folks. Please, please, PLEASE… allow live recordings where applicable. When I listen to your show I will have already bought your records (which is why I’m listening to your live show) or open to checking you out (and if I like you I will almost certainly buy your record). ‘Nuff said…

Okay, rant over…

Click image to play
QuickTime 7 required.

I used “the folk process” to liberate this tune from a fantastic record by John Hartford and Jim Wood. It’s called The Bullies Have All Gone To Rest and I would highly recommend it. For the recording, I’m using a new toy called the MicPort Pro. Sounds pretty good… as does the Shure KSM32.

Click image to play
QuickTime 7 required.

Okay, I had to run over to DHL to pick it up before they closed and therefore sat on their dock until tuesday… but my new Duff is here! I’m off to give it a spin but I threw a quick video together to share with my mando brethren. More to come…

Click image to play
QuickTime 7 required.

Pumpskully was perhaps the greatest band in the known universe that you’ve not heard of. Case in point, their version of the Beatles “I Dig a Pony” (a personal fave) recorded during a soundcheck at Nashville’s Exit In. Using this and footage from the Beatles’s rooftop performance of the same song, Steven “Big Toe” B has created a lovely montage during his, obviously, ample freetime. The results are absolutely fabulous… keep in mind however, that this version does not include Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids.

The shootings at Virginia Tech were a horrible tragedy. Heinous events such as this typically beget a media-induced public outcry… public outcries, especially those induced by the media, then demand the placement of blame… once blame (or possibly before) is established (or at least inferred) we’ll get a bunch of jackasses pushing their ridiculous ideas for preventing the tragedy in the future. Here are examples of what two such jackasses might offer up (and yes, these two are real!):

The eldest of the Brothers Ray has just recently turned 40. In addition to the obligatory ribbing for being old and at least relatively feeble, the whole family got together to celebrate the milestone in grand fashion. All the usual characters were there and in especially rare form.

As a special surprise, some friends from days long (really, really long) past were in attendance with their respective families in tow. It was quite interesting to watch the 15+ year absence almost immediately dissipate and vanish. Granny Ray, the clan elder at a spry 94 (and at least an inch shorter than last time), made an appearance and was seen eating an impressive amount of food, though she mentioned multiple times that she was full and couldn't eat a thing. This would be the first time in many many years that the whole family was together under a single roof. Quite remarkable really... and an extremely fine time was had by all.

During the festivities, Sean and I picked a few songs for the crowd... another first in many many years. This was partially caught on tape by the infamous Milwaukee Mike (aka Mikey "Tie, hold the die").

Wilbur "Willie" Hall was a writer, performer and multi-instrumentalist of stage and screen for over 50 years. Unfortunately, the web has little to offer about the man save for this short movie clip of one of his acts. It really speaks for itself...