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How many of us play in a traditional band.
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Subject: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: skarpi Iceland. Date: 17 Mar 99 - 06:30 PM If nobody have started this kind a thread before I am glad, but If it doesent I am sorry. How many of us play in a trad.band and what is the name and where are we from, from what time are the songs and so on..... Well if I start, Iam in a band Ccalled TAMORA and we are from Iceland. We play only Irish trad.music and nothing else. The songs are from early eighteen hundred and up.We sing in English and Gealic, and we try to have all lyrics as orignal as they can get.We have guitar,bamjo,mandolin,bass,tin flute,flute and bodhr n and accordion. I hope that we can tell us more about our bands. skarpi Iceland. sl n. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: skarpi Iceland. Date: 17 Mar 99 - 06:34 PM Ups! I see the letters are wrong in banjo, I am sorry about that. skarpi. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: SeanM Date: 17 Mar 99 - 06:37 PM I guess it depends on your definition of 'traditional'... I play in a band with 4 others, playing guitar, base, flute, pennywhistle, bodrahn, harmonica, washboard, etc., etc., etc... whatever the song feels it needs. It's all acoustic, but we don't stick to one given style. We play Irish traditional, English, American West, Minstrel, Vaudeville, whatever the show demands... partially because it's fairly hard to carve out a profitable niche in California, and we're fairly new. So if that counts as traditional, that's us. If it doesn't, then we're just confused. M |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Bobby Bob, Ellan Vannin Date: 17 Mar 99 - 08:16 PM We're confused as hell - the posh word is 'eclectic'. It means we play just about any old thing that we feel like. Having said that, the backbone of our repertoire is Irish, quite a bit of Scottish and English, the odd Manx tune (the Manx repertoire is more song-based and not so up-beat for dancing) but we also play medleys of the old sing-along community song book stuff - Stephen Foster and the like. We also have World War II favourites as well - God alone knows why. What we play for is dancing, so if it drives the dances along, that's all we need. We use melodeon, fiddle(s), bass, and tin whistle (occasional harmonica too. As for a name, when we first were going to play somewhere (about 21 years ago), someone asked Big John for a name to put on the poster. He, jestingly, called us the Calor Gas Ceilidh Band. It was a (bad) pun on the famous Gallowglass Ceilidh Band - Calor Gas supply bottled gas. Somehow, we've been stuck with it ever since, but I don't think many of the people we play for have ever heard of the Gallowglass, so the point is lost, really. We go out and have fun, play music, get people dancing and get drunk not necessarily all in that order. Shoh slaynt, Bobby Bob
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: bill\sables Date: 17 Mar 99 - 09:00 PM I play in an Irish trad ceilidh band called Shananikins Our line up is fiddle, Accordion, Guitar, melodeon, with doubling up on instruments we also play Saxophone, Tenor Banjo, mandola and flute. most of our tunes are trad Irish but we sometimes play the odd Scottish medely for dancing. Our oldest member plays fiddle and he is in his late sixties while our youngest ,the accordion player is only nineteen. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Jen Date: 17 Mar 99 - 10:14 PM I wish I did! But, alas, am not good enough yet. ;-) |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: jets Date: 17 Mar 99 - 11:20 PM My band is called Raaticoon named after the old Finnish dance called Raatticoon. The Finns say but you have misspelled the name but I point out that the dance has two Ts The name of the band has but one T. We play mostly old traditional Finnish dance tunes that I learned from an up state New Yorker who had learned them from his father.Some of the songs are so old that he did not recall the names, so he and his dad renamed them to what ever struck there fancy. Also on the play list are old Arcadian songs such as Arcadia is my native land.The Marriage of Jan Pierre is another. WE have a guitar, mandolin ,with myself on the button accordion and I beat on a bass drum with a kick pedal. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Songbob Date: 18 Mar 99 - 12:39 AM Well, I'm in a trio called "Sidekicks." We're what we term a "frontier and western" band, which means we play songs of the frontiers of the US and Australia. We are NOT a "sons of the pioneers" nor a "Bob Wills" kind of band, but oriented toward traditional and "in the tradition" songs. Three voices, a gazillion instruments (guitars, five-string banjo, mandolin, 12-string, dobro, harmonicas, mandolin-banjo, guitar-banjo, and autoharp come to mind) and lots of fun. We're a neighborhood band from the "folk music ghetto" of Silver Spring, MD. Anyone wanting to hear us can come to our Sarutday night gig (Mar. 20) at the Potomac Overlook Nature Center in the Potomac Overlook Park on Marcy St. in Arlington, VA. Music starts around 8 PM, and there's a second band as well. Should be fun. Now, if only we weren't in competition with Rick Fielding's FSGW concert.... Hate to miss him, but a gig's a gig. Sidekicks web site: http://members.aol.com/sidekix999/ (Sorry, I don't know the "href" stuff well enough to make that an active link. Someday I'll learn all that web lingo.) Bob Clayton |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: DonMeixner Date: 18 Mar 99 - 12:56 AM I play in a band called The Flyin' Column, we do tradition British Isles tunes(Mainly)and some American folk tunes. We use guitar, violin ,hammered dulcimer, %string banjo, and drums. We play most traditional tunes in a Clancy Brothers/Kingston Trio with drums style. We have five members in the band and four are singers. Don |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: j0_77 Date: 18 Mar 99 - 01:59 AM I used to play fiddle in a trad quartet - but after I played the same set of reels toooo amny times and the lead banjo player always managed to drink the pay before we got it, I quit - besides I needed to be alone to think for a while - tenor banjos, guitar sometimes a squeeze box. Best band I ever played in was totally off the wall had harmonica, autoharp, 5 string, bodhran, guitar - it was a hot boppin band - but alas we were erazed by a blue grass bunch who bored the ass of the audiences we had gotten. They just moved on in on our little sceene and drove off the people. We played kinda like Uncle Dave Macon stuff. We all just quit. Oddly afterwards the crowds dwindled and we were asked the big Q, why? Found other places to b in - that's why. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Alan of Australia Date: 18 Mar 99 - 05:45 AM G'day, Alison & I play in a 5 piece Aussie bush band called the Beat Around The Bush Band. We mostly play for dances & the tunes are mostly Aussie dance tunes, many of which originated in Ireland. Our instruments are: keyboard, flute, whistles, accordian, bodhran (Alison), guitar, lagerphone (me), bass guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, more whistles, another guitar and various other percussions. All five are vocalists. Then we branch out into non-traditional stuff.......
Cheers, |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Bruce from Bathurst Date: 18 Mar 99 - 06:52 AM G'day, Another Australian here. I play in two bands (but never on the same night).
One band is similar to Alan of Australia's, in that we focus on collected Australian material along with the usual Aussie bush band repertoire begged, borrowed or stolen
The other band I've just joined is an unapologetic mob of folk rock noise-makers who probably shouldn't be let out after dark, called Cocky's Joy. Traditional material with fiddle, mandolin and whistle, but with a rocking rhythm section of electric guitar, bass and drums. Lock up your daughters.
But it was Nodding Thistles who kept the crowd jumping last night for St Patrick's Day. Tradition wins again!
Bruce |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Frank Howe Date: 18 Mar 99 - 09:42 AM Ours is a mostly a trad band - An Seinnteoir¡ (An Shen-choree). We play traditional Irish / Celtic music. Group members hale from the Farmville, Virginia area and have been playing together for about four years. We do a mixture of lively reels and jigs, whiskey songs, sea chanties, songs of rebellion, sweet ballads, tall tales, and outright lies! Group members are: Carolyn DeWolfe - (Guitar, Dulcimer, Vocals) Kevin Dunn - (Bones, Pipes, Vocals) Frank Howe - (B¢dhran, Concertina, Harmonica, Vocals) Mary Prendergast - (Keyboard, Tin Whistle, Recorder, Vocals) |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Jack Hickman - Kingston, ON Date: 18 Mar 99 - 10:43 AM I play with a group called the Kingston Ceili Band, which has been going since 1981, I am the only original of the group. Right now, we have six regular members, but that changes from time to time, depending on availability of people. Our name is really a misnomer, we are a show band rather than a ceili band, although we are gradually getting into playing sets for set dancers. We do a lot of things, vocals, contemporary and traditional ballads, O'Carolan material, but mainly oriented to Irish, Scottish and Celtic Canadian. Our instrumentation varies from time, but last night we played a benefit for the local Irish Famine Commemoration Group, and we had seven players, 3 fiddles, whistle, flute and timber flute, Bodhran, two guitars and a banjo. Made for a good sound. We play mainly within a 50km radius of Kingston, but we are not a bar band. We play for benefits, weddings, wakes, festivals, and sometimes we get paid, other times we don't.
Our website, which I am in the process of updating, is at Keep the Faith Jack Hickman |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: folk1234 Date: 18 Mar 99 - 02:40 PM Wow! I just love the names of these bands. Another clear indication of the amazing talent and diversity of 'catters. Let me tell about our group. I play guitar and sing with The Oklahoma Traditions. We are the performance and demonstration band of the Oklahoma City Traditional Music Assn. (come visit us at octma.org) We have 12 members, usually 9 or 10 are available for any one performance. We have several highly skilled musicians, some very good, and some mediorce, but improving. Each year 2 or 3 members may drop out of the group for one reason or another, and 2 or 3 new people will join. We play about 12 to 14 times a year at Fairs and Festivals (Art, Music, Cultural, and Herb) fund raising events, State Fair, and Libraries. Our instruments include banjo, penny whistle, mountain and hammer dulcimer, flute, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass, bodhran, and percussive things like limber jacks, wash boards, and assorted rattles. Our mision is two-fold. First is to perform and demonstrate to the people of Oklahoma traditional music from the British Isles, early and contemporary America, and other cultures. Secondly, we provide an opportunity for club members to improve their musicanship by performing before diverse audiences in a friendly and supportive environment. The more experienced members lead and mentor the less experienced. New members get on board at their own speed. We see ourselves as more than entertainers. We are ambassadors - international, intercultural, and intergenerational emissaries of times gone by and places never seen. Like bridge builders, we span obstacles of time and space to link the past to now, and the there to here. Each time we perform a traditional piece, we bring the joys, the pains, and the memories of a past and distant reality into the present. (In keeping with the folk process, I've plagiarized some of words and throughts in this paragraph from a source unknow or unremembered) We truly enjoy what we do. Please come join us sometime. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Laurel Date: 18 Mar 99 - 05:07 PM Well, we play Irish, (tinwhistles, bodhrans, wooden flutes, etc), and I'm not sure what our band is called. Silant' Laurel |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: SeanM Date: 18 Mar 99 - 05:24 PM Jeez... after reading folk1234's post I feel kinda bad... my band doesn't seem to have much more of a mission than playing good music and drinking good beer - preferably beer that's been bought for us... ;^) M |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Barry Finn Date: 18 Mar 99 - 10:09 PM I'm in a sometimes 2 piece sometimes 3 piece group called Finn & Haddie. Don't really use instruments to much, stick to vocals for the most part. Sing work songs, some railroad songs but it's usually prison work songs & sea shanties & we lean towards Afro-American shanties at that. We don't get out to sing to often & wouldn't generate much of an audience with what we sing so we stick to a few festivals (only a few will have us). We have a ball with the worksongs & it's not something that to many people do either so it's a kick to passit around too. Barry |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: McMusic Date: 18 Mar 99 - 10:19 PM I'm in a band called "The Oppossum String Band". We play "old-time"music; three of us hail from SW Virginia, one from South Carolina, one from Georgia, and the other from up near Boston. We usually get together at Sutton, WV in the spring, decide on our one song play list for the year, and perform it at Mars Hill, NC in June during old time music week. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Elizabeth Date: 19 Mar 99 - 01:47 AM Wow...what a variety!! I play in a band called Black Wattle. We call it a rubber band because it stretches from four to sometimes seven piece, depending on gig and availability. For Bush Dances we play trad Australian dance stuff (mostly of Irish derivation, some English and Scottish).Lineup is usually guitars, fiddle, bazouki/mandolin, tin whistle, bodhran and lagerphone. When we do pub gigs, we leave the lagerphone at home and add a whole lot of vocal stuff....trad and contemporary depending on how we feel and what the crowd is like!! Rehearsals are always pretty laid back and nobody goes home until the Tim Tams are all eaten!! |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Big Mick Date: 19 Mar 99 - 01:56 PM As most of you know, I play in The Conklin Ceili Band. We play mostly Irish, some Scottish, and some North American folk, such as Stan Rogers. We play all over Michigan, from Beaver Island to Niles to Flint to Grand Rapids to Muskegon and so on. Our instrumentation consists of the following: 6& 12 string guitar, banjo, mandolin, bodhran, whistles, Irish bouzouki, 48 button concertina, fiddle and hammer dulcimer. Four of us do the vocals and the harmonies. We try to do a mix in our repertoire that introduces our audience to as much of the various styles of music and singing of Ireland as possible. We do jigs and reels, Ballads including love songs, longing for home/emigration, drinking songs, rebel music, some sean nos which needs work but is coming, some group a capella, and so on. Most of our shows are energy driven. I have insisted that we also include a fair amount of historical reference as we do the music, especially the songs of emigration, so the audience walks out knowing more about their past than they walked in knowing. And of course the jokes. In fact, a young man came up to me this past St. Pat's Day and said he saw Hal Roach at the Milwaukee Irish Fest and the damn guy was doing my material. I am going to contact his people and register a complaint!!!!!! Mick |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: folk1234 Date: 19 Mar 99 - 03:10 PM That OK Sean, don't feel bad. My earlier msg was our PR spin. We too drink; eat & drink; and eat, drink & be happy. However it seems that most frequent tangible compensation is T-shirts. Of course the intangible joys of performing are what we live for. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Chris Nixon UK Date: 19 Mar 99 - 03:35 PM And one more... I'm with the Deal Hoodeners - 300 years old or nearest offer, performing with a Kentish Hooden Horse (winter solstice ritual)and a band of anything up 12 musicians including melodeon, banjo, fiddle, concertina, various drums, whistle and many voices giving stick to traditional English carols around the streets of Deal (and the pubs) at Christmas. The rest of the time we help run the Deal Sea Shanty Festival and generally enjoy playing a wide range of English trad. music. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: skarpi Iceland Date: 19 Mar 99 - 03:50 PM Hallo again. When I started this thread I thought that I would get no or a little response, but I am very glad that so many folks are telling us about their bands, and want to say this, if we play from our hearts and from what we are, then we are doing well. I hope folk1234 do agree with me. And Ido not drink beer when I am playing, I drink one before and another after. Keep on writing, and keep on playing. sl n go foil. In Icelandic sj umst seinna. skarpi Iceland. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Lonesome EJ Date: 19 Mar 99 - 04:40 PM Yeah, Skarpi, only two beers. But how many Akavits? |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: SeanM Date: 19 Mar 99 - 04:47 PM It's almost worthwhile to start a new thread on drinking vs. not drinking during a show... I opt for drinking moderately, mixed with water aplenty - but then again, I don't do much of the singing, spending most of my time playing 'whistle. M |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: skarpi Iceland Date: 19 Mar 99 - 06:58 PM Lonesome EJ, I dont drink strong wines, thats it. Akaviti is just for those who wants to forget a bad day or a memory. But if I tell you the truth I dont drink while I am playing, I sing almost every song in the program and we have about 70 songs and instrumental. So between songs I drink the best water in the world Ice cold Icelandic pure water, and that is the truth. The next best is after I have done the playing is o fcourse cold GUINNES BEER. How ever I did not start this to talk about drinking.So on we go, and talk about our bands. sl n go foil, dia quit. skarpi Iceland |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: LEJ Date: 19 Mar 99 - 07:46 PM I understand completely, Skarpi. I play in a Rock n Roll/ Blues band, where beer drinking is a part of the whole scene. However, I am the Lead Vocalist and the one responsible for guiding the group through endings and changes which are primarily keyed to the verse structure. And so I try to avoid drinking "on the job." Our repertoire is about half classic rock, half classic blues by people like Howlin Wolf, Tampa Red, and John Lee Hooker. Guess you would call that traditional. We do one Irish trad tune, "Risin of the Moon", but quite raucous and electric. I would like to get into more acoustic-folk sound , as my interest has been piqued by the Mudcateers. I was kidding you about Akaviti. You couldn't get me to touch the stuff with somebody else's mouth...LEJ |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: o'hanrahan Date: 20 Mar 99 - 06:55 AM Sean, I'm for drinking aplenty. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: AlistairUK Date: 20 Mar 99 - 08:31 AM drinking definitely...apparantly one of my best performances was at a festival a few years ago where I had been drinking Scrumpy cider and tequila all day and smoking something that was definitely not legal...problem was everybody was coming up to me the next day telling me what an electric performance I had put in the night before and I couldn't remember a damned thing. Que sera *sigh* |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Marcus Campus Bellorum Date: 05 Sep 00 - 11:55 PM So how many traditional bands is that then? And what is traditional? No drum kit? I play in a trio "Tursacan" which began life in Armidale NSW Australia moved to Bathurst NSW, and then to Canberra in the ACT in Australia. We are sometimes knocked backed for gigs because we are not traditional enough and then on others because we are too traditional. I think the label is the problem. Lineup: Vocal Acoustic Guitar Cello Kit drum/percussion Didgeridoos The didge and drums really get up the traditionalists noses sometimes.
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 06 Sep 00 - 12:57 AM I'm in a group of friends who have met once a month for six or seven years now. We do early music and some Celtic music, but mostly early. We have harps, flute, recorder, guitar, mandolin and percussion. Once in a while, a bouzouki, kazoo or nose flute appears. We're flexible. Sometimes I give the gang an entirely different kind of piece at the end of a session. (We call that having a piece for dessert.) For example, a Viennese waltz, a Greek piece in 7/8 time, or an ancient Icelandic lullabye. (However you spell that.) We always have our tunes written out. I think that leads to the greatest participation by the greatest number.
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: GUEST, Banjo Johnny Date: 06 Sep 00 - 01:02 AM May I politely ask about a couple of terms ... Lagerphone, and Hooden Horse. == Johnny |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: IanS Date: 06 Sep 00 - 05:06 AM I have a question for Leeneia. Is flexibility required to make the nose flute appear or just a box of Kleenex ? Ian PS My band is called Ceolta and we play mainly Celtic traditional things. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Bud Savoie Date: 06 Sep 00 - 07:59 AM I'm the first to play old-timey traditional Appalachian? Well, I don't play in anything you would call a formal band, but I play in a number of regularly scheduled jams, and we always have a few folks who hang around to listen to the music. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: guinnesschik Date: 06 Sep 00 - 08:34 AM Hmmm, traditional? Let's see...I'm in a group called Eammon's Kitchen (with Jed Marum, who is a wonderful singer, musician, songwriter) and we play mostly Scot/Irish Celtic music, but throw in quite a bit of American and Appalachian songs, self-written songs on the Immigerant experience, the occaisional Van Morrison, Beatles, or even Violent Femmes song, depending upon the audience. I sing, play fiddle, and guitar. Jed plays guitar, sings, plays banjo and Emily (see his article on restringing your Backpacker). We have a bass/guitarist. Himslef plays bodhran and other percussion, and another singer. Drink? Don't mind if I do! And we can play all night if the inspiration is there. You can check us out at www.eammonskitchen.com Slainte! |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: bigchuck Date: 06 Sep 00 - 08:53 AM Well, quite a variety. I play with a not-so-traditional band called Woodchucks' Revenge, along with fellow catter midchuck and mrs chuck. Our approach is pretty rooted in 60's folk/bluegrass/old country, but a lot of our repertoire comes from contemporary songwriters. We are very much a "pickin in the kitchen" sort of group, vocally oriented rather than instrumental (which is good, because we're pretty rudimentary players). Play in VT, NY, NH, ME,and are trying to branch out. We use guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bass, mandola, bouzouki...whatever the mood hits. Two self-produced CDs available. Sandy Morse |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Naemanson Date: 06 Sep 00 - 09:18 AM Do we have to "play" in a band? I'm a member of Roll & Go, a group of 7 men and women who sing traditional sea chanties and ballads as well as more modern traditional sounding works. We do, occasionally enlist a guitar, washtub bass and banjo and we do also have a foo-foo band. I play bones to back up the rythmic quality of some of the chanties. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Snuffy Date: 06 Sep 00 - 09:22 AM Johnny A lagerphone is basically a big stick (broom handle, etc), with beer-bottle tops fixed to it fairly loosely so they rattle like very faint bells. You play it by banging it on the floor and/or drawing a shorter stick (half of a washing tongs, etc) across the bottle tops - this adds a kinda washboardy sound. Very useful if you've got a non-musician you want to let join you. Wassail! V |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Ely Date: 06 Sep 00 - 10:43 AM I did till they all graduated and left me. Midwestern-American-style old-time music. Seriously, our fiddlers used to debate whether they played too much like Missourians and what they should do about it. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Art Thieme Date: 06 Sep 00 - 12:22 PM A band we once had was me and Elvis along with Patti Page and Rosemary Clooney. We called ourselves Presley, Page, Rosemary and Thieme. ;-) Buyt seriously folks, I was always a solo. That way nobody ever quit my group. But I always was at least 90% traditional. To answer someones querie about what is traditional, I'd have to say that for me it was the generally long ballads and story songs that told real tales (probably/possibly) from folk' lives. They were stanzaic in form and each verse/stanza propelled the descriptive action forward the way a chapter in a novel would perform that service. They were almost always TOPICAL SONGS in that they zeroed in on a geographical place that was vividly depicted in the song. Or they were about a subculture of sorts -- cowboys, lumberjacks -- the whaling trade -- hobo experiences -- train wrecks - the westward expansion of the U.S.A. and the settlement of the various territories. The topical songs depicted all of the ways people tried to make their livings and what impeded them from doing that -- and how they fought back against a supressing system of things with unions and sometimes outright rebellion and violence. These serious topics were tempered by tall tales -- lies told on purpose -- humorous looks at the life they were enduring -- tales that belittled the immensity of nature and made it more endurable: "It was so hot the corn was popping on the stalk. The cows thought it was snow and froze to death." The songs were generally from the past because they showed me/us how we got from there to here. The passage of time had shown that the songs were about heroic and mythic topics; similar events happening in "the present" had not revealed themselves to be the stuff that myths are made of yet. Some of the better modern songs, ones that were written in the old traditional way, were thought by me to be worth including in my repertory: songs like Stan Rogers' "White Squawl" or Craig Johnson's taumaturgic creations. Dillon Bustin adapted and wrote some fine songs too. But I DID resist these modern songs. I saw myself as setting up a musical antique store and the newer songs were, to me, like putting a plastic table in the window. Those were O.K. and did the job, but only a very few were worth showing/learning to present with the gems of history I'd uncovered after sweeping the scum of the present off the top of the pond so I might more easily gaze down into the depths of history where the nuggets I was searching for could be found. Yes, it was like a fishing expedition, but once in a while a selacant would leap in my boat. Long thought extinct, here it was. Then it was up to me to be able to recognize it and save it in saltwater until it passed away naturally and then I (and a few I taught) could musically resurrect the fish to show it off in a way that might bring modern people into the world that had been inhabited by my artifact. Frank Warner did that when he sang the songs of, and told us about, Yankee John Galusha. Sandy Paton did it when he and Caroline and Lee Haggerty preserved and issued the music of Frank Proffitt, Dave Thompson and Lee Monroe Presnell. For me, it seems that most modern singer/songwriters look into today's newspaper and their own navels for inspiration. Folksingers (traditional), on the other hand, can and do travel through time where their found artifacts were waiting to be noticed. Folks, thanks for enduring yet another diatribe from old Art. It's for you to note or discard. But it's been my mission for a long time now. If you don't mind, I'll knock at your door every so often and try to give you a magazine. Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: RocketMan Date: 06 Sep 00 - 09:34 PM Hard to nail down traditional. I play dobro and guitar with Pinhook Creek, a bluegrass band in north Alabama. Some would argue that the dobro is not traditional as Monroe did not use one in his band. RMan |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: bseed(charleskratz) Date: 06 Sep 00 - 11:20 PM Our name changes from time to time--first, we were the Point Isabel Poodle Players when we needed a name when we played some background music for a video that was being made about the dog park at Point Isabel (Richmond, California--just about directly across the bay from the Golden Gate Bridge. Despite the fact that my two Labradors have got all the poodles that belong(ed) to other members outweighed, the last part of the name has sort of stuck to us (we no longer play much at Point Isabel where the seminal membersl, Charlie, Sally, and I met). We've also been Nancy and the Crowes. I have suggested a couple of names for the group, most appropriately The Born Once Gospel Band since about half our repertoire consists of old time gospel tunes although none of us are particularly religious, and Charlie Bond and the Bail Jumpers (Charlie is our lead guitarist and lead male vocalist--before entering law school he had received an undergraduate degree in ethnomusicology and spent a while playing in clubs and for a while in a touring country band). For one performance (at a cocktail party at the end of a conference of university summer session executives we were Sally and the Seniors (Sally Senior is our autoharp player, and a former president of the association of summer school executives--who got us the gig, and a later one at the Cal Women's Faculty Club. As I started this post I just thought of another name I'll try to get the group to accept--it's even more descriptive than the Born Once thing: Will Work for Food. As Charlie says, we're the best band in our price range--we were offered money once but refused it, suggesting that instead of paying us our hosts have their piano tuned so we could use it in the gig. In addition to the traditional spirituals we play quite a few traditional mountain tunes and Carter Family songs, fiddle tunes, bluegrass and contemporary folk, some blues, and some original stuff: Charlie writes beautiful poetry which he sets to fiddle tunes and, Walter, our piano player, in addition to writing scholarly thrillers (T. Rex and the Crater of Doom), writes beautiful fiddle tunes, notably his "Sally's Song." We have a couple of (and sometimes three) fiddlers, one of whom, Kimmie, is the seven year old daughter of John, our bass player, Dick on resonator banjo, yours truly on open back banjo, harmonica, and occasional lead vocals, Patricia on mandolin, Nancy on guitar and lead female vocals, Josh--our other lead guitarist, Hank (a bit more than seven years old) on fiddle, Walter's wife Millie on vocals. A couple weeks ago a fine country/traditional singer, musician, and song writer, Walter Forbes (anybody know him?), after playing and singing with us commented that he knew of lots of groups who were worse that we are who are filling concert halls and making piles of money. I guess it was a compliment. --seed |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 07 Sep 00 - 01:15 AM In response to IanS's post: a box of Kleenex would never make a nose flute appear, for Kleeneses (the preferred, Latinate plural) and nose flutes are incompatible. |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: GUEST, Banjo Johnny Date: 07 Sep 00 - 02:27 AM Thanks Snuffy! I have seen those lagerphones but I didn't know they were called anything. == Johnny in OKC |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: GUEST,Vincenzo Roma, Italia Date: 07 Sep 00 - 08:04 AM Is for this reason that many peolples anwer me about the fiddle... I play traditional irish music in a group "The Jolly Beggars" from Toscana, and irish folk revival "Folk Road" from Latina near Roma, but we are all italian. Ciao Vincenzo |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: Skipjack K8 Date: 07 Sep 00 - 08:22 AM I think and hope this is a first. I play odd times for bill\sables band named after the Mudcat..... well at least a loose translation into Geordie, so 66% of the members understand it at least. It is Clarty Moggies Ceilidh Band. Bill posted to the top of this thread over eighteen months ago. Sadly, Bill's fiddler has gone on. His death caused the disbandment, and the young accordion player Bill referred to is none other than Sam Pirt, who is now firmly established with 4-2-2 (Incidentally, Sam, my missus says that's sponge mixture, something about flour, eggs and margerine! Is this so?). See Bill if you need more details, weddings, barmitzfahs, etc, wakes a speciality. Skipjack |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: IanS Date: 07 Sep 00 - 09:37 AM Thanks Leeneia for the reply, but in my part of the world nose flutes are not treated with the respect they deserve and are usually referred to as "snotterphones". I myself dabble with the instrument (or should that be dribble) but I do find that its very hard to give your best performance when suffering from a cold - do you have any advice ? Ian |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: stubblejumper Date: 07 Sep 00 - 01:51 PM Ive been playing in a ceilidh band called The Srubblejumpers now for 21 years We have button accordian concertina fiddle and guitar. Hence the nickname an insult levelled at people from North Lincolnshire U K Country Bumpkins! |
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Subject: RE: How many of us play in a tradional band. From: RWilhelm Date: 07 Sep 00 - 06:41 PM I play in Sweet Loretta's Snake Oil Jug Band, a four-piece band featuring various combinations of guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, washtub bass, jug, washboard and kazoo. We do almost exclusively jug band songs from the 1920's by the Memphis Jug Band, Gus Cannon, Dixieland Jug Blowers, Whistler's Jug Band, King David's Jug Band, Cincinnati Jug band etc. Arguably not traditional, but pretty close by American standards. |
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