Thanks everyone at Mudcat for your help with my new book: Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book. It took some time but it's finally out.

I gave Mudcat some PR in the article that appeared today in the WS Journal:

Thursday, May 25, 2006
A Picker's Tune Book: Time seemed right for old-time music
By Lisa O'Donnell
Journal Reporter

Musician Richard Matteson collected the melodies, chords and lyrics to more than 200 folk songs.(Journal Photo by
Richard Matteson is a musician and music teacher, but for the last few years, he has also been something akin to a detective.
Matteson, 52, has compiled a collection of folk songs for Mel Bay Publications, one of the leading publishers of music-instruction books. The book, Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book, includes the melody, chords and lyrics to 213 folk songs, most of which are from the Appalachian Mountains.
This is Matteson's 10th book for Mel Bay. He got the idea for this collection after seeing how the soundtrack to the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? sparked an interest in old-time and bluegrass music.
"I think it's probably one of the most comprehensive collections to date," he said. "I could have done 400 to 500 songs, but I tried to get the ones that are popular, with a few that no one knows."
The songs are laid out one a page with lyrics in large print so that they can be read during a performance.
Stephen Rekas, a music and text editor at Mel Bay, said that the inclusion of lyrics is important for people who like to sing and play this genre of music.
"At bluegrass festivals I've been to, there is always a demand for what folk musicians call "word books' or lyric collections," Rekas said. "This would ideally fit their needs since most of them don't read music."
What sets this book apart from other folk songbooks is the historical information that Matteson collected about each of the songs. That's no easy task considering the tangled lineage of most folk songs.
Much of his research was done with the help of other professional and amateur folklorists at the Mudcat Café, a Web site devoted to traditional music.
Many Appalachian folk songs have their roots in Ireland and the British Isles, but often verses were changed or added by mountain musicians. Songs could become intertwined or branch off.
"Froggie Went-A-Courtin,'" for example, has gone through a number of incarnations. Its roots are in England, where it appeared as early as 1549. Since that time, the sing-a-long tale about a frog, Miss Mouse and Uncle Rat, has had many titles including "The Frog's Courtship," "The Frog and the Mouse" and "There Was a Puggie in the Well."
Matteson's book includes each song's genre, the date it first surfaced and variations on the title, among other details.
Matteson tried to include the most popular version of each song, and, because some songs might have 30 to 40 verses, he limited most of the songs to just a few verses.
The melody lines and the chords were written for beginners. Anyone who plays a fretted instrument, such as guitar, mandolin or banjo, can play along with the chords in the songs, Rekas said.
Matteson teaches a variety of stringed instruments at Duncan Music on Stratford Road, and plays in Bluegrass Messengers, whose members include a revolving cast of some of his most talented students. He also plays in a praise band, Stand on the Rock, and a pop, jazz and blues band, Madison Blues Band.
He also paints, and not surprisingly, music provides him with inspiration. He has done two paintings based on folk songs, "Froggie Went-A-Courtin'" and "All the Pretty Little Horses."
His grandfather, Maurice Matteson, taught music at the University of South Carolina and made several forays into the mountains of North Carolina to collect folk songs.
Matteson has been playing many of the tunes in this new songbook for years. About half of the songs have shown up on his bluegrass band's play list, including "I Am a Pilgrim," "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Hallelujah, I'm Ready."
One of the most obscure songs he included in the songbook includes "The Jackfish," which is one of a family of songs that originated from an 1844 minstrel song called "Old Dad."
Many of these songs continue to find new audiences. Just recently, Bruce Springsteen recorded "Froggie Went-A-Courtin.'" And "Man of Constant Sorrow," which branched off a song that dates to 1812, was a big hit off the O Brother soundtrack.
"If a song is good and the lyrics are good, it'll last," Matteson said. ""Amazing Grace' will still be popular for a long, long time."
Churches keep some of these songs alive. Traditional-music festivals also keep songs in circulation.
"There's a lot of reasons why these songs continue," he said.
Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lo'donnell@wsjournal.com

Here's a link with some music:
http://wsjournal.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137836325138


Richie