Ispired by my previous thread about the rut old-time music may or may not be in, I am beginning this one. A little background may be necessary.

I play music with and jam with many talented old-time musicians. The guitarists seem to be willing to play jigs. The banjo players however are a different matter altogether. They seem positively alergic to jigs. This seems rather strange to me for two reasons:

1. Jigs are among the oldest tunes in the Anglo-Celtic tradition.
2. The midwest has a great traditional repertoire of jigs. I submit in support of my contention two collections fo fiddle tunes. One by R.P. Christesson, and the other by Marian Thede.

Now why on earth would clawhammer banjo players be alergic to jigs? The minstrels in the 19^th century, who after all helped acquaint audiences with the stroke style of banjo playing played everything including jigs, polkas, schottisches, hornpipes, and reels, as well as some very interesting song accompaniments.

But listen to the new crop of southern old-time fiddlers, and there's hardly a jig to be found. They seem to leave the jig repertoire up to the New England, Nova Scotia, and Irish fiddlers. I solicit comments and speculations especially from the clawhammer style banjo fraternity, and old-time music enthusiasts generally.
Jim