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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 09:16 PM Having recently had the opportunity to do some singing with Mrzzy, I can attest to the fact that Mrzzy is not tone deaf and knows the tunes and words to a plethora of songs ... some I hadn't sung in years. Shug ... "Finding" joy at any age is such a mitzvah. Carol ... I lived in D.C. from '69 to '79 and have no desire to go back. What I want is to live in the country. Close enough to a city to get decent airfares ... but far enough away to not smell the combustion fumes. I also lived in Portland, OR, from '79 to '91; Fairbanks, AK, from '91 to '97; and Tallahassee, FL, from '97 to present. There's no place I'd want to go back to, simply because I've already done it. Some might call it wanderlust. If so, it's a direct result from living in a Navy family, moving every 18 months until I was 15, and not living in the U.S. until I was 12 years old. moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: GUEST,Tired of Mooning Date: 30 Jul 00 - 09:12 PM What is your problem Moonchild? You have whined and cried and bytched all over this forum and wailed you were leaving. You cannot have it all the ways you seem to desire. Are you staying or leaving or just in need of attention? Please list your favourite complaints on a stone tablet and insert them up your arse. You are defecating all over this forum anyway. Take all of your psychotraumas elsewhere. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Dizzie Date: 30 Jul 00 - 08:06 PM Spent 65 years of my life listening to Scottish/Irish music as well as the very good old time music out of North Carolina and West Virginia. At 65 I decided that I'd like to make this music on my own. Out I went and bought a Folkcraft Hammered Dulcimer, and taught myself to read music and play all these wonderful tunes I had listened to all my life. It has been a wonderful experience, and has brought a lot of happiness into my life. Shug. (Dizzie's other half) |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Mrrzy Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:59 PM I sing to myself and when among singing relatives, which is rare on my side but common on my X2B's (luckily I don't have to miss THEM the out-law relatives, I mean). Can't play a thing, but then again at the ages when I tried I was still tone-deaf, which I trained out of in college and, even more so with my local out-laws here. Am thinking of seeing if I could learn to play piano - the one instrument where "higher" and "lower" are obvious. All I'd have to do is learn right from left... I discovered the Mudcat because as soon as I got a job with Internet access I started looking up the lyrics to ballads I've always known most of, and lo and behold, kept coming back here. I started reading threads after a couple of hits, and after about a year I started to post, which fairly quickly sucked me into joining... Where will this slide lead? |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: CarolC Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:56 PM Moonchild: Takoma Park and Annapolis in Maryland both have INCREDIBLE folk music scenes. If you don't mind living in a major urban metropolitan area, they might be good choices. Shepherdstown (and the surrounding area) is excellent and has beautiful farmland all around. It's about an hour to an hour and a half from the Washington D.C. area, Baltimore, and Frederick MD. Frederick has a pretty good music scene. So if you're in the Shepherdstown area, you'll have to do some driving, but you're central to a lot of cities that have very active folk music scenes. I'm thinking about the possibility of moving to Ashville, North Carolina in the next five to ten years if Shepherdstown gets swallowed up by urban sprawl from the D.C. area. I understand it's a pretty amazing place. As for getting a job, I would think that if you got training as a massage therapist, you could probably make a very comfortable living just about anyplace that has a lot of folk music people and contra dancers. Good luck with your quest. Carol |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Bernard Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:46 PM Ah, but how do you know when someone is playing a melodeon? |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:43 PM No-one cries when you cut up a melodeon.... Deja vu here - all these were done in a thread last year/early this, but it's always good to see them back.... I've always maintained that, like Gervase, a gentleman is someone who knows how to play the melodeon, but doesn't. LTS |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Bernard Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:39 PM Correct! And the difference between a melodeon & an onion? |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:35 PM A good start?? LTS |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Bernard Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:26 PM Farnworth - where the M61 is cobbled, y'know! Although I play the melodeon, it's not very high on my list of favourites - what do you call a melodeon at the bottom of the sea? |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:21 PM Hey, Bernard, where are you based? You sound like my kind of guy, my SO's kind of guy and your neighbours have taste too! (sorry - melodeon hater here..... married into a household of 8 of them....)definately lunatic, close to the fringe and fond of Music Hall. Our local pub used to have one and it still has all the original stained glass in the roof lights.... LTS |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Bernard Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:15 PM Aaaaaargh! For what it's worth (prob'ly not much!): I sing (very loudly!) - have been a member of the Halle choir... My preference is lunatic fringe folk mixed with Music Hall, sometimes unaccompanied, but often with the aid(?) of a 6 or 12 string guitar, mandolin, 5-string banjo, english or anglo concertina, 120 bass piano accordion, G-D melodeon, and/or neighbours banging on wall. I also play flute and whistles, piano and a huge church organ. I've been around the folk clubs, off and on (but mostly off!) since the late sixties, and have played as a guest at quite a few. If I had a brain I'd be dangerous... |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:04 PM Gorsh, I dun gon all red and squirmy...... LTS |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:00 PM LTS ... you are, without a doubt, the funniest mudcatter on the forum. moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 30 Jul 00 - 06:48 PM You want to see my what? It's about 2 feet tall, 18 inches across and has a picture of the Cerne Giant, a red dragon (for Dorset) and white roses (for Yorkshire) painted on it. If you want to see it in the 'flesh', go to Hastings at May Day, or come to the Hallowe'en festival in London - you should be able to get details from the Witchvox website. If I haven't had my appendix out, then I'm complete.... if I had, I wouldn't be a complete idiot. See, this is the sort of discussion that it is SOOOOOOOOOOO easy to fall into. Normally I wouldn't pass the time of day with Roger the Skiffler, but here you see, we can do anything..... albeit Cyberly.... LTS |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 06:44 PM Rose ... Your strength lies in your "wanting to ..." moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Rosebrook Date: 30 Jul 00 - 06:41 PM I played silver flute from grade school through college, standard classical repetoire...played with a pianist for accompaniment and we played dinner houses and cafes for tips and meals...met a banjo picker at that time and was introduced to Celtic and other fiddle tunes..what fun I had playing gigs with him at the local coffeehouse...that was the birth of my love for traditional folk music. I learned recorder, and soon was playing the whole recorder "family". I taught myself the guitar, and played each year in my childrens' classrooms, teaching the kids songs, movement, and recorders until my daughter went into 5th grade and it became very "un-cool" to have Mom come into class every week to sing with your friends. But when she had the opportunity to start an instrument, she also chose flute - the best duet partner I've ever had! Several years ago, I met a man, Tony, who moved up the coast from California and he introduced me to sea chanteys. What a kick! This is when I was first given the opportunity to sing for an audience. It is still uncomfortable for me even now to sing in front of people, as I was an instrumentalist for XX years before starting to sing. This is one reason I have really appreciated Mudcat HearMe. But I really dig singing, and am grateful for that shift musically in my life. We soon were performing at different festivals. Soon after that, I met a bunch of local folks who play Celtic music. Viva Friends and Family - Kith and Kin. 6 months ago, I started playing hammered dulcimer. I have a list of tunes I want to learn on hammered dulcimer. Besides learning hammered dulcimer, I'd like to learn guitar better. I'm all self-taught on it, so I'm not very strong. Rose |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Gary T Date: 30 Jul 00 - 05:44 PM I sing, and strum guitar chords for accompaniment. Mostly folk and old (40's-80's) country, but with a smattering of 50's & 60's rock, standards, and "who knows what to call them" songs. My mission is to sing songs that don't get heard enough. I've had a few great nights playing and singing until sunrise, like Amos not having to repeat anything. Always hope to replicate those experiences at festivals such as Winfield (only about a month and a half away--hooray!). |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 05:03 PM No, 'spaw ... the intention was to have people make an effort to "say it again." In an effort to rebuild camraderie. If anyone feels it is a waste of their time, there's no pressure to post. In my case, right now, time is all I have ... moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: keltcgrasshoppper Date: 30 Jul 00 - 03:00 PM I discovered Mudcat via Dulcimerdan..Just love this spot. I sing, write a bit, and play a variety of percussion instruments. My husband Duldan, playes hammer dulcimer, concertina and guitar. He builds hammer dulcimers and Bodhrans ( Irish drums ). |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: catspaw49 Date: 30 Jul 00 - 02:53 PM Did we link the old threads, just out of curiosity? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Amos Date: 30 Jul 00 - 01:17 PM I have played 6 and 12 strings, a banjo, recorder, Indian medicine flute, and rhythm sticks in 4/4. The loves of my life are my Dreadnought Martin, 1967, and its little sister, a prewar parlor-size Martin. I play less than I once did. I can keep you up all night and never sing the same song twice, but don't get to any more. Swept up in the vagaries of large-scale software development projects, the guitar has become an occasional visit. Sic transit gloria spiritum. A |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: GUEST Date: 30 Jul 00 - 12:14 PM I sing and play guitar for my own amazement. Mostly the traditional folk songs recorded by Burl Ives. Sing some older country too. Played in a trio in high school (many years ago). Studied classical voice in college but my voice is not well suited to the classical repertoire. Not strong enough. Also studied choral conducting and thought seriously about becoming a choral conductor. DougR |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 12:14 PM Matthew ... I'm looking seriously at North Carolina and Virginia, but would also consider Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia. Maybe I should start a new thread about this? moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Mbo Date: 30 Jul 00 - 11:59 AM Jenny, come here! We can take this Eastern NC folk-less wasteland by storm!
I play guitar mostly, a Yamaha EF-10, which I do both fingerstyle & flatpicking on. My main focus for the last 6 years was classical guitar. I play a Dauphin, but lately, college work has cut my classical guitar playing time down to virtually nothing. I also play violin, mostly Irish & Scottish fiddle tunes (especially waltzes, airs & strathspeys) as well as other eclectic things. I've been playing Highland pipe chanter since Christmas, and hope one day to get up to the big daddy himself! I also recently picked up recorded last month, which I have found pretty easy after the piping experience. --Matt (Just because the old is good don't mean the new is bad) |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 11:45 AM CarolC ... I've decided to leave Tallahassee within the next year to "follow the music," as it were. Got any suggestions for a "wandering troubadour?" Oh, yeah, will probably have to find work, too. (just a minor inconveience) moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: CarolC Date: 30 Jul 00 - 11:00 AM When I was in high school (ahem...a long long time ago), I played the recorder. My friends and I all played nothing but rennaisance and early baroque music. After high school, it got hard to find anyone to play that kind of music with, so I stopped playing for many years. Three years ago I moved to a folk music and dance town (Shepherdstown, West Virginia). I didn't know anybody so, to meet people, I looked for the nearest jam session. I became a regular and started playing all kinds of folk and traditional music on the recorder. Then one day Paul Oorts showed up with his accordion. I fell totally in love with the instrument and resolved to make it my own. My neighbor and good friend, Don, saw a man selling stuff from the back of a van by the side of the road. The man had a micro-wave oven and an accordion. Don told the man that if he would give him a really good price on the micro-wave, Don would take the accordion off his hands for free. (Most of that story is true.) Now, I play all kinds of traditional and folk music on the accordion and on the recorder, but what I REALLY want to learn to play is old world or European folk music and circus music. Thanks for this opportunity, Moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: GUEST,Wesley S at Home Date: 30 Jul 00 - 10:51 AM I play guitar { Martin D-18, OM-28V and a Lowden 12 string } and mandolin { Weber/Bridger } mostly. I've ordered an octave mandolin from Davy Stewart that I'm looking forward to. I also have a 5 string Vega and a mountain dulcimer that get pulled down from the wall from time to time. I tend to sing baritone harmony parts with my group but they're starting to let me sing more lead parts. Perhaps I'm getting better { progress not perfection ?? }. We have a large folk, gospel, bluegrass group at church that does original material and music from the folk scare of the 60's. And my goal this decade is to start or work with a jug band or a celtic group - the type you would never invite to church. Since my wife and I are expecting twins in February I'm sure I'll have lots of time to work on my goals. Really - I'm happy to be working on lullabies. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 10:38 AM The mudcat is literally bursting at the seams with talent! Paul S. ... The reason I started loving bluegrass is because of the mandolin and fiddle! I'm even working up some bluegrass tunes. Makes me smile when I remember my dad's distinction between country & bluegrass ... country was "country" and bluegrass was "hillbilly" music. bigchuck ... Aren't you a FlatpickL? Have you been to Steve Kaufmann's flatpicking camp? I'm planning to go next year. Can't flatpick worth a damn, but figure I'll pickup something useful and will meet a bunch of new people. moonchild |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Naemanson Date: 30 Jul 00 - 10:28 AM Good Thread, Moonchild. I sing mostly. I love any funny song but am also a sap for the real deep tear jerker. I enjoy chanties as well as United Statesian, Irish and British traditional and traditional style songs. I sing chanties and other songs of the sea with a chantey group called Roll & Go based out of Portland, Maine. I don't do much Scottish music probably because I haven't had much exposure to it and, for some reason cannot work up an interest. I think it's a perceived language barrier. At times I accompany myself on a six string Madeira (quasi-Guild) guitar or a six string banjo on which (both of them) I hope to achieve mediocrity some day. I used to obsess about my lack of complexity on those instruments until I finally decided it was just my style. I also play the bones well enough to have been included in a cut for one of Castlebay's albums. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: bigchuck Date: 30 Jul 00 - 08:45 AM Good thread. I play guitar and mandolin and mess about with banjo (tenor and 5-string), octave mandolin and on occasion banjo-uke, achieving actual mediocrity on guitar and mandolin. I also repair all of the above and have built a couple of mandolins. I have played in several bands over the years (including country -rock) and of course am currently part of Woodchucks' Revenge. I have a pretty wide range of personal repertoire, blues, old country, traditional folk, contemporary folk, etc. I OD quickly on bluegrass for some reason, and avoid whiny singer-songwriter stuff like the plague. My roots are 50's country and 60's folk, and I do not do music from choice....I am a hard-core addict. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: GUEST,Barry Finn Date: 30 Jul 00 - 08:18 AM For better than 20 years now I've been playing bodhrans made by Mance Grady, play a bit of bones & spoons. I've been singing sea shanties & prision worksongs for a good bit longer & they're still my favorites & love singing them long into the late nights. I don't get about that much but still do some performing (usually in a duo called Finn & Haddie), at Mystic, NEFFA, Sea Revels, did some stuff for the Tall Ships (this time & the last time on Old Ironsides), do the odd concert or local seaport fests. Also enjoying singing trad American, Irish, British Isles & some contempory stuff, do a small bit of song writing too. Barry |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: MandolinPaul Date: 30 Jul 00 - 08:08 AM I used to sing, play guitar, and play harmonica in a blues band, which is the music I was obsessed with at the time. A couple of years ago, I sold my guitars (a Stratocaster, and a Vantage hollow-body, both souped to the nuts with custom pickups and trem systems, as well as my Yamaha acoustic), and bought a cheap mandolin (Samick, it is very cheaply made, but has OK tone).
After getting the mandolin, I started listening to a lot of folk-style singer/songwriters like John Prine, Woody Guthrie & Townes Van Zandt. Last summer, I started taking lessons on the mandolin. My teacher told me that in order to play the mandolin, I had to start listening to bluegrass and old-time. I did, and was chagrined to find myself eventually tapping my foot to it, then thoroughly enjoying it.
Now, when I visit back home, I jam with my brother and dad (jamming with my dad?!?). My dad will ask me to sing a few, so I end up dusting off the hokiest songs that I can find (Example: Beans, Bacon & Gravy, as sung by Pete Seeger), and we all seem to enjoy ourselves Paul. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: kendall Date: 30 Jul 00 - 08:02 AM I sing a wide range of stuff from hard core folk (Buryl Ives stuff) to modern singer/songwriter stuff from Utah Phillips and Tom Paxton. I even do a couple of blues songs..got that Max? I play maily a 1983 Taylor 810 but also, a 1974 Apollonio 12 string. Neither with much authority, although, Seamus Kennedy said he likes what I do with the guitar. Been messing around with the 5 string banjo lately, thanks to Jeri, by the way, Jeri, it is working out fine. Actually, my long suit is regional Maine humor. A very distinctive low key, dry, subtle humor which is quite different from the filth you hear on HBO. As my old friend, Marshall Dodge (Bert & I) said, "It takes more than a spoonful of brains to understand it." Probably the highlight of my musical experience was being recorded by Folk Legacy Records. It's still hard to believe they thought I was good enough! Being on the TODAY show and on Charles Kuralts ON THE ROAD was also a kick. Performance wise, a tour of pubs and folk clubs in Scotland still makes me smile. That was unbelievably satisfying. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Gervase Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:34 AM These days I sing - largely unaccompanied trad and modern trad-style standards at clubs, sessions and singarounds - but also sometimes threaten to play the box, whistles and bones. All of them accomplished with quite dazzling mediocrity. Things with strings is another matter though. Never could get on with those, which is a shame. Used to do the the fire-eating/fakir stuff at festivals, but the paraffin interfered too much with the bowels and I got fed up with finding tiny bits of broken glass everywhere... Prior to that, a bit of busking with the box and a some hack band work around Norfolk and North Suffolk. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Bagpuss Date: 30 Jul 00 - 07:15 AM I mainly sing, but also play 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars. I occasionally get get up at floor spots in folk clubs, or singarounds at festivals. I can't write songs, and mainly sing traditional (or traditional sounding) stuff. My favourite artists are June Tabor, Kate Rusby, Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley, Luka Bloom, Altan, Pentangle, oh and more, too many to mention. Bagpuss |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Roger in Sheffield Date: 30 Jul 00 - 03:16 AM LTS is there anywhere we can see a picture of this big drum ? Roger |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Peter Kasin Date: 30 Jul 00 - 03:05 AM I play Irish and Scottish music on fiddle, and I sing sea chanteys. It's a challenge trying to play two different types of fiddle music, but I enjoy it. My voice has good volume, which is good for chanteys, but lacks the good voice characteristics for just about any other type of songs - ballads, rangeroger tear-jerkers, etc. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: rangeroger Date: 30 Jul 00 - 02:19 AM I play 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar, play around with an electric guitar, am in the process of learning the electric bass, and occasionally take the dulcimer,mandolin, or banjo off the wall and attempt stuff on them. I love to sing and my guitar playing is mostly backup for my songs. I do mostly sad, tear jerking ballads but will sing most anything if its good. Right now I play mostly wth my church worship team ( which is why I'm learning the bass.We didn't have a bass player). And Liz, I haven't had my appendix out either.Does that make me weird too? rr PS also have two fiddles( my first instrument) that sometimes get taken out of their cases for me to play scales on. |
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Subject: RE: What .....?!? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 30 Jul 00 - 01:51 AM I'm mad as a bag of badgers, I sing, usually in church (see me later today in downtown East Ham......), but have been known to hit the odd folk club. I play recorders, penny whistle (although it's been a while and I forget there is no back hole to it...... bit embarassing at times.....), a big drum, and wish I could play keyboard instruments. I am a complete fruitcake - I haven't had my appendix out. LTS |
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Subject: What .....?!? From: bbelle Date: 30 Jul 00 - 01:45 AM I realize this has been done before and someone (not me) could insert a link to the original thread, however, it takes a lot of time to load and read that many posts and maybe even some of us have "changed," since the original thread. So ... since we have several new members, I thought it would be nice/informative/whatever to tell ... If we sing? If we play? If we do both? What do we play (instrument)? What type of music do we enjoy? I'll be the first ... I sing and I play a 35 year old Gibson B-25. My musical interests run the gamut of ... opera, classical, folk, bluegrass, old standards, blues, big band, klezmer. With my guitar, I play mostly folk, bluegrass, and blues ... with some gospel and Celtic thrown in. Much of my folk music is modern, with a smattering of traditional. Accompanied by someone else ... I love old standards and torch songs. moonchild |
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