Tobias' Blog

I believe in the importance of listening to source musicians, knowing and learning from their versions of tunes. I know I am not the only one with this opinion. – But some of the opinions in this post might not be shared by some readers. Please feel free to comment and disagree.

The term source musicians is one that refers to the old musicians born around 1900 and before, and usually their recorded versions of particular tunes are the oldest ones known. I used to refer to these recordings as “original versions” of the tunes. But since the source musicians also learned them from somewhere (and most likely changed them a bit, due to the oral traditions), “original” doesn’t seem appropriate. So “the source version” seems better, because it is the oldest one available today and usually stands as a standard at jams etc.

The ideological aspect

A short time ago, I had the privilege listening to Riley Baugus and Kirk Sutphin play tunes they learned firsthand from older musicians. They said something at one point, that really made me think. They said that they always mention the musicians they learned the tunes from, because it was real people that they know/knew and grew up with. In other words, there was a real person connected to that tune.

I think this is an important reason to “keep an ear on” source musicians. A lot of the musicians, who are sources for the tunes played at old-time jams/records today, were not professional musicians – although some might have tried to be. They were farmers, miners, factory workers etc. Some of them made very little money recording for record companies in the 20s and 30s. Some took time out to let field recorders and collectors record their playing and tunes. Without these musicians old-time music would not be the same today. When someone plays Rock and Roll, almost everyone knows the musicians who created that genre. Musicians who became world famous and attained lots of wealth. This is not the case with old-time music. We owe it to these musicians, who created the old-time music we listen to today, to know and respect them and their tunes.

Reasons of tradition.

I quite often hear people say: “I learned this tune from a Dirk Powell CD, Bruce Molsky CD or “insert current old-time musician” CD. I like the mentioned musicians and listened to their records. Don’t get me wrong. But unless they wrote the tunes, they learned them from somewhere…So why not learn the tune from there as well?! As an illustrator I compare it to drawing a car. If I have to draw a certain car, it’s best to find the car out in real life and draw it. My drawing style will show through in the way I see the car, and what I chose to include or exclude. If I find someone else’s drawing of this car, I might copy some of his/hers stylish additions. I might leave out (or change) elements that actually are important in the look of the car, and someone who actually know the type of car might not recognize it in my drawing.
The same with the old-time tunes. Some of the tune elements or “sounds” might get lost, and the tune will no longer be the same.

The concept that speaks against my opinion is “The Folk Process”. The fact that tunes/songs are changed from person to person, because it’s being passed on via the oral tradition. I will make the bold comment that I don’t believe the folk process is really valid anymore. At least not in the same sense.

When the source musicians were learning to play, they had no way to record the tunes, and might just have heard them once or twice. So of course it was changed from one to the other. But today we have recordings and the opportunity to capture the details of the tune.
Also the invention of recording – and later the mass media and internet – made the spread of music much faster. For example: I’m a Dane playing American Old-time music!?. Old-time music is not limited in the same way to certain regions. A lot of people don’t really learn knee-to-knee with an old master anymore. Although there are luckily still people who are part of a living musical (and local) tradition, whose way of learning is close to the old ways. But a lot, especially us foreigners, learn through recordings.

One might argue against these principles, by saying that the music has to be kept alive and changing. Well, it already did. It evolved into bluegrass, “Folk” and country music, and on from there. When a lot of us (not so much people for whom this music is still part of their heritage and community) play old-time music, we go back in time and play something historical (or even foreign). It’s even in the name: “OLD TIME” music. And as something historical I think it’s important to keep it grounded in history.

One might also say that this attitude will make what we play reproductions, and why play it just like the old recordings when we already have them to listen to.
I think that no matter how hard you try, you cannot exactly reproduce another person’s playing. Your own sound will always shine through. So it WILL change. Your experiences, tastes and the time we live in will influence the music no matter what. I am just advocating the importance of keeping a foot firmly planted in the source.

The short practical reason.

Jamming is an important element of the current old-time scene, and it is made much easier with common references. I have tried taken part in jams where people’s versions of some tunes didn’t match. Very often it’s because the sources vary, which makes knowledge about different source versions a great asset. Some people might have learned from modern musicians who have changed the tune, so it’s not really fitting the source version anymore. Of course it’s possible to learn tunes on the fly at jams, but as some might agree, this usually results in the dominance of the so called festival style, and the reduction in amounts of regional and old styles being practiced.

Please feel free to critique, agree or anything else.

It was a great festival, and I really intend to go again next year. Hopefully bring more Danes. People were really friendly and welcoming. There were a good variety in musicians and musicianship. Good jams. One thing I really missed though, were guitarists. Lot of banjos and fiddles, but I often missed the rhythm section. I was happy that a lot of people played in cross tunings, which makes jamming easier. I have often been part of oldtime jams in Scandinavia, where people aren’t used to cross tuning and hence jump between keys all the time. The concerts were super, and as I wrote earlier the acts are well chosen and “the real deal”. I would go for that alone.

My main problem with the festival was the fact that the school closed at around midnight, and the only place to jam was the changing room. I am not really a fan of huge 20-30 people jams. It just becomes a race, and a lot of individuality and subtleties in the music is lost in the wall of sound. These jams also seem to end up being dominated by a core of musicians and others are kept a bit on the sidelines. But for people who like huge jams, the fact that the school is closed won’t be much of a problem. The low temperature in the gymnasium was awful, but I won’t really hold it against the festival, since I was to understand that it is not common (record low temperatures), and the heating was busted. But it would have been nice with a heads up, so I would have brought a better sleeping bag.

All in all: If you love oldtime music and live in Europe…this should be in your calendar each year.

I woke up feeling sorry for myself in the freezing gymnasium. My whole body was cold, and especially my nose, which was the only thing I had sticking out of the sleeping bag ( a fella has to breathe). One of the first things I saw was some guy walking around in his underwear. “Holy s#!t” I thought. Maybe it’s just me being a big wimp when it comes to cold. Maybe Brits are used to this!? I thought we had it colder in Denmark. Most people I met going to the cafeteria seemed unshaken by the cold. When I was eating I started talking with Andy Eggers – an American fiddler living in London. One of the first things he mentioned is how cold he was during the night. Finally someone who shared my misery.

I headed off to the first workshop. Piedmont Pals, with Riley Baugus and Kirk Sutphin. Let’s just say, that all my grievances about the cold was totally removed from my mind. That 1,5 hour workshop made the whole trip worthwhile. Kirk and Riley talked about their lives, the musicians they knew and of course played a whole bunch of tunes. It was amazing. At one point I felt quite emotional. There was something in their music and their interaction that just encompassed everything I love about oldtime music. I felt like I was sitting next to Tommy and Fred. They were also great people and I talked a bit to Riley Baugus…who is one of the nicest people I have ever met.

The next workshop I decided to go to was Shape Note Singing. Now, I am not much of a singer…but I am willing to learn, and have a fascination for shape note singing and sacred harp. It was really quite fun and the teacher, Cath Tyler, was really good and knew how to make it fun. I really wish I could practice this some more here in Denmark. There seems to be a good scene in the UK.

The next part of the day is kind of a blur. There was a great deal of jamming involved. With Ed, Paul, Russell and many others whose names I sadly don’t know or remember. There were different contest. I thought about entering, but I guess I felt a bit too shy. The scratch band contest would have been fun though. You put your name in a hat, and bands are formed. A good way to mingle. But I missed out.

The evening concerts were repeats (of acts- not repertoire) of the Friday concerts. I have to admit I didn’t see them all. I needed to stay more active or I would fall asleep due to lack of sleep. I did see Riley Baugus and Ira Bernsteins show – Great, great stuff.
The rest of the day was spent jamming. Ed, Andy myself and some others (who I don’t remember the names of sadly) found a math room and jammed. Quite something jamming 4 fiddles and 2 banjos. Not many guitars around.

After the school closed everyone set sail for the changing rooms yet again. It wasn’t as cold as the evening before. So I stayed a bit later this time. But I am not really a fan of huge jams.
When I went to my sleeping bag, I was prepared…wearing more clothes, and slept a lot better.

Sunday was mainly spent just hanging out and talking to people. I did take and excellent workshop in Charlie Poole banjo style. Taught by Kinney Rorrer and Kirk Sutphin. It was a lot of fun, and I keep practicing that style.

At about 1 pm. I started to say my goodbyes, and was lucky enough to get a ride to the train station with Dave Proctor ( a great fiddler btw.)
The trip went well (but slow) and I arrived at my good friend Sven’s house in Uxbridge at about 7 p.m. I had tickets back to Denmark for Monday evening, and spent Monday in London with Sven and his sweet son Luc.

The trip ended with Scandinavian Airlines sending my luggage and banjo to Oslo. Great! I will try not to take it personal…

But apparently Norway don’t take kindly to foreign nations sending them banjos, because it came back Tuesday evening.

For many years I have had my eye on going to the Gainsborough Oldtime Music and Dance Festival in England, and this year I finally made the trip. Besides the possibility to devote a weekend to jamming and meeting new Oldtime fans, the fact that Riley Baugus and Kirk Sutphin would be performing convinced me to buy some tickets. One thing that always amazed me about the Gainsborough festival, was that they usually brought over American musicians that don’t come to Europe often…if ever. Bands like The Slate Mountain Ramblers and The New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters (Man! Did I want to go that year!). “Musicians who are the real deal”, as someone said to me at the festival. Meaning musicians who grew up in Appalachia with Oldtime music.

I left Copenhagen on an early flight and arrived in London around 8 in the morning. I had train tickets north at around noon, and had some hours to spend in the center of London. Luckily I had gotten in touch with Anita Kermode. An American banjo player living in London. She was kind enough to let me put my luggage and instruments at her place, so I would have to drag it all around. I had some Fish and Chips for lunch…at a restaurant filled with Danes and Swedes…Jeez, I leave Scandinavia, and they follow…
The train trip took longer than expected because of some delays, but I was going to arrive early anyway.

Walking from the station to the school where the festival was being held, I met Simon, a banjoplayer who also had come up from London. I got settled in the gymnasium which was available for “indoor camping”. My friend Pete had lent me a compact air madras. It had some fancy accessory for blowing it up. I spend 30 minutes trying to make that work. Then I gave up and spend 30 seconds blowing it up manually.

Before the festival’s first concerts, I walked around and did some mingling. Thanks to Facebook, I knew some folks from the internet. It proved at good way to open conversations. I quickly met Russell Hawkes, Paul and Ed Bennett, who were real nice and I ended up spending a lot of time with them throughout the weekend. I had some dinner…which just happened to be Fish and Chips. Lunch flashback.

The concerts were great. Moonshine Hollow from Holland, Christine Cooper, Barry Southern & Alan Wright from England, Riley Baugus, Ira Bernstein and The New North Carolina Ramblers from the US. I am not much of a concert critic, so I’ll just say that they were all good, and each had their own sound, style and repertoire. I had met some of the Dutch players at The Kattinge Gathering in Denmark. I though they had become a really good and tight band…and entertaining as well.

After the concerts I found a place to jam with Russell, Simon, Paul and a few others. But unfortunately the school was closed at around 1 a.m. I was told this would happen, and that the jamming would continue in the men’s changing room. A tradition at the festival apparently. That jam was pretty big. I would guess there were around 25 people. But I was tired and it was REALLY COLD in there, so I decided to find my sleeping bag. To my big surprise the gymnasium was freezing as well…and my sleeping bag was not as good as I thought. Lets just say that I required a lot more than a t-shirt that night, and even with sweaters and woolen socks I spend more time freezing than sleeping. I guess insulation and doors that close all the way were unknown to the people who build that gym. At a low point of the night I regretted that I came…but luckily that changed big time Saturday.

To be continued…

I have been waiting for this coming weekend for some time. It’ll be my first visit to the Gainsborough Oldtime Festival in England. I have wanted to go at several occations. Especially the years they had New Ballard Branch Bogtrotters or The Slate Mountain Ramblers visit from the US.
Being involved in arranging oldtime events in Denmark, I am amazed at how Friends of Oltime American Music and Dance (the good folks behind the Gainsborough festival) can get great American bands every year.

Well, this’ll be the year that I go. I saw that Riley Baugus and Kirk Sutphin would be there, which sealed the deal.

I really want to write about my trip and the festival, but me being busy jamming, drinking etc. -and being without a smartphone (please send donations - I won’t be able to write anything untill I return next week.

Friends of American Oldtime Music And Dance.

Somewhere I read a comment on the popularity of the festival scene, and how it is undermining the regional musical styles. Festival style is a recurring term. Now, I unfortunately have never been to one of the big oldtime music festivals, but listening to YouTube videos of the events, I can hear that there might be something to the idea of a festival style dominating. But the last three CDs I bought surely prove that there are people still focusing on regional styles and tunes. And young people too.

Iron Leg Boys

I was really excited to find this CD by The Iron Leg Boys. I had heard Andy Fitzgibbon play banjo on Scott Prouty’s CD Puncheon Floor, and had seen him and The Fox Hunt kick some major ass playing Blackberry Blossom at a New Years Eve party I would love to have been at. The Iron Leg Boys have Andy Fitzgibbon on fiddle, Ben Townsend on banjo and Matt Metz on guitar. All boys are from West Virginia, and take up rare West Virginia tunes and versions. I cannot recommend this CD enough. The music reminds me of other fiddlers who take up West Virginia oldtime music. Like Jimmy Tripplet and before mentioned Scott Prouty.

Here The Iron Leg Boys play Cold Frosty Morning, learned directly from legendary WV fiddler Melvin Wine.

Brett Ratliff

Another CD I bought recently was Brett Ratliffs CD Cold Icy Mountain. Brett is from Kentucky and have made a CD with mostly traditional Kentucky tunes (and a few very good compositions of his own). His banjo playing has that great sound that I love about Kentucky banjo, and he has learned a lot from another Kentucky banjoplayer, George Gibson. On fiddle he is joined by another young Kentucky musician, Jesse Wells…who is a fantastic fiddler. Check out his playing of a rare Stamper tune called Hogfish. The tunes on the CD come from oldtimers like Pete Steele, Perry Riley, Rufus Crisp and more.

Hear Last Payday at Coal Creek.

Soundwagon w. Jack Magee

The last of the three CDs I bought was by Soundwagon, featuring Jack Magee on fiddle. The CDs focus is on tunes from Mississippi – Magee’s home state. In fact a lot of the tunes are learned from the classic LP Great Big Yam Potatoes, featuring Mississippi fiddlers like John Brown and Enos Canoy. There is also tunes from The Carter Brothers and Son. This CD stands out a bit from the other two, since it’s not (in my opinion) played in a predominant traditional style. Here it is mainly the banjo playing that seems nontraditional. It has a lot of elements that is heard in the playing of Richie Stearns and Tom Riccio.(EDIT: I just found out that it’s actually Richie Stearns playing banjo on the CD).Now, don’t take my nontraditional comments as something negative. The CD is fantastic and full of great energy. There seems to be a graet amount of respect for the old style and the old regional tunes, which really makes it stand out from a lot of other more modern oldtime recordings I have heard.

Here Soundwagon plays Nancy Roland. A great Carter Bros. and Sons tune.

All in all I think it’s so great to hear the younger generations play styles and tunes from their home region, with such love and devotion. – Spoken by a Dane playing American Oldtime music…(sigh).

I though I would kick this blog of with sharing one of the best Oldtime music resources I have seen on the internet. Slippery Hill, created by Larry Warren. I think the site started because Larry wanted to put together a collection of fiddle tunes in the keys of C, F and Bb – not really as widely used as the keys A, D and G.
But the site really took of when he put together sound samples of almost all tunes that were transcribed in Walt Koken and Clare Milliner in “The Milliner – Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes”. For people who learn by ear and don’t use sheet music, this was fantastic.
Since then Larry has added the tunes from Jeff Todd Titons book “Oldtime Kentucky Fiddle Tunes”.

For anyone interested in Oldtime muisc, Slippery Hill is a must. If you are just tarting out or building a repertoire, then this is a great site for recordings by source musicians.

Here are a few examples:

Edden Hammons (of West Virginia) playing Falls of Richmomnd.

Melvin Wine (of West Virginia) playing Cold Frosty Morning.

Tommy Jarrell (fiddle) and Fred Cockerham (banjo) of North Carolina playing Stay All Night.

Go hunting for more gems at Slippery Hill