Tunes,Songs and Other Recordings (Alphabetical by Genre)

Clawhammer Banjo Solos

Arkansas Traveler

This is a well-known banjo and fiddle tune that isn't played often enough. This one is done in the key of A.   Tab

Barlow Knife

This is a fun little tune that I can play all day! Done on my Deering Goodtime, it is the first recording with the Fyberskin head and No-Knot tailpiece. Standard G tuning.   Tab

Black Eyed Daisy

This is an old tune I learned from a tab by Bob Carlin. I really like the simplicity of the tune.

Breaking Up Christmas

Clawhammer Banjo (aEADE)

Cluck Old Hen

Atraditional fiddle/banjo tune rendered in the Kyle Creed style. I find this style cleaner, more uncluttered than much of the newer versions.

Colored Aristocracy

Clawhammer Banjo (gDGBD)

Cumberland Gap

A fairly standard fiddle/banjo tune common throughout the Appalachian Mountains. Played in "Sandy River Belles" tuning (gEADE).

Drowsy Maggie

Clawhammer banjo. This one sounds Irish to me, and I like the dorian mode.

Glass of Gin

I was fooling around with the banjo tuned to double C and capoed the other day and came up with this simple tune. Lots of drop-thumb, kind of a nice cooler after the heat of an Arizona summer day.

Liberty

Clawhammer banjo tune.

Lizard on the Garden Wall

An original tune for Clawhammer banjo. I came up with this one while sitting on the patio watching a lizard running along the face of my garden wall while being pursued by a Cardinal. The lizard won this round!    Tab

Magpie

An upbeat little clawhammer banjo tune in the key of G.

Mississippi Sawyer

Clawhammer banjo version of the old fiddle tune.

Needlecase

Clawhammer Banjo rendition of an old fiddle tune.

Old Jawbone

A Henry Reed fiddle tune rendered on my Chuck Lee Lone Star openback banjo. I hope to one day add the fiddle to this catchy melody. Done in the key of G.

Pusch Ridge

Another original tune, but I think it has just a bit of that old-time sound to it.  Tab

Rolling Mills

Rolling Mills (fretless)

Clawhammer banjo and Vocal. This is my version of an old traditional tune, "Rolling Mills." I have only heard 2 other versions, and have used some from both. A rolling mill is a factory that rolls steel into sheets. My best guess about the song is that back in the late 1800's-early 1900's, the industry was undergoing a bad time, and the song probably reflects a bad time in a mill town when the mills burned down, and the owners had no intentions of rebuilding.
  Tab   for the first version, in double C tuning.

The second recording is in a slightly different tuning, eBC#F#B, and is played on a fretless mountain banjo with Minstrel strings, which require a lower tuning. If this was on my steel string banjo, the tuning would be f#DEAD.
  Tab

Sally In the Tater Patch

My Clawhammer banjo version of "Sally In The Garden" and "Tater Patch."

Shady Grove

Clawhammer banjo and Vocal.

Soldier's Joy

I had originally learned this in the key of A, and had previous recording was in that key. Recently I have been playing around with putting it into its "proper" key of D. After a few days of experimenting, this is what I came up with. Played on a Deering Goodtime banjo, clawhammer style.   Tab

Spooky Cripple Creek

Clawhammer Banjo in a minor tuning. This came about on All Hallow's Eve a few years ago after hearing a version by Donald Zepp that struck me as eerie.

Spotted Pony

Can you hear the pony trotting down the road? A pretty little traditional tune in the key of D. Often done as a fiddle/banjo duet (which I hope to accomplish in the near future). Performed on my Chuck Lee Lone Star openback banjo sitting on my patio. The fountain in the background adds a certain nuance to the music, I think.   Tab

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Fiddle Tunes

Morning Flower

This is a fiddle tune I picked up out of the Millican-Kogen "Collection of Appalachian Fiddle Tunes" book. They report their source of the tune as Wilson Douglas. I play it out of "High Bass," or ADae, tuning even though it is labeled as AEae tuning.

Peek A Boo Waltz

This a waltz I recently learned on the banjo, then was able to add the fiddle. I added a guitar rhytmn track, and this is what came out.

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Folk Songs

Danville Girl

Vocal and Banjo. This is a nice hobo/love song. I like the fact that the basic clawhammer stroke works great for 3/4 time tunes.   Tab

Fair Margaret and Sweet William (Child 74A)

Guitar and Vocal.   Tab

Follow The Drinking Gourd

A favorite folk song of mine which comes from the days of the Underground Railroad. Done in Am on the banjo, my vocal is in the general area.   Tab

Good Old Mountain Dew

Clawhammer banjo and vocal.

John B's Sails

Clawhammer and Vocal (also known as Sloop John B).   Tab

John Henry (Steel Drivin' Man)

Clawhammer Banjo and Vocal. I was fooling around one day with the double C tuning, trying to see if I could figure out "Rolling Mills," when this song just sort of popped up. It seemed to fit well to the tuning, so I went searching for lyrics different from the well-known, well-worn lyrics usually sung. This is what I came up with. I like the sound that the modal tuning gives the song, and the sound that the added 3rd (E) gives the second line of the verse. I achieved the plunky dead sound by slipping a strip of foam cushioning material under the strings at the bridge to deaden the sound.    Tab

Kicking Mule

Clawhammer banjo and Vocal.

Lady Margaret

Clawhammer banjo and vocal of the oldtime version of Child 74.

Old Bangum

An old ballad, sung acapella. I got this version from one done by Mike and Peggy Seeger.
I really like these old songs. There are other versions, one of them done often by string bands is called "Wild Hog In The Woods.

Stewball

Clawhammer banjo and Vocal.

The Fox

Clawhammer banjo and Vocal. This is an old song that I've known since a boy.   Tab

Worried Man Blues

Vocal and Banjo I have always liked this tune, and finally got around to working up a clawhammer arrangement for it.   Tab

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Guitar Solos

Ländler & Caprice

I haven't really played Classical guitar in almost 20 years, but recently I felt my Goya G-10 longing to try some. So, I dug out an old notation book and spent a couple of hours practicing a few of the short ones I used to play. Here is a Ländler by Joseph Küffner and a Caprice by Ferdinando Carulli.

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Singer/Songwriter Stuff

Pretty Desert Flower

Written quickly for the song of the month thread for May. You may be able to guess that I have been listening to a lot of Carter Family music lately.

R_A_I_N

Guitar and Vocal. This is a little song I wrote because one of the members of the ezFolk forum wanted some April Rain songs. I tried to put an Hispanic/Flamenco sound to it, and rather like the guitar work.

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Ukulele & Mountain Dulcimer Pieces

Blue Uke Waltz

An original Ukelele instrumental. Lots of reverb in the mix.