Champion Fiddler, Inspired Performer
Yeah, Baby. Hiawatha Hornpipe is another of my favorite Bb Hornpipes, and if you’ve been watching my Fiddle Tune a Day project for a while, you know that I love Hornpipes, especially in flat keys. I’m pretty sure that Danita (Rast) Gardner is the first person I heard play this song. She can play hornpipes [...]
Today, I didn’t have any specific tune in mind to play, so I went to Cole’s 1000 Fiddle Tunes, as I often do when I’m lacking tune inspiration. I played through a handful of tunes before coming to this one. It has a memorable melody, and I liked the fact that the B Part is [...]
My Darling Nellie Gray is another tune that I first heard at the Gambler’s Draw contest at the American Heritage Music Festival in Grove, OK. As I recall, somebody else got out on the tune, and after the contest, I had Junior Marriott teach me the tune. He said that the first part is basically [...]
The only thing I know about Big John McNeil is that it’s a popular Canadian fiddle tune. It’s a fun tune to play, not too difficult, but when you play it as fast as they do, just about anything can tie your fingers in a not. It also has some similarities with Durham’s Bull. I [...]
Red Skinned Gal is a fun and swingy tune (at least the way I play it.) I originally learned the melody from Tony Ludiker, but there is some Orville Burns in my arrangement as well. Red Skinned Gal is a variation based on the tune “There’s a Brown Skinned Gal Down The Road Somewhere,” which [...]
When I hear (or play) When Johnny Comes Marching Home, it totally transports me mentally to civil war times. I can hear the drummer and the marching, and I can Imagine a soldier coming home to his family who had been missing him, and wondering if he would ever return alive. It’s a sad melody [...]
I picked up Lamplighter’s Hornpipe out of Cole’s 1000 Fiddle tunes a while back when I was reading through some tunes. I think it’s fun to play and it has a catchy melody. It’s not especially difficult, but it’s playful and gives you some room to play around with it. Lamplighter’s Hornpipe according [...]
Sally Growler is just plain hard to play. On it’s face, it doesn’t sound that tricky, but it sure feels that way to my fingers, especially the B part. Sally Growler is another hornpipe that I learned during my infamous week at Dale Morris‘ house. That week, he gave me a bunch of hornpipes to [...]
This morning, I had the opportunity to support KRFC – Fort Collins Public Radio by playing on the Air with Steve Eulberg (together we are known as Fiddle Whamdiddle). Since I had someone else to play with, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to play my fiddle tune a day. Steve suggested we play [...]
The first time I heard Calgary Polka was on Mark O’Connor’s album Soppin’ the Gravy, which I TOTALLY wore out when I was a teen. And, I started working on it when I heard Hanneke Cassel playing it in the warm up room (cafeteria) one of the first times I wen to Weiser. I remember [...]
