Hotfoot – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 167

I don’t have a tone of history with Hotfoot. I have a few memories. I remember hearing some of my friends play it at Weiser when I was a teenager, and I remember Texas Shorty (Jim Chancellor) play a great version of Hotfoot at the Grand Lake National Fiddle Contest one year.

I learned Hotfoot from Lisa Barrett, when I stayed with Dick and Lisa, a long, long time ago. It’s a fun tune, and it’s a lot like I Don’t Love Nobody in the key of C.  Enjoy!

Hotfoot According to Fiddler’s Companion

HOTFOOT. AKA and see “Old Parnell Reel.” Texas-Sytle, Breakdown. C Major. Standard tuning. One part. Source for notated version: Benny Thomasson (Texas) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 65. Voyager 309, Benny & Jerry Thommason – “The Weiser Reunion” (1993).

OLD PARNELL REEL. AKA and see “Hotfoot.” Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. See also “Whistling Rufus,” which, according to Mark Wilson, may be a related tune. Wilson sees similarities between this tune and the calk-walk genre. Drew Beisswenger points out it was recorded by several popular Mid-West fiddlers in the mid-20^th century, such was Bob Walters, Cyril Stinnett and Dwight Lamb. Sources for notated versions: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]; Lonnie Robertson (1908-1981, Springfield, Missouri), learned from radio fiddler Casey Jones [Beisswenger & McCann]. Beisswenger & McCann (Ozark Fiddle Music), 2008; pg. 123. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; pgs. 162‑165. Caney Mountain Records CLP 228, Lonnie Robertson ‑ “Fiddle Favorites.” Rounder CD 0375, Lonnie Robertson – “Lonnie’s Breakdown” (1996. Originally recorded 1971).