Red Apple Rag – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 198

I learned Red Apple Rag from Tony Ludiker back when I was in High School on one of my trips to visit him. I play it pretty similarly to how I learned it. It’s kind of a contest arrangement, but I haven’t ever played it in a contest…

I remember one time during the Gambler’s Draw contest at the Newburgh Fiddler Fest that Alex DePue pulled Red Apple Rag out of the hat, and managed to fool the judges into thinking he knew the tune. He didn’t. 🙂

RED APPLE RAG [1]. Old‑Time, Country Rag. USA; Nebraska, Kentucky. G Major. Standard tuning. AB (Christeson): AABB (Phillips): AA’BB’ (Devil’s Box). Popularized by Tennessee fiddle legend Arthur Smith; sometimes the composition is credited to him. Sources for notated versions: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]; Arthur Smith (Tennessee) [The Devil’s Box, Phillips]. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; pg. 134. The Devil’s Box, vol. II, No. 4; pg. 70. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 110. County 546‑547, “Fiddling Arthur Smith and His Dixieliners” (1978). County CD2712, Art Stamper (Ky.) – “The Lost Fiddler” (c. 1982).