2008 August : Fiddle Club of the World

In the Field: Bluff Country Gathering

Each year BobnGail (aka Bob Bovee & Gail Heil) put on one of the friendliest and funnest old-time music events anywhere–the Bluff Country Gathering–in one of the prettiest and welcomingest small towns you’ll find: Lanesboro, Minnesota. Held the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, the Gathering is four days of workshops, concerts, jamming parties, great food, easy laughter, enduring friendships and an old-time square dance. Once you’ve been, you’ll want to come back every year, so keep these links ready to register for the 2009 Gathering once it’s announced next winter.

The 2008 Gathering boasted a stellar lineup of fiddlers, banjoists and other old-time musicianers. Because I canoed the Root River from Lanesboro to Whalan with my kids and our friend, bowmaker Lee Guthrie, I missed a highlight of this years gathering. Fortunately, Lynn Garren had a recorder going for the fiddle showcase on Saturday afternoon. It featured six of the finest exponents of traditional American fiddling from my generation and the next. Tom Sauber, Brad Leftwich and Alice Gerrard (of Tom, Brad & Alice), Mac Traynham, Chirps Smith and Stephanie Coleman. All have respectfully studied with elder (more or less) masters, and all have found their own comfortable places within the deep streams of tradition.

Tom, Brad & Alice (six tunes)

Mac, Chirps & Stephanie (six more tunes to be posted soon)

Lynn generously shared sound files of the showcase with the Fiddle Club (read Lynn’s take), recorded on a Zoom H2 from the audience in the rustic Sons of Norway Lodge on May 17, 2008.

All the tunes posted here are used with the gracious permission of the artists. Please download responsibly.

The artists have CDs and other product available. Follow the links on the tune pages for more information.

Paul Tyler, convener

Filed under: Musings by Paul | August 12, 2008 | Comments (0)

Bluff Country Tunes 1: Tom, Brad & Alice

Click purple links to download or to listen to these .mp3s.

Click here for tips and troubleshooting on how to get at these .mp3s.

Recordings used by permission of the artists. Click on their names or photos for links to their websites or info on their CDs &c.
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Tom, Brad & Alice

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Tom Sauber
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Deep Ellum
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Dry and Dusty
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Brad Leftwich
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Arkansas Holler
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Richmond
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Alice Gerrard

West Virginia Farewell

Wild Hog in the Woods

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Recorded by Lynn Garren at the Bluff Country Gathering in Lanesboro, Minnesota on May 17, 2008.

Return to Bluff Country Gathering post and link to more recordings.

Filed under: Tunes by Paul | August 11, 2008 | Comments (0)

Huapango Nights

Our special meeting on July 20 featured a presentation and workshop on Son Huasteco, the traditional music of the Huasteco region of Mexico. Son Huasteco includes three types: danzas, sones de carnival and huapangos. The first two are associated with the fiestas and ceremonies of the indigeous people. Some have singing, others are instrumentals. Huapangos are played for social dancing (fandangos) among the mestizos, and feature both sung verses and instrumental solos. Our featured guest, Felipe Valle demonstrated the improvisation and ornamentation used by Son Huasteco fiddlers.

El Caballito, a carnival song.

Felipe Valle (click to enlarge)

Felipe was joined by Juan Rivera of Sones de Mexico, and Irekani Ferreyra and Anabel Tapia of Tarima Son. (By the way, Tarima Son won first place in the Fiddle Band division of the Midwest Fiddle Championship at the Chicago Folk & Roots festival earlier in July.) Juan and Irekani both played fiddle with Anabel on jarana. Felipe often plays with a haupanguera strapped to his back, so he can quickly change between strumming the chords and bowing the fiddle. The deep voice of the huapanguera is prominent in this sample of the conjunto sound of Son Huasteco.

La Polla Pinta, a huapango

Anabel, Felipe, Irekani & Juan

The typical line-up for a Son Huasteco trio is fiddle, jarana huasteca and huapanguera. The jarana, an 8 eight-string instrument with 5 courses (a bigger version of the ukulele), is also common in Son Jarocho and other regional styles of Mexican folk music. Here, the jarana section was augmented by the late-arriving Juan Dies of Sones de Mexico.

La Xochipitzahuatl, a danza

Felipe & Juan Rivera