Fiddle Club of the World

Report on April 08 meeting

Lynn “Chirps” Smith was our featured guest, playing a variety of old time dance tunes native to the Midwestern United States.

Chirps cut his old-time teeth during his college days in Charleston, Illinois, where he played with the Indian Creek Delta Boys. More importantly, following the lead of fiddler Garry Harrison, the “Crik Delters” recorded and learned tunes from scores of senior fiddlers in the southern and eastern reaches of the Prairie State. Several of these tunes showed up in Chirps’ performance at the Leadway Bar & Gallery.

Ten Cents
Joe Wingerter tune
Stella’s Jig
Gallatin Special

He started his set off with a version of “Paddy on the Turnpike,” which may owe something to Harvey “Pappy” Taylor of Effingham. But then again, it may have been closer to the “Paddy on the Handcar” recorded in 1928 by Texas fiddler A.L. “Red” Steeley.

For the last several decades, Chirps has lived in the Chicago area. For much of that time, he played with the Volo Bogtrotters an old-time string band named after a natural feature located a short hop away from Chirps’ home in Grayslake. Representing that period of his life are tunes he learned first-hand from elders elsewhere in the Midwest, including Les “Red” Raber from Michigan, Nile Wilson from Missouri, Dwight “Red” Lamb from Iowa, and Lotus Dickey from Indiana.

Ten Strike
Old Reunion
Old Ladies Pickin’ Chickens
Sweet Bundy

Other pieces he played were learned from lesser known recordings of Nebraska fiddler Bob Walters, and a favorite piece of the Native and Métis fiddlers from Central provinces of Canada.

Bob Walter’s Hornpipe
Red River Jig

Finally, we must note that Chirps is now a resident of Wisconsin. Thus he performed a piece learned from a recording of Leonard Finseth of Mondovi, and a waltz from Madison-area concertinist (I believe he calls a bandoneon), Bruce Bollerud.

Stegen Waltz
Leonard Finseth’s Polka

Around 30 musicians enjoyed the performance and the jam that followed. We played all six of the tunes posted earlier on this blog. Plus a bunch more. A request was made for “Ten Strike,” the Les Raber quadrille piece, to be posted here. The tune is, in fact, the melody to be played for the 4th figure of the Ten Strike quadrille, as printed in Gems of the Ballroom (compiled circa 1890 by Geo. B. McCosh of Dekalb, Illinois). Les learned the tune from the book, which he had just acquired in 1981 when I brought him to perform at the Indiana Fiddlers Gathering in Battle Ground. Here’s the the tune as played by Chirps. It’s in C.


Ten Strike

The next Fiddle Club of the World meeting is coming up soon, on Saturday, May 10. It will feature the Cajun team of Will & Holly Whedbee.

Paul Tyler, convener

Filed under: Reports by Paul | May 6, 2008 | Comments (2)

Report on Paddy Jone’s visit to the Fiddle Club

The Leadway Bar & Gallery was full of fiddlers last Friday night, for the first meeting of the Fiddle Club of the World. About 30 musicians showed up. Most had a fiddle and a bow. I counted one guitar and one banjo. And a handful of folks showed up just to listen.

I got there right at 7:30, and several Fiddle Club members pitched in right away to help set up our small p.a. and arrange the Leadway’s long, narrow party room for listening and playing. (Some eating was going on as well. The Leadway has a kitchen, and Frank, the owner–he’s also a fine sculptor–had set out several trays of veggies and dip for us.)

The music started about 8 pm, as we all played a few tunes together. Since the Fiddle Club members come from various musical walks of life, I thought it valuable to talk about what people expect from a session. Old-time players jump on a tune and ride it till it finds its groove and finishes the course. You might play one tune through a dozen times. At Irish sessions, a tune is usually played two or three times through, and strung together with several others in a medley. Someone or most everyone knows what tune comes next. Bluegrass sessions start by establishing a rotation of lead breaks, and pass the tune around from one player to the next. The Fiddle Club of the World has no established set of rules, but seeks to allow players to stretch boundaries and extend horizons to experience more of what fiddling can do for the world.

Leadway back room on March 14

Paddy Jones, a truly delightful man and musician, got started about 8:30. He was artfully accompanied by Jesse Langen, who arrived just in time after a gig with the proprietor of Chief O’Neill’s pub. Paddy’s playing was strong, sensitive and rhythmic. He enthralled the room.

(I was very pleased with the acoustics and atmosphere of the Leadway. Paddy could be easily and clearly heard. We used just a bit of p.a. reinforcement, but it may not have been necessary. The front bar room filled up as Paddy played, but the noise from that side never caused a problem. It’s a good room. It would work better if we could move the tables out of the way.)

After close to an hour of concertizing, Paddy was ready for a break. He said he was used to having a singer step up with an occasional song, so he could rest his bow arm for a few moments. We’ll keep that in mind for future meetings.

Then it was time for everyone to play a session with Paddy and each other. A few young players could hardly wait to play through the tunes we’ve had posted on this website. Paddy asked if anybody had any questions. There was a suggestion that he demonstrate how to ornament. Paddy put on his teacher’s hat and led everybody through a demonstration of grace notes, bowing rhythms, and the essentials of playing for dancers. (We’ll post some samples of his “lessons” in a few days.)

Jonas in Leadway back room on March 14

Everybody got to play. We went through the tunes posted ahead of Paddy’s visit–the Kerry Polkas, the Kerry Slides, and the unnamed reel that is, in fact, The Galtee Rangers. Jessica Zeigler and her students from Old Town School Irish fiddle classes led us through some standard Irish session tunes. We ended sometime after 11 pm.

Thanks to all who attended, participated, and helped. A special thanks to Tim Joyce and Colby Maddox from the Old Town School, and to Frank and the Leadway Bar & Gallery,

See you April 20.

Paul Tyler, Convener

Filed under: Reports by Paul | March 17, 2008 | Comments (1)