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Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Mark and Susan had lessons back-to-back today, so they jammed a little where their times overlapped. In the lull between songs we started talking about how no one ever seems to be satisfied with their performance. I told them about being at the Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Camp and how those amazing instructors would walk off stage after the faculty concert bemoaning the “fact” that they had played so poorly and had missed so many notes. These were performances that I—an instructor myself—had thought were flawless and wonderful. Mandolin whiz Butch Baldassari (God rest his soul) said, “Well, I hit more notes than I missed, so I count that a good performance!” (On the other hand, fiddling Fletcher Bright was always happy with his performance and was never happier than when he was stealing the show from someone else! I was always happy with him stealing the show too—as long as he wasn’t stealing it from me!)

Anyhow, the gist of our conversation was, as you have gathered, that no one ever seems satisfied with how they play. And does that dissatisfaction ever end? Perhaps when you are in the grave, Susan suggested.

Then Mark said, “I try to be happy with where I am while trying to get better.” Which Susan and I both acknowledged was an excellent way to look at things.

Then Susan said, “I like to hear a man saying things like that!”

To which Mark quickly replied, “I only apply that to banjo!”

And Susan and I just howled and rolled our eyes. Too funny.
And that, friends, is my short blog for today. Hope you have a wonderful last weekend before Christmas! I’m square dancing tonight so I am happy! “Oh, promenade that ring, take your girl home and swing, because, just because!”

Murphy

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A Busy Weekend of Picking

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Red Henry

Folks, what’s the easiest and most enjoyable kind of practice? Naturally, it’s the kind that doesn’t seem like practice at all: PLAYING music. So I got a lot of easy practice last weekend.

Friday night, there was Old-Time picking at the Cabin. That’s the “Cabin” with a capital C, the one where the Old-Time pickers play. And how do you get there? Well, it’s way out in the woods on little crooked roads. In fact, in order to find it, you need to already know how to get there. (That sounds like circular reasoning, doesn’t it? Well, we do play around with the tunes. Stop it, Red.)

The Old-Time pickers (call them OTP’s for short) generally like to play a lot in one key before changing. When we started Friday night, we were in the key of A– all three of us. In fact, I wondered if I’d come there on the wrong night. But people kept drifting in and in an hour or so, we had ten players– all pretty good players, too– three or four each of fiddle and banjo, plus guitar, bass, and two mandolins: a good mix. And what did we play in the key of A? Good stuff– not only the familiar tunes, but also some oldie goodies like Old Mother Flanagan, Pretty Little Dog, and June Apple. After a couple of hours, we got into the key of D and played some there too– more good stuff.

On Saturday the music was a hair more serious because I was playing a party gig, with a three-piece band including my friends Scott and Cousin David. We played a mix of bluegrass songs and old-time tunes for a delightful outdoor event in Clarke County, Virginia. Scott played guitar and sang, and David switched off from banjo to lead guitar, while I picked a little mandolin. Everybody had a good time.

Cousin David is a very versatile musician. Between sets, he was playing some new-age music on his old-age guitar. A mischievous band member said, “Play ‘Wipeout’! and he did. Then the same person said, “Now play ‘Hey, You, Get Off of My Cloud!’”, but David wouldn’t play that. Spoilsport.

Sunday afternoon’s music was back in the traditional groove, playing with the OTP’s at a country church in West Virginia. There were  eight of us there, again a well-matched ensemble, with three fiddles, three banjos, bass, guitar, and mandolin. We played in the key of D: Cowboy’s Dream. Yellow Rose of Texas (not the one you know). Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine. Mississippi Sawyer. Hard Times Come Again No More. More good stuff.

When the Sunday music was finished, it was time to go home and collapse for a while. As one of the OTP’s said as we packed up, “Now I’ve got to go to work this week to rest up for the weekend!”  But you know what? I was in practice.

It was easy.

Red

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Picking and Dancing

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Murphy Henry

I’m just back from a big weekend of kicking up my heels at the West Virginia Square Dance Convention in Buckhannon. “And this is relevant to bluegrass how?” you might be asking. Well, since I spent this past year learning to dance the man’s part, not only did I dance some with my friend and student Janet Moore, but when we got back “home” after the dance we entertained our friends by playing music (banjo and guitar) in the lobby of our hotel.

Here are some of the songs we played:

Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Lonesome Road Blues
Old Joe Clark
John Hardy
Down Yonder
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
I’ll Fly Away
When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
Amazing Grace
Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms
Battle Hymn of the Republic (in C)
Rocky Top
Country Roads
In The Pines
Mansion Over the Hilltop
Kicking Mule
You Are My Sunshine
This Land Is Your Land
Save Me A Square on the Floor (my square dance song)
I Saw The Light
Chinese Breakdown (in C)

Murphy jamming it up at the square dance!

Murphy jamming it up at the square dance! (Photo by Bonnie Pollock)

Janet and I had rehearsed most of these songs many times, but “Battle Hymn of the Republic” (which was a request) we’d only gone over once, just messing around, and “In the Pines” (another request) we’d never played together. And I’m telling you, Janet is so gutsy! When I take one of these requests all she says is, “Where do I put my capo?” Of course, if it’s the Key of C, she might make a small face because she still hates making that F chord, but she goes ahead and does it anyhow. And she has a very good ear for hearing chord changes, so that helps enormously. In fact, that’s what makes it possible for us to try unrehearsed material. Which is part of the fun of playing for me.

Janet holding down that rhythm guitar.

Janet holding down that rhythm guitar. (Photo by Bonnie Pollock.)

New to our “show” this time was Janet’s singing. She sings very well and knows the words to most of the standards. I’d only planned for us to sing in unison but she was singing so strong that on “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” I switched to the tenor and we had a real bluegrass duet! That worked so well that I also tried it on “You Are My Sunshine” which sounded so good that Janet’s husband Kenney jumped up and applauded!

Word of our Friday night picking spread through the crowd at the dance and we had folks coming up on Saturday and asking, “Will you be playing tonight?” Which is always flattering. One woman said to me, “My friend told me that you and your daughter were playing banjo and guitar at the hotel.” Oh, my! Did Janet (who is about my age) ever love that!

So many thanks to our square dancing friends for listening, for requesting tunes, and especially to Ron for bringing the Wild Turkey!

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Kenny Baker

Saturday, July 9th, 2011

Red Henry

For those who haven’t seen the announcements on various music lists, the great bluegrass fiddler Kenny Baker died yesterday in Nashville. Kenny was probably the most influential bluegrass fiddler of our time, having played with Bill Monroe for over 15 years (in itself a record for Bill’s sidemen). He played fiddle on all of Bill’s classic albums from the late 1960s to the mid-’80s, a nearly-indescribable wealth of bluegrass music which included Bill’s great “Uncle Pen” and “Master of Bluegrass” LPs. Kenny’s tone, timing, and note choice were the best anywhere, proven not only on his performances and recordings with Bill, but also by the six or seven LPs he recorded on the County label.

Kenny was a grand gentleman, and he loved to pick. He said he learned from other musicians all the time. During his tenure with Bill Monroe’s band, he often got out in the parking lot at festivals and played for hours with people like you and me. He said that sometimes people gave him trouble for that, saying “That’s not professional!” — and that got his dander up. He would reply to them, “Who’s tellin’ WHO here, what’s professional?”

The first time I picked with Kenny was at the Lavonia, Georgia festival in July, 1970. I’ve forgotten just how the session started, but suddenly Mike and Polly Johnson and I were picking in a circle with Kenny. I think we’d just played Bill Cheatham when Kenny, always encouraging to young players, said his first words to me: “That’s good mandolin pickin’, buddy.”

Top: me, Polly Johnson, Mike Johnson. Lower left: Kenny Baker.

I often picked with Kenny after that. I lived on the East Coast from 1972-74, attending as many festivals as I could, and during that time Kenny and I often closed out festivals on Sunday night by picking for hours at my campsite. He was a terrific inspiration for this young picker, and I learned a great deal from him. His talent was amazingly diversified–he could play jazz as well as bluegrass and old time tunes, and occasionally groused in private about being restricted to playing “this MON-roe stuff” for a living. On one occasion, Mike Johnson and I and some friends got Kenny away from a festival at Brasstown Bald, Georgia, and brought him to Mike’s cabin nearby to pick. We played for a long time that night, and away from the bluegrass crowd Kenny played some real hot fiddle before we had to take him back to the show.

Kenny Baker left a huge legacy of music both on record albums and in our memories. Thanks, Kenny! Keep on fiddling.

Red

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Three Different Kinds of Picking

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Red Henry

In the last week or so, I’ve participated in three really different kinds of picking sessions. All three were enjoyable, all three were beneficial (read: good practice), and all three might have hints for Murphy Method students who like to pick.

The first jam, on Thursday evening, was the weekly event at Linda’s Mercantile and Fruit Stand, a mile or two north of Winchester, VA on U.S. 522. As usual, by 7:00 p.m. we had a full crowd of listeners and a dozen or so pickers, and things got under way. Now, you need to understand that at this Thursday night event, the music is not just for the musicians. It’s for the listeners too. And the musicians are not all experts (plus, we don’t often have a bass player) so you need to hold the music together the best you can and let the audience enjoy the show.

There were about 9 guitar players, 3 fiddle players, 3 banjo players, two mandolin pickers, and a gentleman who alternated between harmonica and spoons. In this situation, holding the music together generally means finding the solidest guitar picker and putting my rhythm ‘chunks” right between his down-beats, so that everybody can hear the rhythm. I have a mandolin which will be heard, and so that clear off-beat sound helps all the other musicians stay in time with each other. And then we have to play music for the audience. What do we do? Well, for one thing, before launching into a number it’s good to check around to see if some of the other musicians know it. In fact, it’s best to stick with well-known tunes and songs altogether, so that nobody’s getting lost and everybody can play. Then, when playing or singing lead, you need to get to the front of the group and make sure that the audience can hear what you’re playing and singing– this is pretty important– and take turns, so that everybody gets a chance to sing or play their favorite numbers, even if they aren’t forward enough about it to say they want to. As many musicians and singers as possible, even the shy ones, need to be invited to play. And we did a whole lot of bluegrass and old country songs. It was a good session, and the audience liked it.

The second session was on Friday night. This was an old-time session, playing all traditional or traditional-style tunes, held in a primitive cabin over in West Virginia. We had about 12 or 13 players there: 3 or 4 each on banjo and fiddle, plus a couple each of guitars and mandolins, and a bass. We had a wide range of proficiencies in the group, but the players were all involved and paying attention, and knew what to do in a jam. This meant that we all knew many of the same tunes, and nobody was trying to show off, and nobody was holding the group back. We hit comfortable tempos right off on tunes we all knew, and the music was fun and comfortable to play. I had to quit early, but the group went on to a late hour, partly just because the music was going so well.

On Sunday night Murphy and I were invited to another old-time session, but this time the situation was different. There were about 9 people there. The majority of them had played bluegrass or old-time music for a living at one time or another, and they were mighty fine pickers. (The few “amateurs” were real good players, too.) Since we were playing old-time instead of bluegrass, though, some of the well-known bluegrass pickers switched off from their regular instruments. Murphy, for example, played fiddle instead of banjo. Cousin David played banjo instead of mandolin. And our friend Marshall was there, but he stuck with his usual instrument and played amazing-as-always bass. And two real pros at old-time music were there to inspire the rest of us.

So what did we play? At a session like this, along with familiar tunes, we could bring out a good many fine but interesting and obscure numbers to play. And everybody there listened really well all the time, and kept their rhythm “tight” with the other players. It was a mighty enjoyable time, one of the best old-time sessions I’ve ever played in, in spite of the fact that the majority of the musicians were not old-time, but bluegrass players!

So what does this musical peregrination show? It shows that you can enjoy a lot of different musical situations. It doesn’t have to be all bluegrass. You can have a great experience playing many different kinds of music. Just relax, keep your ears open, “play together” with everybody else, and have a good time!

Red

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Logan’s Graduation Picking Party

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Murphy Henry

My long-time banjo student Logan graduated from high school last week and this past Saturday he had a picking party at his house to celebrate. Red and I attended as did my friend Janet (guitar picker and sometimes square dance partner), Logan’s Scout Master Gerald, also on guitar, and Chris Lovelace, high school buddy of our son Chris, who also plays guitar. Gerald and Chris both play some lead guitar, although not on the fast instrumentals. We played from about 4:30 till close to 8:30 and Logan was playing the best I had ever heard him! Go, Logan!

So, what did we play? Not in any particular order:

Lonesome Road Blues
Foggy Mountain Breakdown (which Logan still hates, but his dad wanted to hear it!)
Old Joe Clark
John Hardy
Wildwood Flower
Old Spinning Wheel
Clinch Mountain Backstep
When You and I Were Young, Maggie (instrumental)
Train 45
Little Bessie
Worried Man
East Virginia Blues
Old Country Church
Hit Parade of Love
Rolling on Rubber Wheels
Old Homeplace
White Dove
Will You Be Loving Another Man
Head Over Heels
Nine Pound Hammer
Take This Hammer and Carry It to the Captain
Over in the Gloryland
Foggy Mountain Special
Limehouse Blues (I was REALLY proud of Logan for remembering how to pick this one!)
Gold Rush
Shenandoah Breakdown
Wandering Boy
Shucking the Corn
Mountain Dew
Darling Say Won’t You Be Mine

As I mentioned, Logan was playing great. Most of these songs he knew already, but a few he’d never played before and he didn’t shy away from improvising. (Except when we played in the Key of D. Then he went to get something to eat! Guess what his next lesson is going to focus on??) I usually played my break before he took his (I was sitting right beside him) and it didn’t take me long to realize that he was COPYING my breaks! Not exactly note for note, but he’d steal licks and use them in his own break.

I said to him, “Dammit, Logan, you’re stealing my licks. Stop it! Make up your own licks.”

His immediate comeback was: “You stole them from Earl first.”

Touché, Logan!

Of course, I was only pretending to grouse because I LOVED IT!

And to be fair, I stole a lick from Logan which I now use in Lonesome Road Blues. He had learned part of Kansas City Railroad Blues (in C) from Casey’s Melodic Banjo Video [now retitled Blackberry Blossom on DVD], and somehow he ended up transferring one of those licks to Lonesome Road Blues. I liked it so well, I transferred it too!

As we were packing up to leave and saying goodbye, Robyn, Logan’s mother, was reminding me (and everybody else) that when she first inquired about lessons for Logan, who was 11 at the time, I told her no! I had a pretty full teaching schedule and I wasn’t very interested—at that time—in teaching kids. (I much prefer teaching someone who can carry on a conversation with me.) ANYHOW, I hooked him up with my excellent student Gina Furtado, who gave him his first lessons. Then somehow that wasn’t working anymore (too far to travel is what I remember), so Robyn asked again, and this time I said yes, with one huge caveat: if Logan ever showed any teenage “attitude” or surliness, he and I were through. Kaput. It would be over.

I don’t know if I scared him or it just wasn’t in his nature, but he never gave me one moment of trouble. (Okay, there was that time he thought he was right about the chords to some song and he was wrong and we made a bet and I won and became the Bluegrass Master.…) This is not to say that we didn’t have some practice issues and some other banjo-related issues. For instance, sometimes he just HAD to do it his way and I just had to let him. Sometimes he was missing just one note in a song and I could NOT get him to fix it so I just had to let that go. (He did finally fix that one note in Clinch Mountain Backstep, I was pleased to see!) And there were timing issues early on. Once in a jam, we sat Logan by Bob Van Metre and his bass, so he (Logan) could, hopefully, stay in time better. But that was a failure because, at that point, Logan didn’t know how to even LISTEN to the bass to hear the beat. He learned though, and now has great timing.

And then somewhere along the way, Logan fell in love with the old, traditional bluegrass: Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, and Don Reno. (He also likes the new stuff like the Avett Brothers and some group called Noah and the Whale.) He started listening like crazy to the old stuff and started asking me to teach him songs like Limehouse Blues, When You and I Were Young Maggie, and Old Spinning Wheel. I was delighted to do so, especially because he could pick them up so quick, and, if he forgot what I showed him, he could make up stuff well enough to fill in the blanks.

I guess you can tell I’m pretty proud of Logan. He’ll be attending Virginia Tech in the fall and I’m proud of that too. And he did finally buckle down and become an Eagle Scout. And, I think I told you this before, but Logan chose a picture of him and me playing our banjos to go in his yearbook. I felt so honored.

I can’t really think of a good closing for what has turned into a tribute to Logan. But these words from Ferrol Sams, one of my favorite authors (Run With the Horsemen), come to mind: He’s a Good Boy, he’s been Raised Right, and is bound to Go Far. And my guess is he’ll be taking his banjo with him!

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My First Jam

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

This is a guest post by Mark Heilman, one of Murphy’s banjo students students.

I was invited to attend Bob Mc’s Apple Blossom Jam that he has held annually for a number of years and I was thrilled to receive the invitation. The thought of being around other people playing the music I love was very exciting. That feeling never went away but it was only a few seconds before another feeling came over me. Oh my God, this is a jam with who knows how many people and I’m going to be in the spotlight at some point.

Most of my banjo playing is done in my basement (a.k.a. closet) after my family goes to bed. So from 9:30 to 11:00 every night I play my Murphy Method DVD’s and try to perfect my playing. At one point I decided I needed to take lessons directly from Murphy and it still took me a few weeks to make the call. I told Murphy that my first lesson with her felt like a job interview because I knew the inevitable words would come out her mouth, “Play something for me.” So with all that in mind, I debated whether to accept the invitation to Bob’s jam or not. Ultimately I accepted because I felt like I could do it and I hate the thought of fear preventing me from having fun.

The morning of the jam I was up early because the parking in Winchester during Apple Blossom Festival is scarce. I also wanted to get to there as early I could without being annoying in order to achieve some level of comfort. I definitely did not want to walk into a room full of people already playing. So, Stelling in hand, I arrived before the other musicians, except for Bob of course. As the musicians started to arrive, I made some small talk and started feeling pretty good about things.

At some point it became obvious that pretty much everyone but Murphy was there. Susan was itching to get going and broke out her banjo and started tuning up. Well, that was all it took and case latches started popping all over the place. I have to say that I was almost running to get my banjo out which was a little surprising to me. At any rate, the first song out of the gate was Cripple Creek followed closely by Lonesome Road Blues. This suited me just fine because I knew I had those covered.

Shortly thereafter Murphy arrived, uncased a guitar and took a seat next to me, and the jamming got going in full swing. Almost immediately tunes started coming out that I had never heard before. I took a crack at any break that was G-C-D. As far as I was concerned, I had already jumped off the cliff just by showing up so why not. I think that I played okay considering but not great. Several times I got lost in breaks that I know because my mind went blank. I had to jump back in at the next chord change. At last, the call came for Salt Creek. This has been a personal favorite of mine since I was young and rarely does a day go by that I don’t play it. At Murphy’s direction, I kicked that one off and I did very well if I do say so myself. I think the last song was Foggy Mountain Breakdown played slow and then fast. Thanks to everyone for making my first jam so much fun.

A note from your teacher: Thanks for the blog, Mark! I thought Mark did very well, although as he said, there were some “deer in the headlights” moments. I was especially proud of his improvising. There were, I think, 11 players in all, including 7 banjo players, 3 guitars, and a mandolin. In addition to the Murphy Method standards, we also did:

Slewfoot
Sitting On Top of the World
Banks of the Ohio
Life’s Railway to Heaven
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
Somebody Touched Me/This Little Light of Mine/Jesus on the Mainline
Where the Soul of Man [or Woman!] Never Dies

And I probably could think of more but I have to go get ready to square dance! Got a new outfit! Whoo hoo! Allemande left with your left hand!

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Old-Time Picking at North River Mills

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Last Saturday some old-time pickers and I had a good old-time session playing at North River Mills, West Virginia for their annual town festival. And just where is North River Mills? Well, when you first drive there, it seems like a long way from anywhere, but it’s only about 8 miles from Capon Bridge. (That’s METROPOLITAN Capon Bridge, WV.)

The musicians numbered about 15 at various times during the day, playing an assortment of instruments which included fiddle, 5-string viola, banjos, mandolins, pennywhistle, guitars, bass, a harmonica, and an accordian. No kidding, the accordian player played very well and unobtrusively, so he was welcome. Here’s a photo of this relaxed session:

(Photo from the North River Mills Historical Society site-- thanks folks!)

And what did we play? We played tunes in the Key of D. We played Liberty, and Soldier’s Joy, and Cowboy’s Dream, and Yellow Rose of Texas, and Dubuque. We played several tunes I hadn’t heard before but picked up (as everybody did) as we played them over and over– that’s what you do. Then we played lots more, including Forked Deer– and here’s a video of that tune, complete with the floor show, a gentleman who was quite a dancer:

(A note on old-time session etiquette: I started this tune, so I was the one who called “One more time!” near the end, so we’d all know when to quit.)

. . . . .

…I expect that we’ll play there again next year. So if you’re ever in this part of the country and would like to visit a place where (as far as I can see) not much ever happens, and it’s good that way, drive through North River Mills. But don’t blink– you’ll miss it!

http://www.historichampshire.org/nrm/nrm-home.htm

Come next year. Bring an instrument. You don’t have to be an expert. If you don’t know the tune, just play rhythm. You just have to like to play!

Red.

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Sunday Morning Coming Down: Not!

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Murphy Henry

I am a big Kris Kristofferson fan and the title of this blog refers to the line in one of his songs that goes, “There’s nothing short of dying, half as lonesome as the sound, of a sleeping city sidewalk, and Sunday morning coming down.”

I can remember feeling that way in college—not the “coming down” part (didn’t do much of that)–but the “lonesome” part, when I was up early and the whole town of Athens, Ga., seemed to be asleep.

This past Sunday, the last day of the square dance convention in Alexandria, Va., was the exact opposite. Not lonesome! I rolled out of bed at 9 a.m. (having gone to sleep at 3 a.m. after some late night picking!) and 30 minutes later I was in a nearby room playing the banjo in my pajamas!

How that happened was like this: Nick and Janet and I had played for the party following the dance on Saturday night. Nick wisely limits our playing there, saying we should leave them wanting more, rather than wear out our welcome. So we did four songs–Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Save Me A Square On The Floor, Lonesome Road Blues, and You Are My Sunshine—and called it quits. But we were in the mood to pick and I hadn’t even had one beer, so we adjourned to Chris and Nick’s suite to continue the party.

We played from about 1:30 a.m. till 2:30, closing out the evening with a bunch of gospel songs since it was, in fact, Sunday morning and Chris (Nick’s wife) said she was concerned about missing church. We called it our “late night church service” and sang Circle, I’ll Fly Away, I Saw the Light, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, Mansion Over The Hilltop before ending with Amazing Grace. It was so much fun and I left well satisfied, especially after tasting something they called “apple corn.” Really good!

It was 3 a.m. before Becky and Darla (my roomies) stopped talking and turned off the light and it was a little past 9 when I woke up. Becky was heading for the shower and asked if anyone needed to get in there before her. I did and was just coming out when I heard this light “scritch-scratch” on our door. I looked through the peep hole and saw Janet standing there. After saying good morning and “I hope I didn’t wake you” she said, “Chris wants to know when the second Sunday morning church service starts.”

Then I had one of those “moments.” I thought, “Why not?” I’ve square danced before in my pajamas (the same ones I had on) so why not pick in my pajamas? It just seemed like the thing to do! So I told her, “Tell Chris I will put on a foundation garment and be right down.” I grabbed my banjo, my cup of hot tea, and headed down the hall barefooted. In my pajamas. (Long-sleeved red flannel if you need a picture.) And for the next hour Nick and Janet and I played gospel songs to our hearts’ content, entertaining the folks who were packing up and getting ready to leave.

What did we do? In addition to all the gospel songs we did just six hours ago, we did Precious Memories (especially for Chris), Washed in the Blood, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, What A Friend We Have in Jesus, The Old Rugged Cross, and a bunch more that I have forgotten. In the middle of our “service” Rich (the caller for the Martinsburg, W.Va. Panhandlers) passed the offering plate (a paper plate) and we netted 88 cents, 3 Cheerios, a black plastic fork, and a breath strip. I’ve sure played for less! But seldom, if ever, have I had more fun. Nick was playing fantastic lead guitar, mostly on songs he’d never played lead on before (but songs that he knew), and Janet was solid as a rock with her rhythm. I was in my element, calling the songs, doing the singing, and picking the banjo. It was So Much Fun. As Scott left the room, he said what we were all thinking, “Only 361 days till next year’s convention!” Amen to that! I’m already looking forward to more picking and dancing!

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It’s In The Can

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Casey Henry

Last Thursday and Friday Red and Murphy and I gathered in Winchester, Va. (Well, I gathered. They were already there.) to film our new jamming DVD. (That possibly had something to do with the profound lack of blogs that got posted last week!) Since our two slow jam DVDs are so popular, we wanted to offer students even more opportunity to practice jamming, but we also wanted to challenge you a little. So this time we did a fast jam DVD. There will be twenty-one songs on it–mostly new ones, but we also repeated a few classics: Lonesome Road Blues, Cripple Creek, John Hardy, and Mama Don’t Allow.

Steve Spence, Casey Henry, Malia Furtado

Steve Spence, Casey Henry, Malia Furtado -- capoing up to play "Whiskey Before Breakfast"

The filming went great, although it didn’t exactly follow our original plan. We were going to spend Thursday and Friday taping, with Saturday as a spare day just in case we needed it. Well, we woke up Thursday morning and Red was sick—unable to run the camera. So we had to scratch Thursday. (It wasn’t a total loss though since Murphy and I played a great game of Scrabble and I beat her! I don’t think that’s ever happened before.) Scratching Thursday meant that we didn’t get to use David McLaughlin, who was going to join us on mandolin that day. He was busy both Friday and Saturday, so as a result, there’s no mandolin on this release.

But, you’ll be happy to know, there IS bass this time. Our long-time friend Steve Spence joined us playing bass, and we were grateful that his flexible schedule allowed him to come Saturday on such short notice. On fiddle you’ll recognize Malia Furtado who played some great, bluegrassy breaks with little advance warning and NO practice!

Steve Spence, Malia Furtado, Murphy and Casey Henry

Steve Spence, Malia Furtado, Murphy and Casey Henry practicing for the next tune, which is clearly a singing song, though I don't remember which one.

We ask more of you, the student, on this fast jam disc. The tempos are close to what you’ll find in a regular jam session. In the intros to the songs we give you a heads up as to what chords we’ll be using in the song, but the guitar left hand will not be in a box on screen. To be sure you can see the guitar player’s left hand on the screen the whole time (usually me, sometimes Murphy), but it’s part of the wide shot. And we’ve included the Murphy Method theme song Hazel Creek, which is in the key of G minor, yes, that’s right, minor. That will probably be a new vamp chord for just about everybody!

We will have the DVD out by the beginning of June for sure (in time for Kaufman Kamp!), but we’re still trying to think of a title. Suggestions?

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Posted in By Casey, DVDs, jamming | 14 Comments »

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