Snowbirds in the Ashbank

[John Millring]

This is a very simple tune but I must admit -- I can't seem to figure out the structure. Partly, this is because it starts out (on the recording I have) with an intro that is not the tune, and partly because whatever "A" or "B" there might be to it doesn't come out even, though it's not crooked.

Anyone play it?

[soapycows]

I play a tune called Snowbird on the Ashbank, I learned it from the Fuzzy Mountain Stringband record. Same one or different?

[John Millring]

Thanks for the reply.

It's probably the same tune -- I should have looked at my CD cover before posting. It is "Snowbird ON the Ashbank".

But it may not be the same tune (or one that I'd recongize as such) because I just found that the Hetzler site has the tune and 1) it sounds very little like the tune as I know it, and 2) it is in G, while the recording I have has it in A.

The recording I learned it from is "Best Of Fiddle Fever" -- and one of the distinctive parts to it, as played by those guys, is a "scratching the strings" bit for a measure or two.

[soapycows]

the tune on Hetzler's is the same one I learned from the Fuzzies. Never heard the on you are talking about, although Norman Blake has a tune by the same name that sounds different on his Far Away, Down on a Georgia Farm record. You can hear a sample on Amazon if you look it up.

[PhilGE]

Just bought the Fiddle Fever version at iTunes.

John, I'll work it up, when I have some time (ha!). If you can make it to the jam at the Market tomorrow evening, maybe we can have a go at it.

-Phil

[Dave Reiner]

The source for some current versions of Snowbird In [On] the Ashbank is Earl Collins' 1975 recording on Briar: That's Earl, Collins Family Fiddling. Earl learned the tune from his father, Willie Collins, a smooth and fast fiddler. The Fuzzies' recording came out around the same time.

Earl cross-tunes AEAC# [low to high] and plays the tune in A. It has an 8-bar A part, played twice, a 4-bar B part, played twice, and an 8-bar C part, not repeated. The B part is the sideways bow scratchy part, intended to suggest a small bird ruffling its feathers to better feel the warmth of an ashbank.

I transcribed this tune in my Oldtime Fiddling Across America book (and recorded it on the accompanying CD) [published by Mel Bay].

Hope this helps,

Dave

[John Millring]

Yeah, Blake's is like the Hetzler's version. Not that it's not the same tune, but I don't hear any similarity.

When I was playing with Gellert once, he knew the version I'm talking about (we were discussing different bowing techniques and I asked him how they made the scratchy sound and he showed me). I wish now that I'd had him play it through a few times.

I didn't know there was a jam tomorrow, Phil. The 5th? Any details?

[John Millring]

dsreiner,

we cross-posted. Thanks for the informative post. That does help to clear up the structure as I'm hearing it. I especially appreciated the extra history!

I think one of the things that's confusing, structure-wise is, as you said, the C doesn't repeat, but the two repeated parts can be played atop one another as harmony (or as a round). When melody is THAT close it's hard to distinguish A from B.

[PhilGE]

John, there's a one time only jam at the Mill Race Farmer's Market tomorrow evening from 5 to 7 p.m. The Market's open on Tuesday late afternoon and evenings through the warmer months. The Market board has been scheduling musicians to come in and play for shoppers. We were asked to play and this week worked out for me. If your email address has changed, let me know, so I can update the list.

-Phil

P.S. I'm doing another show on WGCS (Globe Radio on the Net) tonight from 9 to 11 CDT. I'll play a bunch of old-time tunes, including Fiddle Fever's version of Snowbird...

[John Millring]

I'll make sure to listen for you on WGCS. Play some from your "Hillbillys From Mars"!

I'll try to make it to the jam.

[David M.]

I play one called "Snowbird" which is different than the tune noted above. I got it from Bruce Greene. Good tune and to me more fun than Snowbird on the Ashbank. But all tunes are good, aren't they?

[Pete Martin]

For a different version, check out Texan fiddle legend Benny Thomasson's version on "The Weiser Reunion" from Voyager Records. He plays this in a medley with Paddy on the Turnpike.