New Tunes for the Summer Festivals

[mandopete]

Well summer is now just a few short months away and the bluegrass festival season will be kicking into high gear. Every year I think to myself that I've got to learn some new tunes to pick at jam sessions. #

I'm not looking for the same old "Red Haired Boy" or "Salt Creek", but something that's sort of new, but not a jambuster. A couple of years back I had good luck with Nesser by John Reischman and I'm looking for suggestions in that vein. Tunes that have a great melody and can be picked up fairly easily. #

Any suggestions?

[Windflite]

Depending on the jam your in, a few swing style tunes are always a lot of fun and typcially offer some opportunities really air out some interesting licks. #As far as standards go...Sweet Georgia Brown and Little Rock Getaway are both pretty widely known. #A couple of simpler tunes (chordwise at least) would be the Theme from the Flintstones, Bill Bailey and the Theme from the Andy Griffith show. # All of the above can be whipped into a frenzy with the right group! #In all fairness, however, they are also all absolute jam busters if suggested to the wrong group! I guess the bottom line is to Use at your own risk! #

Happy Pickin! #

[mandopete]

One tune I've been messing with for the past couple of days is Red Rooster from the Kickin' Grass project by Jesse Brock. It originally came from a Jimmy Martin instrumental recording, but I've never heard the original. It switches back and forth from A to D, but the switch is fairly simple and the melody is pretty easy to find.

I think these type of tunes are fun jam tunes as they present a "small" challenge, but not one that is too great as to be a jam buster.

[Flowerpot]

Here's a few favorites, not in the list of overdone warhorses (hopefully):

Remington's Ride
Leather Britches
2'oclock in the Morning
Cherokee Shuffle
Arab Bounce
East Tennessee Blues
Big Country
Monroe's Hornpipe
Wheel Hoss
Forked Deer
Flop-Eared Mule
Big Sandy River
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Bill Cheatam

(the last 2 might be treading on thin ice for being overdone, but are still pretty well received, I think)

oops, I just read the part where you wanted something sort of new... those are not new in the least. But maybe one will be new to you.

[AlanN]

I like

Crazy Creek
Carpenter John - Wayne Benson
8th of February - Reischamn
Goofus - Dempsey Young
Jethro's Tune

[250sc]

Mandopete,
North Shore (another Reischman song)is easy enough to spring on a group and is fun to play.

Windflite,
I like your song selections and play most of them but if I tried them at most of the festivals I go to I'd probably be picking alone, which has been known to happen.

[mandopete]

Crazy Creek
Carpenter John - Wayne Benson
Goofus - Dempsey Young
Jethro's Tune

Where can I find these? - they sound interesting.

My goal is to find tunes that haven't been played to death. Truth to tell, I'm not much for traditional "fiddle tunes" and I'm really looking for something that people could play in jam session, but that they may not have heard before.

[Scotti Adams]

Hey Alan..me and the band just recently started doing Crazy Creek....cool one.

[AlanN]

Crazy Creek
Carpenter John - Wayne Benson
Goofus - Dempsey Young
Jethro's Tune

Where can I find these? - they sound interesting.

My goal is to find tunes that haven't been played to death. #Truth to tell, I'm not much for traditional "fiddle tunes" and I'm really looking for something that people could play in jam session, but that they may not have heard before.

Carpenter John

On one of the BG 95/96/97/98 things

Jethro's Tune

Jethro, with Tiny Moore - on Back to Back

Goofus

On L&F Jes' Pickin

Crazy Creek

Jack Tottle crosspicks it on his old Back Road Mandolin record, Tony Williamson has recorded it, as has Bill Keith (Grisman on mando), Wyatt Rice (Ray Legere burns it up).


Scotti, I bet you kill it.

[Flowerpot]

I like the version on Crazy Creek on Wyatt Rice's "New Market Gap." I think it's also on Sally Van Meter's solo album "All in Good Time" (with J. R. playing mandolin, good stuff), and on Greg Cahill and Don Stiernburg's duet album "Blue Skies."

But I wouldn't count on being able to make Crazy Creek work at any jam unless you bring along a couple of friends who happen to play guitar and bass... otherwise, it would take a really patient bunch to learn it. Not exactly a three-chord tune. But the more experienced pickers will know this one, or at least will have heard it a few times.

[mandopete]

Yeah, that's kinda my point...I'm lookin' for stuff that will work in a jam situation.

I'm curently thinking about a tune called Horseshoe Bend by Shawn Lane. It's not terribly tricky, but there are a couple of twists that may make for a rough road. I may have to bring out the charts again <grins> !

i really enjoy these tunes wich are simple to learn up on. cherokee shuffle, all the bill monroe blues insturmentals, dixie hoedown, and then, its always great to take a song that has words but play it as a insturmental, like columbus stockade blues, and darlin corey (ala buzz)
but if you want to kick up a few notches, get down with rebecca (play it fast damit!) little rock getaway, grey eagle (if you pick it like you mean it) santa cruz breakdown (is that the name?) but playing the good ol numbers well and with conviction is where its at still....
also i play the flintstones tune as well, its so many different songs hehe i usualy play it as if youre a viper though... ya mon

i too am itchin for the summer time jams!

[AlanN]

But I wouldn't count on being able to make Crazy Creek work at #any jam unless you bring along a couple of friends who happen to play guitar and bass... otherwise, it would take a really patient bunch to learn it. #Not exactly a three-chord tune. #But the more experienced pickers will know this one, or at least will have heard it a few times.

Agree, to a point. Any musician worth their weight will pick this one up after hearing it. The only quirky thing it does is modulate to a C tonal center in the bridge.

A part

//A D//A D//A D//C C//C C//C C//C C//E E//E E//A A//

B part

//F F//F F//C C//C C//F F//F F//C C//E E//, then A part

piece of cake

[mandopete]

Okay, I'm gonna check that one out!

Just for grins, my selections for last year's festival season were Tennessee Hardwood by Aubrey Haynie and Rainbow Bridge by Curtis Burch. #Both are in Am and were not too difficult to get people to learn.

[Flowerpot]

OK, let's make it official. Crazy Creek will be the festival "tune of the year" for 2006.

By the way, talking about chord substitutions and all, I've heard some people, in the A part of Crazy Creek, replace the very last set of C's with F's. Neat effect. I think there's at least one recorded version with those altered chords.

And I happened to think, another new tune that begs to come out in a jam is "Daddy's Dream" from the Acutab Allstar's record Knee Deep in Bluegrass. It's a cool B tune that's really easy to learn, and has a lot of drive. Here's a link to a snippet of it:

http://www.acutabsessions.com/kneede.../mp3/daddy.mp3

[AlanN]

And I've heard the first bar of E chord replaced with Am in the A part.

[mandopete]

OK, let's make it official. #Crazy Creek will be the festival "tune of the year" for 2006.

Actually that is kind of a cool idea. Take a song that may not be as popular as some of the fiddle tunes listed above and see how people react to it.

I've had mixed results doing this. One year I resorted to big charts with the chord changes - people didn't seem to like that too much.

I just feel like there needs to be some new "Parking Lot Standards" in the mix. One that popped up here in the Northwest a couple of years ago was Rebecca by Herschel Sizemore. Great tune with a nice little "hiccup" over to the IV chord. It's that sorta thing I'm looking for.

[Windflite]

I just feel like there needs to be some new "Parking Lot Standards" in the mix. #One that popped up here in the Northwest a couple of years ago was Rebecca by Herschel Sizemore. #Great tune with a nice little "hiccup" over to the IV chord. #It's that sorta thing I'm looking for.

How about adding 'Clinch Mountain Backstep' to the list... #Straightforward for the newbies and contains the aforementioned 'hiccup' feature! #

[250sc]

Old Dangerfield is fun. Three part song with another hiccup.

[G_Smolt]

"Trombolin/Jack across the Way", as recorded by Skip Gorman

"Cowboys and Indians", Jim Mills

"Cruisin' Timber", Larry Sparks

"Riding the Waves". Eric Weissberg

[mandopete]

"Trombolin/Jack across the Way", as recorded by Skip Gorman

Yeah, that's a good one too - you playing that one now?

[AlanN]

"Cowboys and Indians", Jim Mills

"Cruisin' Timber", Larry Sparks

If I'm not mistaken, C and I was first done on a CG record, with Bill Emerson picking it.

Ah, Cruisin' Timber. Now that is a fine tune. Penned by David Harvey and his late Dad Dorsey, this features the first half in Dm, then F, C, Gm, Dm. Wonderful feel and playing by David. And for an even hipper version of this number, check David's first Wild and Blue record from 1989, Too Blue To Cry. The intro and outro alone are worth the price of admission.

[G_Smolt]

Pete-

Yup. No way I could let that one go, had to learn it after the Gorman workshop at W'grass...

Alan-

Thanks for the info about C/I, and the backstory on "Timber"...that is a great tune to get wiggly on.

[acousticphd]

How about
Plum Tree - I believe this is a Reishman original on "Field Guide" CD. #
also, "Holy Jumped Up" on the same CD. #This might not be widely known, but anyone who can jam on Lonesome Fiddle blues will pick this up pretty readily.
Flatland Ramble, by Kenny Blackwell of the Laurel Cyn Ramblers.
Make a Little Boat - this is a traditional fiddle tune, but listen to Aubrey Hanie's bluegrassed-up version and you will hear the jam potential.

[mandopete]

Plum Tree - I believe this is a Reishman original on "Field Guide" CD. #

You know, I tried that one last year and I had bit of a tough time getting folks to try it. I've had a similar experience with Eighth Of February as there are some pretty fast chord changes. Another of Reischman's tunes that works well is Salt Spring.

Keep 'em comming folks!