Tag Archives: hoedown

Arkansas Traveler

OldTime Fiddle, , , , ,

 

Arkansas Traveler and Eck Robertson

 

Eck Robertson recorded Arkansas Traveller and Sally Gooden for Edison Records in 1922. These must have been the first recordings of fiddle tunes.

Sally Gooden was included in the Smithsonian Country Classics. The other side of the original recording, Arkansas Traveller, remains a very popular tune in fiddle jams.

ArkansasTravellerHere is the pdf file for the tune.

This is what Arkansas Traveller sounds like. First time, as it appears on the page, second time, a little more freely.

 

For another great hoedown in D, try Whiskey before Breakfast.

Old Joe Clark

OldTime Fiddle, , , , , ,

One occasion when I got to observe Vassar Clements was when he was promoting his new album at a record store. He was mainly holding his fiddle and chatting with fans, when suddenly Mike Marshall breezed into the store, pulled out his fiddle and got into a hot twin fiddle version of Old Joe Clark with Vassar.

I was astounded, both by the virtuosity displayed, and by the unrehearsed excellence of the performance. It was a clear clue for me of the high musical potential of fiddling.

In my book, 43 Fiddle Tunes in Tab, I have a beginner version of this tune. This chart is a little more advanced, and more typical of how you hear it played.

The fiddle tab chart for Old Joe Clark in pdf.

Bill Monroe’s Gold Rush

OldTime Fiddle, , ,

Today at the meeting of the Bay Area Fiddlers in Dunedin, we played Roxanna Waltz by Bill Monroe. I haven’t written that one out yet. But I do have a popular hoedown, Gold Rush.

I wrote this tab chart years ago. But, I haven’t used it much in my teaching. It’s not an easy tune. Intermediate to advanced, is how I’d call it.

Even though I enhanced it a bit, it still could use some work on esthetics. But it’s accurate enough for playing.

And, of course, the pdf file for Gold Rush.

And, by the way, we also played Lamp Lighter’s Hornpipe. Anson’s choice and a synchronistic one for me.