Deer Tracks Season #6

Deer Track, August 16, 2006 (mp3) (pdf)

One of the many positive outcomes of my Kickstarter Deer Tracks project (thanks once again to my Kickstarter supporters!) has been the chance to revisit my older Deer Tracks pieces and tidy some of them up for their "official" recordings. In addition, by going through some old notebooks, I re-discovered some pieces that never made it from my hand-scrawled manuscripts into legible computer-generated sheet music. Today's short piece falls into that category.

Digging out the old notebook it looks like we made one of our trips to Maine, via Canada, during August of 2006. I have a sketch (dated 8/11) of a reel with the note "Manistique" that is now known as "Two Days to Maine" (I had already used the title "Manistique" for a different tune, written in the same town on an earlier trip) and appears on the CD Notes from the Farm, recorded with Erik Sessions in 2011. It appeared in this blog back in early May of this year as well.

The next day's sketch has "Cornwall" written in the margin. We often have stayed overnight in Cornwall, Ontario on our drive. This is followed by one tune each on the 13th and 14th and three tunes on the 15th. This piece from the 16th is the last in the series.

Enough said. It's short and, to me, a nice example of a fun Deer Track tune. I'll be making studio recordings of Deer Tracks next month and it will be interesting to me to see if this one makes the final list.

Suzie's Landing

Suzie's Landing (mp3) (pdf)

This photo of the barn at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah is unrelated to today's tune but at this time last night (Sat., July 20, 2013) I was playing with Erik Sessions and Rob Hervey (caller, Bill Deutsch) in the band for the barn dance held there as part of the 33rd annual Seed Savers Conference and Campout. We've played this dance for a number of years now and it's always a good time. Last night might have been the best ever, it was certainly the first time we've ever had three full lines of contra dancers in the space.

Suzie's Landing is the landing on our staircase where Suzie sometimes like to sleep. A fitting title for a sleepy little tune.

All She Wrote

All She Wrote (mp3) (pdf)

A no-frills, straight ahead tune in Dm. What can I say? That's all she wrote.

Waiting in the Wood

Waiting in the Wood (mp3) (pdf)

This simple waltz arrived last weekend as I was playing a lovely Martin 00-15M guitar for what proved to be the last time. I was practicing for a wedding the next day with a capo on the 2nd fret and this little tune insisted on a hearing.

Later that day I took the guitar in to Dave's Guitars (a great shop) in La Crosse, WI to compare it with some other 00s that they had in stock. I came away with a new 00-18, leaving the 00-15 behind in trade. (It looks like it might already have sold, I don't see it listed on their site.) A fine guitar but I like the 00-18 even more. You can hear it on this track.

We sometimes say that tunes are stored up in particular instruments just waiting to be uncovered. That's my claim for this one. Nothing fancy, just a sweet little tune. Old Gibson A mandolin and a recent Weber Gallatin mandola on the second time through.