Sunday, November 29, 2015

Tolley's Jig No. 2


Tolley's Jig No. 2 (mp3) (pdf) (pdf harmony)

Another short jig brought to you courtesy of Tolley the cat.

Technical note: After several years of recording straight to my computer I recorded this tune using a now obsolete Tascam DP-008 Pocket Studio that I used for a number of recordings back in 2012-2013. AKG Perception 170 mic, old Gibson A mandolin.

Photo from Forestville State Park in Minnesota, August 2015.

Sunday, November 08, 2015

Whalen Cabin Waltz (June 5, 2011)

Whalen Cabin Waltz (mp3) (pdf)

It's a mystery to me but I've been suffering from a sort of "recording block" the last few months. So rather than record something new today I went back to the vault and dug out something from a few years ago.

In early June 2011 Erik Sessions and I played for a couple of high school graduation parties. We knew the graduates (fine young musicians all) and the parents and we had a great time playing tunes while folks enjoyed the beautiful weather and the company of friends.

At one of the parties, the one held at the Whalen Cabin in Phelps Park, Decorah, I hooked up the old Zoom H4 to our little PA system and recorded the two of us using aux outs. It's a nice document of what the two of us sound like in a relaxed setting.

Until today this tune has been titled "May 29, 2011" which tells me that I wrote it only a few days before this recording was made and that this was almost certainly a world premiere. I suspect that Erik was sight-reading the tune (unless we had run through it earlier, which would be pretty unusual), something not uncommon for us to do in a low-key setting like this.

I remember that Erik and I (on mandolin that time) played the tune along with Ehler Orngard on guitar and, maybe, Rob Hervey on bass the next day but we didn't record that gig. Erik and I have played the tune once or twice since but not in a while. So maybe having an official title now will give it new life.

In any event I hope you enjoy the piece. It's a nice chord workout for you guitar players :)



 
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