"It's All Goodin"

As you can see from the poster above, next Monday my friends in the Louisville Mandolin Orchestra are celebrating the release of their new recording, titled "It's All Goodin", with a concert at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana. I am honored beyond words by the hard work that has gone into learning, performing and recording these pieces I have written over the years. I intend to be at the concert and, hopefully, I will play with the second mandolin section during the final number.

I know that the LMO intends to have the new CD available for purchase at the concert and I will try and let readers know how to buy the CD in a future blog post.

How did all of this start?

In May of 1988 I read an article in the Louisville Courier Journal with the headline "Mike Schroeder is dreaming of a classical mandolin orchestra." I was living in Bowling Green, Kentucky at the time but I knew Mike from his fine mandolin playing around the Louisville area.

I didn't know that Mike had been attending classical mandolin workshops around the country. I don't think that I knew these workshops even existed. I did know, however, that "classical" mandolin and mandolin orchestras had been common in the United States from around 1890-1920 and still flourished in parts of Europe and Japan. I was very interested in the possibility of a mandolin group being formed in Louisville.

I don't remember if I contacted Mike right away but I know that by the end of summer I was attending the early rehearsals of the LMO. Those first months were incredibly fun. I was playing my Flatiron octave mandolin in the mandola section of the group. I was able to read music fairly well but this was my first time playing in a group that big enough to need a conductor. The LMO was very fortunate to have Jim Bates take on the conductor's role and he worked wonders at bringing the group together.

I began writing songs in high school and by the 1980s I was writing a fair amount of instrumental music. After months of playing mandolin orchestra music I had the idea to arrange one of my tunes for mandolin orchestra. I showed this to Jim Bates and he was very encouraging and helpful. This piece was originally titled "Just a Minute" but, after development, I called it "Up River Road." It later became the first movement of "The Louisville Suite."

In March of 1989 the international mandolin virtuoso and teacher Keith Harris came to Louisville for a workshop and concert. Keith was wonderful to work with and, after hearing the LMO perform "Up River Road" at our concert, he also encouraged me to continue writing for mandolin orchestra. He went so far as to recommend my piece to the his friends at Trekel Musikverlag in Germany and it was eventually published by them. He also championed this piece and others of mine to orchestras in several countries.

The support and enthusiasm that the members of the LMO showed for my first efforts and the advice, counsel and encouragement that I received from Jim Bates and Keith Harris set me on the path of continuing to compose pieces for mandolin orchestra.

Now, almost 30 years later, I have continued to receive encouragement from members of the worldwide classical mandolin community, directors of mandolin orchestras and publishers of mandolin music. I have also been privileged to be a member of the Classical Mandolin Society of America for decades, attending many conventions and even serving on the Board of Directors.

When we moved to Iowa in 1994 I continued to write music for mandolins and, to date, I have composed nearly 25 pieces for plucked string ensembles. Several of these have been published by Trekel Musikverlag in Hamburg and a number of recordings have been made over the years by groups around the world. I am amazed at this attention and I am honored every time I am commissioned to compose a piece for a group or learn that one of my pieces is performed. To think that so many fine musicians will make the effort to learn music that I have written is humbling and gratifying.

The LMO has continued to flourish and has played my music regularly throughout its history. This new recording is in some ways a culmination of our relationship but I hope not a conclusion. There will be more music to come. So, many heartfelt thanks to the members of the Louisville Mandolin Orchestra, all of the other mandolin orchestra musicians and directors who have played my music and to every other musician who has taken the time to play one of my tunes! The Mandolin World is a special place and I am so fortunate to be a part of it.

Waitin' On the Julia Belle

Waitin' On the Julia Belle (mandolin orchestra score and parts)
                 (mp3 recording of the basic tune on mandolin and guitar)

Attention mandolin orchestra directors and members:

This summer I decided to finally create a mandolin orchestra version of a tune I had written a few years earlier, "Waitin' On the Julia Belle" (that is, the Julia Belle Swain riverboat). This arrangement is the result.

Being from the Indiana side of the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, I first encountered the Julia Belle Swain in the mid-1970s as a participant in the annual Great Steamboat Race that was held as part of the Kentucky Derby festivities. I remember standing on the riverbank and being amazed at how the smaller boat was holding her own against the larger Belle of Louisville and Delta Queen as they came down the home stretch. The Julia Belle only ran in 1975 and 1976, but she won that second year.

Later, when we moved to Northeast Iowa in the mid-1990s I was delighted to discover that the Julia Belle was now operating out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, only 65 miles away. It was always good to see her docked downtown and to know that she was available for a short cruise on the Mississippi. The Julia Belle Swain was retired in 2009, a casulty of the Great Recession of 2008. Serious attempts have been made to refurbish the boat and she may still have another life on the river.

Musically, the Julia Belle Swain had a long association with the late, great John Hartford. He would sometimes pilot the boat and he mentioned her in some of his songs, especially "The Julia Belle Swain" ("with a bunch of old hippies for a crew"). My simple tune is, hopefully, a reflection of both the pleasure of riding on the Julia Belle Swain and the many hours I have spent being inspired by the music and life of John Hartford.

I have decided to make PDF copies of the score and parts for Waitin' On the Julia Belle freely available for download here under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Generic License found on the site linked above. Feel free to make as many copies of the score and parts as are necessary for your orchestra.

If you find Waitin' On the Julia Belle to be a good addition to your repertoire and you feel inclined to make a donation in support of my work you can use the PayPal Donation button on my site. Again, this is not required, I just hope that you enjoy the music. I would, however, love to hear about any performances of the piece. PDF copies of concert programs are especially appreciated.

I decided not to include a computerized "recording" of this piece. If you want to hear how it can sound convince your local mandolin orchestra to give it a shot. You could also gather a smaller group of musicians who play mandolin family instruments, plus a guitar and a bass, and read through the music for fun. If someone does give it a play I would love to hear a recording of a rehearsal or performance.

(Update: thanks to a comment on FB from Ben Hippen I realized that I did have a simple recording of the basic tune from back in 2008. I have added that link above. You can see that I've added a bit to the original tune but that I haven't changed its fundamental character.)

Deer Track, February 27, 2014

Deer Track, February 27, 2014 (mp3) (pdf)

Going through an old music notebook from early 2014 this week I came across a couple of not-quite-finished deer tracks pieces. Looking back I remember that this was around the time that Contratopia was busy trying to record what became our Riff City CD and I imagine that I was more focused on that project.

So today I've finished up the piece that was started on February 27, 2014. It's mostly as I scribbled it down but I changed a note here and there. I know these pieces sound pretty random but I actually spend some time making choices about pitches and durations. That's a lot of the fun for me.

If you prefer something a little more conventional you can always drop back to last week's tune, Blevins March, and enjoy some good old D major.

Blevins March

Blevins March (mp3) (pdf)

Two nights ago I was honored to be part of a beautiful community fundraiser that was created to help one of Decorah's most generous and giving people, Mike Blevins. Among many other gifts and talents, Mike is one of the those who people who supports musicians by really listening to what we do and helping us remember why we do it.

I wrote a tune that Erik Sessions and I could play during our set and we premiered it that night. Today I'm posting my usual home recording of the tune but maybe a live version will surface some day.

Depending on where you live you may or may not recognize all or some of the names on the MikeFest poster but I can attest that each and every one played an amazing set. Along with my set with Erik (which went over really well), I was privileged to accompany Joshua Vorvick on one of his fine songs and I had a great time backing up the wonderful Bonnie Koloc on her classic tune "Roll Me On the Water" during her set. The audience was perfect, relaxed and supportive the whole time.

 Most of the musicians perform with some regularity at Java John's Coffeehouse in Decorah and we were all happy to contribute our time and talent to this event. I have especially appreciated Mike's active listening to my solo mandolin shows over the last few years and I look forward to playing for him again once he is up and around.

If you are interested in helping Mike out there is a Go Fund Me site set up to help him with his medical expenses. Here's the link: https://www.gofundme.com/stroke-to-recovery-help-mike-out

Speaking of Java John's, I am putting together my setlist for another solo mandolin evening this coming Wednesday, August 22. If you are in Decorah and interested then stop in anytime from 7 to 9, no cover. I'll be playing the usual mix of Baroque era pieces, fiddle tunes and original stuff.

St. Francis and the Birds - mandolin quartet or ensemble

St. Francis and the Birds (for mandolin quartet or ensemble) (PDF music and mp3 here)

Back in May I posted an arrangement for SATB recorder quartet of this old tune of mine. You can read more about that, if you want, at this link.

Shortly after posting the recorder arrangement I heard from a mandolin friend in England wondering if he could adapt it for mandolins. I said "sure" but that set me to thinking about what that might look like and I came up with this version.

This is similar to July's James Oswald on the Ohio arrangement in that it is intended to be playable by 3 mandolins and an octave mandolin (or mandocello or guitar), or two mandolins, a CGDA mandola and octave mandolin, mandocello or guitar. If you have four plucked string instruments you can probably make it work.

I made the recording this afternoon despite a neighbor's lawn mower in the distance and some traffic noise. I think I hit most of the notes in the right places.

I'm using the above photo, even though it has appeared a few times in this blog already. It was taken in lovely New Harmony, Indiana a few years ago and I'm always happy to see it again.

May Frost: 64 Original Mandolin Tunes (with harmony parts and guitar chords)

May Frost tunebook, download free PDF (donations encouraged) or purchase print copy at this Mandotopia page: www.mandotopia.com/MayFrost.html

May Frost is a collection of mandolin tunes written mostly between 2003-2013, most of which first appeared in this blog. In putting this collection together I wrote harmony parts for the tunes that didn't already have them. I also corrected a few errors and made a few improvements.

In most cases you can look up each tune in this blog using the alphabetical index and play along. Better yet you can find a friend or two and play them as duos and/or trios at whatever tempo you prefer.

I've also included a short section at the end with brief notes on the tunes.

I hope you find some of these tunes fun and useful. Ideally they will add pleasure to your playing and to the people who encounter them.

Here's the title tune, "May Frost", as it was presented back in May of 2010 (mp3) (pdf)

James Oswald on the Ohio (for mandolin quartet or ensemble)

James Oswald on the Ohio (for mandolin quartet or ensemble) (PDF music and MP3 here)

Today's posted link will take you to a web page on my Mandotopia site that includes information about this new piece, along with the usual links to PDF music and a recording.

I explain the title in more detail there but the piece itself is another in a long line of pieces and tunes that I have written over the years inspired by the work of Scottish composer James Oswald (1710-1769). I am also trying to add to my supply of pieces composed for smaller groups of mandolin family players who don't have easy access to a large mandolin orchestra.

On this Independence Day I hope that you will enjoy a piece that makes fictional reference to our colonial past (although the artwork above probably depicts a slightly later time period).

Ten Easy Duos, no. 5

Ten Easy Duos, no. 5 (mp3) (pdf)

Just over a month ago Martin Jonas posted recordings of Duos no. 2 & 3 in this series over at the Mandolin Cafe as part of his John Goodin Mandolin Duets thread. He gently reminded me that only Duos 1-3 of the supposed 10 have actually appeared.

That sent me looking back and I found the beginning of no. 4, which will need considerable work, and two versions of no. 5. I had the original version of no. 5 ready to go back in December 2017 but, apparently, decided it wasn't finished and I made it longer sometime after that.

So here is no. 5, recorded on Sunday using a 1920 or 1921 Gibson A-2 mandolin.

St. Francis and the Birds - recorder quartet

St. Francis and the Birds (recorder quartet) (computer mp3) (pdf score)

This is the third appearance of this tune since 2007 when So Many Tunes first appeared. As best as I can remember I probably first wrote it down somewhere in the mid 1980s. It's published as a melody with chords in the Contratopia Tunebook and it originally appeared here in October of 2007.

Then in 2012 I wrote a fun second part for the tune and posted it again in this blog. That time I let my computer "play" the tune.

A couple of weeks ago I came across a partially completed arrangement of the tune for recorder quartet from a few years ago. This had required me to change the original key to better fit the range of an SATB group of recorders. I spent some time finishing that arrangement and I'm presenting it here.

Once again I'm letting my computer recorder players "perform" the piece. They certainly get all of the pitches just right and their tempo never wavers. I'm sure if I spent several hours tinkering I could coax the computer to sound a little more human but I think it sounds OK for my purpose here.

I'm also linking to a pdf copy of the new quartet score. I'll be happy to send copies of the parts to anyone who asks. Just email me at jgoodin@mandotopia.com.

Easter Fool - Winter Window Sun

Easter Fool (mp3) (pdf)
Winter Window Sun (mp3) (pdf)

It's been quite some April. The photo above was taken on the morning of April 18 from our front porch. Normally you would see the bit of yard and a sidewalk that is visible in the photo from my previous post. You would also be able to clearly see the street from here. This was just the beginning of a record April snowfall for us. At our house we had 10-11 inches by late afternoon.

Easter Fool was mostly written on Easter Sunday / April Fool's Day. Winter Window Sun came along a couple of weeks earlier. We have enjoyed a full week of spring-like weather and we have every reason to believe that we are done with the snow until at least next October. Time will tell.

No Show Snow

No Show Snow (mp3) (pdf)

The photo above tells the tale. Going to sleep on Friday evening we were under a Winter Storm Warning and we expected to see anywhere from 3 to 10 inches of fresh snow, depending on the wind and temperature changes.

Saturday morning showed us no snow. Fifty miles to the west, Osage, Iowa received up to 16 inches. New Hampton, just 35 miles southwest of here saw 11 inches. Here we didn't see even a flurry.

I have been the owner of a beautiful Flatiron Octave Mandolin (or octave mandola, if you prefer) since around 1981. I believe I am the original owner. In recent years, however, I have played it less and less, primarily due to the long scale length of the instrument and the toll it takes on my aging hands. When I do play it (heard on several tunes from this blog last year) I have been using a capo to shorten the scale length but I haven't been pleased with the results.

I read about the new MDO-305 Octave Mandolins now being produced by Eastman Guitars for a modest price and decided to give one a try. They are shorter scale (21") instruments. I received mine a couple of weeks ago and, so far, I have enjoyed it quite a bit.

Today's tune was written yesterday on the new octave mandolin and recorded using it along with a fine old Gibson mandolin. I imagined that the snow had fallen and I was finished with the shoveling, looking out my window at the fresh powder.

Even though I sound disappointed about the No Show Snow, I am perfectly fine with waiting until next winter to see any more.

I've enjoyed taking a couple of months off from feeding this blog but rest assured that I've been writing tunes all along. I hope you enjoy today's piece.

Grandview Ridge

Grandview Ridge (mp3) (pdf)

This first post of a new year presents one of the oldest tunes that I can remember writing. After 10-15 years of writing songs I figured out sometime in the mid-70s that I really enjoyed just writing music more.

I first recorded an early version of this tune on a TEAC A-1340 reel to reel tape deck that I then mixed down to a cassette. I'm estimating that this was sometime around 1979-1980. I remember going to the bank to take out a loan to buy the TEAC, it was my first chance to record sound-on-sound outside of a recording studio. I recently came across a digitized version of a cassette that included this tune a couple of weeks ago.

I may have written the music during one of the summers that I spent at the old CYO Camp Christina in southeastern Brown County, Indiana. The camp was just off of Grandview Ridge road. I have great memories of the two summers I lived there, sometimes helping out with the chores and sometimes washing dishes in Nashville at Rudy's Country Kitchen.

I know that there is a lead sheet somewhere that I used for that original recording but after an hour or so of searching I figured it would be easier to just transcribe my own playing from the shaky cassette evidence. I made a few small changes and re-recorded it here yesterday.

I found the photo above thanks to my old Clarksville friend Tim Buckman. Apparently my dear Mother spotted him wrestling with the unusual snowfall and came out on our front porch to capture it on film. This was decades ago of course. I had never seen this picture until Tim posted it on FB and I'm very grateful for this glimpse of winter in southern Indiana.

This was our family home on the corner of Carter Ave. and Fairbanks in Clarksville. If I didn't write today's tune in Brown County I may well have written it in the upstairs of this house. It was all a long time ago.

Christmas Afternoon

Christmas Afternoon (mp3) (pdf)

Back on January 8 of this year I posted a recording and music for a new tune "Waltz for the New Year, 2017" and I noted that "with a new year comes new resolve." That phrase was a signal to myself that I had been thinking of trying to compose and record a new piece of music every week in 2017. I didn't mention that thought to anyone else for a long time but here I am today posting tune number fifty-two.

The great majority of the tunes I have posted this year were written in the early part of each week and recorded toward the end of the week. As the year wore on I sometimes worked a little ahead of that schedule. Today's tune was mostly written last Monday, Christmas Day. I tinkered a little with it and recorded it on Thursday.

My plan, at this point, is to not try and write and record a new tune every week in 2018. Instead, as I enter the 12th year of this blog, I'll return to the less structured approach of recording and posting music when I feel like it.

I've been very pleased, honored even, by the number of people who have listened to, liked, shared, and commented on these tunes in the last year. Especially since I started linking to them using Facebook. Thanks to all of you for including some of this music in your busy lives.

On January 8th I mentioned that the temperature had dipped to -4 degrees (Fahrenheit) the night before and we were expecting a high of 17 above during the afternoon. Last night I believe we were down to around -10 and it was still -8 when I took the dog out this morning. Right now (3:00 p.m.) we have climbed to 1 degree above zero but it is a beautiful, sunny day with a fresh dusting of snow. In a world of relentless change some things are more reliable than others.

I hope that your 2018 will be one of the best years ever.

Snow Train

Snow Train (mp3) (pdf)

It's Christmas Eve here in lovely Decorah. We even had a light dusting of snow this morning to brighten things up a little.

Today's tune (no. 51 this year) was partially written while watching a fun video of a Norwegian train slowly climbing into the snow covered mountains outside of Bergen. I hope you enjoy the music.

If you are in the Decorah area I will be playing solo mandolin at Java John's from 7 to 9 on Dec. 26 (Boxing Day). Stop in for something warm to drink if that sounds like a good way to relax after the holiday fun. I'll certainly play today's tune at some point, along with a number of other recent tunes from this blog.

Enjoy your holiday!

The Advent Star

The Advent Star (mp3) (pdf)

Yesterday here in Decorah I was privileged to once again take part in the annual community holiday concert known, for the last few years, as Burning Bright. This is always a wonderful event and most years Erik Sessions and I are called to contribute an instrumental tune to the mix of choral and small group performances. Usually we write something new for the event.

Today's tune, The Advent Star, was written for this year's concert and Erik and I performed it at both the 4:00 and 7:00 shows. We also played it at the indoor farmers market yesterday morning. We had a great time playing the tune and the Burning Bright audiences were generous with their applause.

The recording presented here, however, is just me playing guitar and mandolin, recorded on Friday last week.

I have to admit that when I chose the title (which has personal significance) I was unaware that Advent Stars are a thing. I knew nothing about the connection with the Moravian Church or J.S. Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig or modern holiday decorating practices. I just like the title.

In any event, I hope you enjoy the tune.

River Mist Tree Line

River Mist Tree Line (mp3) (pdf)
Deer Track, December 4, 2017 (mp3) (pdf)

We have a twofer today. First a "regular" tune, a jig in Gm, and then a short, new member of my Deer Tracks collection.

I couldn't produce any photos of a misty river but the photo above is the Upper Iowa River near our home after the mist has burned off.

I hope you enjoy the tunes.

Waltz for the Squires

Waltz for the Squires (mp3) (pdf)

Last week's tune provoked some entertaining comments from old friends back in southern Indiana. One remark brought back fond memories of the first band I was ever invited to join, Sir James and the Squires.

I'm pretty sure that it was the fall of 1965, my freshman year in high school, when I became a Squire. I played bass guitar (an old Supro with a Magnatone amp), badly, but I was quick to learn. Soon I could help rather than hinder the group as we played the then standard repertoire: "Pipeline", "You Can't Sit Down", "Last Kiss", "House of the Rising Sun", "We Gotta Get Out of this Place", "Wooly Bully", and many hits by the Kingsmen. These were great times and full of the joy of making loud noises in praise of life. I've tried to keep that attitude and it was nice to be reminded of it last week.

So, this week's tune, while musically pretty unrelated to the Squires' world, is dedicated to that memory and my first bandmates.

This entry in number 48 for 2017, forty-eight consecutive weeks with a new tune. No one is more surprised than me. I've got something I'm working on for next week too. We'll see how the rest of the year goes.

Henryville Forestry

Henryville Forestry (mp3) (pdf)

In 1903 the State of Indiana purchased 2,000 acres near Henryville and created Clark State Forest. I have visited this idyllic place, now grown to over 24,000 acres, many times in my life. The photo above was taken, I believe, near the fire tower on our most recent visit a few years ago. If you find yourself driving between Indianapolis and Louisville on I-65 with an hour or two to spare I highly recommend that you take the Henryville exit and spend a while in this beautiful place.

As a boy we often referred to this example of government at its best as the Henryville forestry, hence today's title. I hope you enjoy the tune.

A Jig for Sue

A Jig for Sue (mp3) (pdf)

If you have been to a contra dance in Decorah in the last few years you have almost certainly found yourself helped along by the expert time-keeping of our resident bodhran player, Sue Otte. Sue loves to play jigs and I needed a title for today's tune so here it is. It's a fun tune to play, hope you enjoy it.

Friendly Spirits

Friendly Spirits (mp3) (pdf)

As mentioned last week, this week's tune was written on Halloween evening while the little ones were navigating our rickety front porch steps and gathering their rewards.

Bullwinkle: "Eenie-meanie, chili-beanie, the spirits are about to speak."

Rocky: "Are they friendly spirits?"

Elkhart Freight

Elkhart Freight (mp3) (pdf)

Last Tuesday was Halloween and, by chance, I ended up writing a couple of tunes during the trick or treat part of the evening. I had one, called "Friendly Spirits" finished and recorded by Thursday. But then on Friday I returned to a tune I wrote earlier in the year and that's what we have here today.

Back in March I rode the Capitol Limited into Union Station D.C. to play some dances with Contratopia. The train stops at Elkhart on the way east around 9:30 at night and on March 16 we ended up sitting on a siding while a freight train rattled by. I started this tune during that pullover. (The photo above was taken somewhere in Pennsylvania the next morning.)

I enjoyed making the recording of this one. I even used a dropped D tuning on the guitar, something I almost never do. (I have enough trouble with standard tuning.) The tune could certainly go faster but I like the way it kind of rolls along at this tempo.

If you are a friend of Contratopia and you own our Riff City CD your ear may tell you there is some similarity between the beginning of Elkhart and my tune "No Contest" which is the 2nd tune in the Two Bits medley. After some back and forth with my internal editor I decided that's OK.

Hope you enjoy it.

[Update: I finally noticed, and corrected, the mistakes in the pdf sheet music on Tuesday evening. Sorry for the inconvenience.]

Witch Hollow Pond

Witch Hollow Pond (mp3) (pdf)

This week's tune is an Andante, a walking tune in the key of A major. My typical process, more often than not, is that I will start writing with an instrument in hand and a music notebook. I'll write down the tune as it comes and edit as I go. This often results in a confusing page of scratched notes and measures and little arrows pointing from one place to another as the tune comes together.

At some point the page becomes cluttered and it's time to move the process over to my computer and Sibelius software (still using version 6.2 if you're interested). This is mostly very helpful but one downside is that Sibelius wants to know what the tune is called. Usually I haven't thought about that and I can spin my wheels while I think of a title. Often I'll just use the date as a working title and come back to it later. This year I've been trying harder to make myself come up with a title right away.

This week I had this walking tune and so I thought of recent walks and then more distant ones. I remembered a wonderful morning hike I had taken by myself when we were visiting Mt. Desert Island, Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, Maine back in the Fall of 2011. It was a beautiful day and I managed to get myself turned around and ended up at the Hulls Cove Visitor's Center. In the process I saw much more of Witch Hole Pond than I intended.

I did a little reading about the area and found that long ago Witch Hole Pond was known as Witch Hollow. I decided to use that name for my tune title. This seems particularly apt for a tune that I am sharing on the Sunday before Halloween, or Samhain if you prefer.

Regarding the tune itself, I was pleased that once again I was able to make use of my old Flatiron octave mandolin near then end. Hope you enjoy it.

Tolley's Jig no. 7

Tolley's Jig no. 7 (mp3) (pdf)

Today's tune is another in a series of jigs named, for lack of a more poetic title, after Tolley our aging "upstairs" cat. The recording was fun and easy to make and I was very pleased that the tune invited me to get out my old Flatiron octave mandolin (mandola, bouzouki, whatever you want to call it). You can hear it on the the bottom during the third pass through the tune.

The photo above is evidence of the hard work performed by a great group of friends who came by last Sunday to help us clean up the borderline "rank vegetation" that was threatening to overtake our yard. I should have taken a before and after series of pictures because the difference was extraordinary.

This coming week Milwaukee, Wisconsin will host the annual convention of the Classical Mandolin Society of America. This will be the first one of these that I have missed in several years but if you are anywhere in the neighborhood of Milwaukee I strongly encourage you to check out the free public concerts that CMSA will be presenting on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Some of the finest mandolinists in the world be performing and giving workshops. Most highly recommended.

If you are already registered as an attendee I wish you another great convention experience. Believe me, I would be there if I could. I'll look forward, though, to seeing many of you in 2018.

Chocolate for All

Chocolate for All (mp3) (pdf)

Last Sunday I was pretty sure that I had a nearly complete tune that I would use for this week. Instead I had a fresh idea on Monday, thanks to some inspiring playing by Fergal Scahill with his "a tune a day" videos, and I worked on that one instead.

So today we have "Chocolate for All" which is fun for me to play and, I hope, for you also.

Last Wednesday I played another of my monthly solo mandolin nights at Java John's Coffee House in Decorah and it was an especially good night with a great audience and a relaxed atmosphere. Here's the setlist from that gig:

Java John’s solo mandolin, October 11, 2017

Set 1

1. Goodin: Board Eddy / O’Neill’s Favorite (trad.) / Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

2. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Amaranthus

3. Goodin: September Waltz

4. Bach: Bouree & Minuet (from French Suite VI) (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)

5. Goodin: Walnuts Too / Acorns Below / Merrills Mills

6. Playford: Wallingford House / Chelsea Reach

7. Sauli: Partita V for Mandolin (Filippo Sauli)

8. Goodin: Deer Track, August 16, 2006 / St. Louis Railyard

9. Lecce: Sonatas-Partitas p. 4 (Francesco Lecco, 18^th century)

10. Goodin: Deer Track, February, 2009 / From the Balcony

11. Trad: Boys of Blue Hill /Goodin: Starbird Siding / Swarbrick Sends a Tune to Iowa

                                                           Set 2

1. Trad: Old French / Morpeth Rant / Oswald: East Neuk O Fife

2. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Candy=Tuft

3. Goodin: Postcards From the Crater: Lower Palisades

4. Playford: Chestnut / Childgrove

5. Goodin: Deer Track, June 8, 2013 / Toledo Moon

6. Telemann:  Adagio & Allegro from Oboe Sonata in Gm TWV 41:g10

7. Telemann: Menuets 13 & 14 (1728)

8. Goodin: The Cairo Sessions

9. Valentine: Allegro from Sonata no. 3 for Mandolin / Goodin: Sherwood & Brooks / Black Stream Crossing

10. Goodin: Birthday Girls

11: Goodin: Deer Track, October, 2002 / Palmer’s House

Walnuts Too

Walnuts Too (mp3) (pdf)

You have to watch your step this time of year when you are walking on the local trails. Slippery leaves, round things on the path and walnuts still falling from the trees are all part of the equation. Definitely one of my favorite times of the year.

Today's tune is pretty straightforward and shouldn't provide too many obstacles to your playing or listening pleasure. It's another glass-half-full kind of tune with a big, bright G major chord at the end.

On the other hand, fiddle tunes are nothing if not flexible and you could reverse the A and B sections so that the tune ends on the E minor chord at the end of the A section. That can make the tune slightly darker if that is more to your taste today.

One of my favorite quotes from the fabled 1960s comes from the brilliant Sylvester Stewart (better known as Sly Stone) and his song "Everyday People": "different strokes for different folks." I suspect that there is music already extant that somehow fits nearly every person and the situation she or he is in at any time but I am still compelled to add my own little bits to the stew.

When I reach for a "new" tune it's partly because it is often easier for me to write something of my own than to search my aging memory for a suitable existing piece of music. Just as important is the pleasure I take in opening the door to see what music is waiting for me to bring in off the porch.

I would do this even if no one else was listening. I've been doing this constantly since I was around 14 or 15. I really enjoy when someone else hears what I've played or composed and finds it pleasurable or meaningful but my impulse is primarily self-centered.

This newfangled technology makes it possible to share music much more easily than I could in the 1970s or 1980s and I know that it's a mixed blessing. So many tunes, so little time. Thanks, though, for listening to this one.

Acorns Below

Acorns Below (mp3) (pdf)

This week's tune was written a few days ago but I didn't get around to recording it until this morning. I was lucky and finished the last track just before one of our neighbors got out his loud leaf blower. In his defense, he has a huge quantity of leaves to deal with.

The photo was taken just before noon from the Trout Run trail near our house looking across the river to the ridge above Ice Cave. There are many acorns dotting the trails that wind around that ridge. Walnuts too.

Today's tune is a good example of what I come up with once I turn away from the notion of writing the Greatest Tune Ever and I just relax and enjoy the music that I find at hand. I hope it works for you too.

Merrills Mills

Merrills Mills (mp3) (pdf)

A jolly little tune titled after another obscure location in southern Piscataquis County, Maine. Hope you enjoy it.

(Note: In a highly unusual move I decided this morning [Monday, 9-25] that the second mandolin part was a little outside of my low standard of acceptability. So I have re-recorded that and re-mixed the tune. Hopefully not too many ears were damaged before this change was made.)

September Waltz

September Waltz (mp3) (pdf)

A waltz today, written and recorded before some late week challenges. The photo is from our front sidewalk, facing west.

Propsland

Propsland (mp3) (pdf)

Just last weekend I drove up to Minneapolis to play for the Saturday night contra dance at Tapestry with Pat's Propellers (Pat O'Loughlin, Karen Mueller, Linda Breitag and me). We had a great time, as usual, and the next morning I started writing today's tune. "Propsland" went through some changes early in the week but it was ready to record by Thursday. Part of the idea was to make a tune with not so many 8th notes.

The photo above is of my "office" at the Winneshiek Farmers Market last Saturday morning. I played solo for the first half and then Erik Sessions joined me for the last set. It's always fun to play at markets like this. I especially enjoy seeing little kids discovering live acoustic music.

Yesterday in Decorah was really fun. Erik and I played the opening set for the Live on Water Street festival in late afternoon and then we joined our Western Home String Band buddies (last night featuring Bill Deutsch, Sue Otte, Sam Beard and Rob Hervey, along with caller Robin Nelson) in the evening for our first local contra dance of the season, also on Water Street at the Lingonberry. The weather was ideal and the music was good.

Finally, on Wednesday this week (Sept. 13) I will once again play a couple of hours of solo mandolin at Java John's. Stop by in if you are in town.

Dover South

Dover South (mp3) (pdf)

This week's new tune is a waltz that takes its title from a lovely area of Piscataquis County, Maine known as Dover South Mills. Brans Mill Pond, pictured above, is the source of the Black Stream that I used for a title a few weeks ago. Thanks to whoever took the photo.

I had a great weekend of music, playing with Erik Sessions on Friday night in McGregor, Iowa and on Saturday morning at the local farmers market and with Pat's Propellers (Pat, Linda and Karen) last night in Minneapolis.  A lot of miles and much good music, today though (after arriving home around 2:30 a.m.) I am taking it easy.

Just in case anyone imagines the life of an older, gigging mandolin player to be financially lucrative, let me just say that the speeding ticket I earned on Friday night pretty much offsets any profit for the weekend. The music, though, was valuable beyond measure.

Next Saturday, however, Erik and I are featured as the opening act of the Live On Water Street festival just a few blocks from home. I should come out financially ahead on that. Our friends at the Water Street Music Series have created another fun event that would be well worth a visit if you are in the area.

The festival ends at 8:00 but Erik and I will then also be playing for our local contra dance that night, held downtown at the Lingonberry event space. Unfortunately this means that I will have to miss a concert featuring acclaimed Danish musicians Gangspil, along with Norwegian Vidar Skrede a few blocks away Vesterheim's Bethania Church. So much to do, so many tunes.

Ain't Over

Ain't Over (mp3) (pdf)

This week's tune should probably go a little faster than it is presented here. Hopefully the rhythmic, um, inconsistencies won't be bother you as much as they do me. Obviously, however, they don't bother me enough to spend more time trying to tighten it up. Perfection has never been the goal with these blog recordings and I think I can live with this one as it is.

There's a kind of cool effect (at least to my ears) when the harmony part comes in because it's recorded with the guitar and melody parts playing out loud in the room, thereby bleeding into the harmony track. Oh, and there's a neighborhood lawn mower somewhere in the background too.

I've been going through the early entries in this blog because I'm putting together what might become a tunebook that I may or may not have created and printed in time for the upcoming Classical Mandolin Society of America convention in Milwaukee at the end of October.

Visiting the old tunes and recordings is fun and I'm thinking I might post a couple of them again for any readers who might have missed them the first time.

So today I'll call your attention to a tune from February of 2010 called "Something About a Queen." All of the Neil Young fans know where that title comes from. It's a fairly unusual tune for me and never gets played at gigs but when I listened to the recording recently I enjoyed it quite a bit. Maybe you will too.

Something About a Queen (mp3) (pdf)

Starbird Siding

Starbird Siding (mp3) (pdf)

Traveling north on Maine highway 7 between Dexter and Dover-Foxcroft you will find Starbird Siding to be the first road on the left, shortly after you pass Board Eddy on the right. I'm guessing that "Siding" is a railway reference, there is an old rail track that crosses the road just west of highway 7. "Starbirds" is listed as a locality in Piscataquis County but I don't recall ever seeing anything like an old town there when driving on the short road. In any event it's a great name for this week's tune.

The photo above of the cool amphitheater (the "Bowl") at Highland Prairie Lutheran Church was taken this morning before playing with Foot-Notes for an outdoor picnic event. After we played two sets in the bandstand up the hill from this photo we walked down to the Bowl and played a short acoustic set just for fun. A very memorable gig.

This is a busy week for me. On Tuesday I will drive up to Minneapolis and play solo mandolin from 5:30-7:30 at the Mill City Farmers Market, which should be lots of fun. The next night, Wednesday, I will play my monthly solo mandolin gig at Java John's in Decorah. Finally on Saturday night I will join the Western Home String Band for our annual first year student dance at Luther College.

I am daily reminded of how lucky I am to be able to play music of my choosing with good friends for wonderful audiences on a regular basis. When I'm not playing gigs I get to work on composing, creating music books and various other projects. I don't take this for granted, I am truly grateful that I have these opportunities. With luck I'll get to continue this work for a long time to come. Thanks for visiting.

Black Stream Crossing

Black Stream Crossing (mp3) (pdf)

This week's tune (2017, week 32) is a nice jig in F, presented as a duo for two mandolins.

I went through a couple of titles before settling on this one. I'm once again mining the rich vein of places names in Piscataquis County, Maine (which I have just learned is the same size as the state of Connecticut, with a population of around 17,000) for this tune and I think there will be more to come.

The photo above is not of Black Stream but it resembles what I imagine when I think of the spot where Board Eddy Rd. crosses the actual stream. We have often visited the Dover-Foxcroft area in the month of August (although not this year) and this shot was taken overlooking a different creek during August 2009. I hope we will be able to return to this beautiful area soon.

Enchanted Forest

Enchanted Forest (mp3) (pdf)

The photo above was taken in August 2009 and it might be a picture of part of the woods that housed the original "Enchanted Forest" near Sangerville, Maine. It was a true dream world for children and their families created by Ardell Flanders and the Flanders family, full of wonderful wooden characters from the world of fairy tales.

In the 1980s and 90s we tried to visit the Forest whenever we were out east and it was always a highlight of our trip. There seems to be little information online about this place that delighted thousands of people during its heyday and some of what you do find is mistaken. I could only find one photo but I'm not using it here because I want to respect the privacy of the child in that photo, plus it only shows a tiny piece of the actual site.

In any event I thought of the Forest while I was casting about for a title for this week's tune. I hope you enjoy the tune itself. We certainly enjoyed the Forest while it lasted.

Queen City Passenger

(photo by Ellen Macdonald)

Queen City Passenger (mp3) (pdf)

This week's tune is not entirely new. In fact the first draft was written back in 2013, probably sometime after passing through Cincinnati on our ill-fated ride aboard the Amtrak Cardinal. I found the tune this week while looking for something else and decided to take it up again.

The annual Nordic Fest has once again passed and I was privileged to be part of some fine music-making with my duo partner Erik Sessions and my Foot-Notes bandmates Jon & Beth Rotto and Bill Musser. Erik and I had a great audience of serious listeners and Foot-Notes played two dances for tremendous crowds.

A most special treat was the totally surprise appearance on Friday night of Foot-Notes' original mandolinist Jim Skurdall, along with his wonderful wife Anne-Guri Fritsvold. Everyone was caught completely off guard. We knew that Jim and Anne-Guri were vacationing in California (they live near Oslo, Norway) but they apparently decided on the spur of the moment to fly from Palm Springs to Decorah to attend Nordic Fest. We were more than happy to see them and we especially enjoyed having Jim join us to sing "The Highlandville Waltz" at the end of both the Friday and Saturday nights dances. The photo above was taken last night during the final dance by our friend Ellen Macdonald. You can find another picture or two over at the Foot-Notes fans FB site.

Last Wednesday I played another solo mandolin gig at Java John's and I will post the setlist below:

Java John’s solo mandolin, July 26, 2017

Set 1

1. Goodin: Board Eddy / O’Neill’s Favorite (trad.) / Flowers of Edinburgh (James Oswald, 1710-1769)

2. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Sweet William

3. Goodin: Deer Track, July 8, 2013 / Bear on the Beach / Jaunty Ted / Books and Ladders

4. Telemann: Adagio II and Allegro from Sonata for Oboe in Gm (in D minor): TWV 41:g10 (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767)

5. Goodin: May Day Green / Playford: Ormond House / Parson’s Farewell

6. Stephenson: Return From Helsinki / Marin: Hundlaten

7. Goodin: No Questions Asked

8. Purcell, Clarke, Handel, J.S. Bach: Menuets in Dm

9 Goodin: Locust Grove

10. Bach: Minuets I & II (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)

11. Goodin: Old Annapolis / Pine Bluffs / Sessions: Annapolis Friends / Goodin: The Old White House

                                                           Set 2

1. Trad: Old French / Morpeth Rant / Oswald: East Neuk O Fife

2. Goodin: Deer Track, July 2, 2013 / July 23, 2004 / Return to Dream Acres

3. Oswald: Airs for the Seasons / The Heliotrope

4. Goodin: Old 403

5. Sauli: Partita II for Mandolin (Filippo Sauli, early 18^th century)

6. Goodin: Red Hawk / Trad: Klemmet Ola

7 Valentine: Adagio Amorosa & Allegro from Sonata no. 2 for Mandolin  (Robert Valentine 1671-1747)

8. Goodin: March in January / May: Fred Picknell’s March

9. Playford: Daphne / Drive the Cold Winter Away

10. Goodin: Postcards From the Crater: Dug Road

11. Goodin: Whistling Britches / French Sneakers / Just Four Guys

Birthday Girls

Birthday Girls (mp3) (pdf)

Another waltz in C major. I recorded this a little on the slow side. I would play it a faster if I recorded it again. The photo shows the first draft and you can compare that to the final pdf to see how the tune changed over the course of the week.

This coming week will be fun. On Wednesday the 26th I will play solo mandolin at Java John's. Decorah's Nordic Fest begins on Thursday evening and the thousands of RAGBRAI bicyclists will pass through town on Friday morning.

Friday night I will join Foot-Notes to play for a street dance in front of the Winneshiek County courthouse from 9:00-10:30. The next night we will play for another dance at Canopy 1 on Water Street from 7:30-10:00. Immediately before that (from 5:00-7:00) Erik Sessions and I will play two hours of fiddle/mandolin/guitar music, including a fair number of Scandinavian tunes, also at Canopy no. 1.

Nordic Fest is always full of fun and interesting music. This year I am especially looking forward to two performances by The Newlands Co-op (Vidar Skrede and Sara Pajunen). They will perform at 1:00 p.m. both Friday and Saturday in the amazing acoustics of Vesterheim's Bethania Church. I hope to catch both shows.

I expect to be a little tired next Sunday but I still plan on posting a new tune. We'll see.

Board Eddy

Board Eddy (mp3) (pdf)

This week's tune, a slow reel or maybe a hornpipe, is titled for a place in rural Maine that probably only a few thousand people have ever encountered. Board Eddy Rd. runs between the Dexter Rd. (Maine highway 7) and Bear Hill Rd. about halfway between Dexter and Dover-Foxcroft. I've walked along a good stretch of it a few times and it can be very beautiful if the temperature is right and there aren't too many bugs.

I searched at length for a picture of the road. I'm sure I have one somewhere but it remains well hidden. The photo above was taken from a scenic overlook along I-95 not far from the border with New Brunswick.

Last week I updated my alphabetical list of the tunes from this blog. Now it is current, with the exception of today's tune.

Ten Easy Duos - No. 3

Ten Easy Duos - No. 3 (mp3) (pdf)

Another duo piece, fun to play. I was too warm, or lazy, to turn off the window fan while I recorded this one so you might hear some fan noise in the background. Also a neighbor decided to start mowing as I was trying to get a usable take and you might hear a little of that, especially near the end.

We are enjoying some warm weather here in Northeast Iowa. The photo above come from July of 2014, taken in the field near our house.

If Only Now

If Only Now (mp3) (pdf)

A pretty waltz to mark week 26 of 2017. No one is more surprised than me that I have managed to post a new tune for 26 straight weeks.

The photo was taken in July 2012 during the annual Conference and Campout at the Heritage Farm of the Seed Savers Exchange just outside of town.

Midsummer Walk

Midsummer Walk (mp3) (pdf)

I wrote almost all of this tune before the summer solstice but it took a while to transcribe it, write the simple harmony and record it. There are three parts to the tune but I repeated the A part the first time through and not the other two times.

It's a slow, leisurely walk. Hope you enjoy it.

Ten Easy Duos - No. 2

Ten Easy Duos - No. 2 (mp3) (pdf)

Another busy week. This quiet, slower piece might be a reaction to that.

Driftless (World Premiere) - Tolley's Jig no. 6

Driftless (World Premiere by the members of the 2017 Carlo Aonzo Mandolin Workshop)

Tolley's Jig no. 6 (mp3) (pdf)

Last Sunday I was honored by having my piece "Driftless" performed for the first time during the final concert of the 2017 Carlo Aonzo Mandolin Workshop in Milwaukee. This piece was commissioned by the Workshop last summer and the attendees all received their music well in advance of the weekend. Still they only had a few chances to rehearse the piece together. As you can see and hear they did a wonderful job of bringing the piece to life. Although I was unable to attend I am very pleased that this fine video was created and I am happy to share it with you. Many, many thanks to Carlo, Rene and all of the Workshop players!

I nearly didn't find time to come up with a new tune this week. I almost resorted to passing an older, unheard, tune off as new but I'm pleased that another jig in my Tolley the Cat series popped up on Friday. There are three tracks, first melody, then harmony, then the melody played an octave down during the third time through the tune.

Tomorrow night I'm looking forward to playing a short concert with Erik Sessions at the Dorian Middle School Summer Camp at Luther College. It should be plenty of fun.

If you are in Decorah next weekend I will be playing a dance with Foot-Notes at the Highlandville schoolhouse on Friday night, June 16, from 7:00-10:00. I will follow that with some music, probably joined by Erik Sessions for at least part of the time, at the Winneshiek Farmers Market on Saturday morning, June 17.

Pine Bluffs

Pine Bluffs (mp3) (pdf)

In the last week I've had the great pleasure of playing for two separate, multi-family, high school graduation dance parties with my friends in the Foot-Notes band. The first one, last Saturday, was at the local Pine Bluff 4H camp. Yesterday's event was in the community building at the county fairgrounds. These are the kinds of gigs that can recharge the batteries of musicians who might sometimes become a little jaded about the "music business."

I wrote most of today's new tune, meant to be a polka, last Sunday morning but I continued to change a note or two all through the week. I recorded on Friday but I had to keep making the harmony part less and less busy because I just couldn't play my original notes.

This coming week I get to play two solo mandolin gigs in Decorah (one at Java John's Coffee House and one at the Porter House Museum) and a contra dance on Friday with some of my Western Home String Band friends. The dance will be just a small part of the amazing Village Fire singing weekend held this year at, you guessed it, Pine Bluff camp.

Today is also special for me because the participants in the 2017 Carlo Aonzo Mandolin Workshop will present the world premiere of a new mandolin orchestra piece that I composed for them titled "Driftless." I had intended to be part of the workshop (I certainly could benefit from the guidance and focused practice time) but, for various reasons, I needed to change my plans. I know that my friends at the Workshop will sound great and I hope to hear a recording someday. Many thanks to Carlo and Rene!

I still intend to write another new tune for this blog before next weekend also. Check next week to see if that happens.