Pete’s Word

It’s time for another jam session at Tucker’s Grove County Park, set
between Santa Barbara and Goleta, California (often called “Noleta”).  Just follow Turnpike Rd towards the mountains.  It dead-ends at the park.  Keep bearing right until you can drive no further and you’re there! My friend Alan Aleksander hosts the thing these days – it tends to be bluegrass-oriented, but I’d sure like to see some old time musicians show up – there’s plenty of room for several jam  groups, or even better – a trade off of songs and tunes. Time: noon to whenever.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH, 2007
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SACRED HARP SING for the Santa Barbara area
Parish Hall
All Saints’-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church
83 Eucalyptus Lane
Santa Barbara, CA
(free admission)

Santa Barbara-area singers are warmly invited to take part in an evening
of Sacred Harp singing on Saturday, November 17, hosted by the Santa
Barbara-area shape-note singing group.

The session will be held in the Parish Hall at All Saints-by-the-Sea
Episcopal Church (83 Eucalyptus Lane, just south of the freeway off the
San Ysidro Road exit; the parish hall is behind the sanctuary, on the left
side of the street).

We will begin with snacks at 6:30 p.m., and the music will get going
around 7 o’clock. We’ll sing for about two hours, including the
traditional (and yummy!) dessert break.

What is “Sacred Harp” or “shape-note” singing, you ask? It’s a fun,
rugged, uniquely American style of folk hymnody that originated in the New
England colonies but has survived to its present-day revival mostly in
Appalachia and in the South. It uses a special system of note shapes
(hence, “shape note”) that is fairly easy to learn or to ignore, if you
need to! Typical hymnbooks are “The Southern Harmony” or “The Sacred
Harp,” which we use in its 1991 edition. Books will be available to borrow
or buy at the sing.

We are expecting singers from the wider Santa Barbara area as well as
visitors from throughout Southern California — come join us for a great
time!

Email korishel@library.ucsb.edu for more information.

Who: Gap Tooth Mountain Ramblers
What: Community Music Series
Where: Trinity United Methodist Church in Los Osos
When: Saturday, October 13 at 7 PM (6 PM potluck)
Cost: $10 donation at the door

The Red Barn Community Music Series is proud to present the music of the Gap Tooth Mountain Ramblers on Saturday, October 13 at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Los Osos. (NOTE NEW LOCATION)

“From the land of hog and hominy, possum and taters, where the whiskey’s made out of corn and the women don’t smell like talcum powder” the Red Barn Music Music Series presents The Gap Tooth Mountain Ramblers! Old time mountain music done right, by bona fide purveyors of the Americana tradition. Fabulous fiddlin’, driving mandolin, hot banjo and slidin¹ guitar with Michael Mendelson, Peter Feldmann, Jim Wimmer, and Tom Wolverton.

Trinity United Methodist Church is located at 490 Los Osos Valley Road at
the corner of Pine Ave. The show begins at 7:00 PM, with pot luck supper and pot luck band beginning at 6 PM. No tickets are required but a donation of $10 will be requested at the door.
For more information call 528-4530.

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Plus, this received from Linelle Glass:

Hi Peter-
We are very glad you and the other Gap Tooth Mountain Ramblers will be able to play at the Fiddlers’ Convention Oct. 14th. It’ll be a great set. Can you include information about this on the Blue Grass West site? If so, thanks.

Web site: fiddlersconvention.org
Sunday, October 14, 2007
on the grounds of historic Stow House, 304 N. Los Carneros Rd., Goleta
(10 miles north of Santa Barbara)
A day-long celebration of traditional American folk music.

Competiton stage, jam sessions, food, beverages, festival t-shirts.
Noon headliners: Tom and Patrick Sauber

Showcase Stage:
1-1:45 The Gap Tooth Mountain Ramblers
2-2:45 The Lone Hill Ramblers
3:00-3:45 Molly’s Revenge
There will be more details about the bands and members on the Web site.
Contact information: Linelle Glass, linkar@cox.net

I look forward to seeing you there. Thanks. Linelle

One of the places I like to hang out, albeit virtually, is the fiddlers’ discussion list, FIDDLE-L, where all sorts of folk gather to discuss not just fiddling, but old-time, Irish, cajun, bluegrass, and other types of fiddle-related music. One very astute and regular contributor is Tony Thomas, who lives in Florida and plays old time fiddle & banjo.

After reading a very interesting post of his re. black fiddlers, and why there are hardly any left now, I asked him to contribe an article to our “Ideas” section at BlueGrass West! He has graciously done so, and I’d reccomend you take a look at it here: “Why Black Folks Don’t Fiddle”.

Comments, suggestions always welcome.

-Peter

From Bob Cox, Charlie Bowman’s great nephew…

Charlie Bowman, Radio Digest, 1926

“Hello, old-time music lovers: I am delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of my new book, Fiddlin’ Charlie Bowman �- An East Tennessee Old-Time Music Pioneer and His Musical Family, by the University of Tennessee Press. The approximately 250-page softback book contains 40 old photographs (some dating as far back as 1901) and is targeted for release in March. Folklorist Archie Green has honored me by writing an Afterword to the works.

“Feeling that Charlie�’s illustrious story has never been adequately portrayed in the media, I decided to correct that deficiency about five years ago. I was fortunate to have the assistance of family members and friends, who made numerous tangible and verbal contributions to the project. This venture has been one of the more gratifying efforts I have ever endeavored.

“The UT Press is now accepting advanced orders on their website.
http://utpress.org/a/searchdetails.php?jobno=T01222. I hope you will find this publication both entertaining and educational.”

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I’ve always enjoyed Charlie Bowman’s fiddling with Al Hopkins’ Buckle Busters and the original Beverly Hillbillies (1930). I used a 1926 photo of Charlie for our Sonyatone Records label back in the 70s.