The Mandolin in Old-Time, Jazz, Celtic, Bluegrass and more

Tenor banjo, which is the instrument I’ve been playing until now, seems to have two extremes.  At one end you’ve got the jazz guys – players like Eddy Davis, Cynthia Sayer, Elmer Snowden, Buddy Wachter and Tyler Jackson.  At the other end you’ve got the Irish tenor banjo players such as Barney McKenna, Mick Moloney, Gerry O’Connor, Enda Scahill, John Carty and Angelina Carberry.  There’s not much tenor banjo in between.

Enter the mandolin world, however, and you can find examples in almost any genre.  For jazz there’s Dennis Pash, Jethro Burns, Tiny Moore and Jamie Masefield.  In old-time you’ve got Norman Blake, Kenny Hall, Clyde Curley and Carl Jones.  Notable Celtic mandolin players include Andy Irvine, Mick Moloney, Marla Fibish and Luke Plumb.  Progressive/Newgrass guys start with Chris Thile, Mike Marshall and David Grisman.  I’d also like to mention Danny Knicely and Sam Bartlett, two additional favorite mandolin players of mine that I would characterize as eclectic.

Dennis Pash (middle) w/ Nick Robinson (L) and Dave Krinkel (R)
The Ragtime Skedaddlers

Clyde Curley (middle) with George Penk and Sue Songer

Marla Fibish w/ Jimmy Crowley

Danny Knicely of Furnace Mountain Band

I could have listed many more players (Tim O’Brien!) in many more styles (Italian!), but that gives you the idea.  It may not be as ubiquitous as guitar, but mandolin is certainly a more conventional instrument than tenor banjo and if you want to find mandolin influences you don’t have to look that far in any direction, even rock (Jeff Bird of the Cowboy Junkies). 

Mandolin’s versatility and playability ensures that you can have a lot of fun with it, whether you choose Bach, Bill Monroe, Brazilian Choro, or something of your own devising.  In addition, the discussion forums at Mandolin Cafe and Mandolin Hangout ensure that you'll have an interactive support group to bounce ideas off of.

50th Anniversary of The Beatles First North American Tour

This year marks the 50^th Anniversary of The Beatles first tour of North America.  They first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964 and then returned to the USA in August of that year for a tour which included a stop in Las Vegas; chronicled here: http://www.vegas.com/beatles.

My greatest appreciation for The Beatles has actually been through interpretations of their songs by other artists, whether it be Yonder Mountain String Band performing And Your Bird Can Sing or It’s Only A Northern Song, Steve Earle’s cover of I’m Looking Through You, or the Grateful Dead busting out a Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds or a Why Don’t We Do It in the Road! 

Perhaps the greatest interpreters of Beatles music are Phish – the other “Phab Phour” – who often sprinkle perfectly placed versions of songs such as of Day in the Life and While My Guitar Gently Weeps into their sets.  In fact, when Phish began their Halloween tradition of covering a classic album in its entirety on 10/31/94, the first album they chose was The Beatles' White Album.  (On a side note – my wife and I got married while seeing Phish in Las Vegas – a show in which they covered Day in the Life).

Today’s music listeners have come to value a performer’s live show just as much if not more so than their recorded output, and view the concert environment as not just a place to play the “album version” of a song, but as a totally different medium requiring its own skill set.  So, I think it’s great when performers who have made their name through live performances pick up the baton left by John, Paul, George and Ringo and offer up their example of what The Beatles could have realized on the stage had they taken that path.

Phish 10/31/94 (for White album fast-forward to about 01:25:00)

I don’t think there will ever be another band that is so universally well liked and appreciated as The Beatles.  Everyone from musicologists to the latest consumer of Top 40 can dig what The Beatles had to offer in their brief time as a band.

Summer Music Festival Preview – Red Wing Roots

Spring is almost here, so it’s time to start thinking about summer music festivals.  One festival that looks very promising is the Red Wing Roots Festival July 11, 12 and 13 in Mt. Solon, VA, which is located in the Shenandoah Valley sort of between Harrisonburg and Staunton – a beautiful part of Virginia.  The lineup is pretty stellar and tickets are on sale now.

The Steel Wheels

Now in its 2^nd year, Red Wing Roots Festival was started in 2013 by The Steel Wheels, one of the rising stars of the Americana/Roots Music circuit.  The idea was to create a positive, inclusive, family-friendly environment to celebrate roots music, camping and outdoor activities such as biking, swimming, and hiking.  Natural Chimneys Park and Campground was chosen as the location for the festival.

Some of the artists I’m particularly excited about include Tim O’Brien, Pokey LaFarge, Peter Rowan, Furnace Mountain Band, The Steel Wheels, Mandolin Orange, The Stray Birds, The Devil Makes Three and Yarn.  The full lineup can be seen here. 

Our regional area is chock full of great annual campout festivals, including Shakori Hills, Floyd Fest, Watermelon Park, The Festy and more, but Red Wing Roots looks like a great one to add to that list!

Luke Plumb Mandolin and Bouzouki Albums on Bandcamp

Now that I'm starting to play mandolin, I'm on the hunt for inspiring mandolin recordings.  This brought to mind Luke Plumb, the forward-thinking mandolin player for the Scottish band Shooglenifty.  I have a couple of Shooglenifty's CDs from a few years back, but the last time I looked for any of Luke's solo work the only things I could find would have had to have been shipped from overseas.  Nothing was streaming or downloadable through the usual sources.

When I searched again today I was pleased to see that this has changed.  Some time in the last year perhaps, Shooglenifty created a Bandcamp page where you can stream and download not only several of their more recent albums, but multiple side project releases as well, including Luke Plumb's A Splendid Notion and Wintering Out albums.

A Splendid Notion features Luke on mandolin and James MacKintosh on percussion.  Celtic mandolin with percussion may not seem like a good thing, but I urge you to check this out.  It works really well.  The track titles may be unfamiliar, although several of the tunes did sound familiar even if I can't quite place them.  Some liner notes would have been helpful, but A Splendid Notion is still one of the few quality recordings I've come across that features mandolin front and center.  Stream A Splendid Notion here.

Luke Plumb takes on more of a backup role on bouzouki on Wintering Out, his 2002 album with fiddler Simon Bradley.  I had long wondered what this album sounded like and today I got to find out.  It's not as mandolin-centric, but is still a delight to listen to.  Fiddle and bouzouki may be a more traditional combo than mandolin and percussion, but the tunes on Wintering Out actually sound less familiar and slightly more worldly.  Stream Wintering Out here.

Fiddler Aonghas R. Grant also has a solo album on the Bandcamp page (The Hills of Glengarry), if you're up for a wee bit of Scottish fiddle music.

Those Rare, Magical, Unexpected Live Music Experiences

Sure, it's great to go see one of your favorite bands live when you know all their songs and you're pretty much guaranteed a great show and a familiar experience, but it's a rare occasion when a completely unknown band blows you away with such a memorable performance that you become an instant fan.  I can think of only a few times where this has happened to me - from as far back as almost 15 years ago and as recently as this month.

Yonder Mountain String Band

Yonder Mountain String Band, 10/30/1999, Wolf Tongue Brewery, Nederland, CO
We had just moved to Longmont, CO in fall 1999 and had heard about this new local bluegrass band that was kicking ass and taking names.  So, having never heard their music before, we made the trip up the mountain to tiny little Nederland to check out Yonder Mountain String Band at Wolf Tongue Brewery on the night before Halloween. Snow was already on the ground, even in October, in this friendly mountain town and we got to know some of the eccentric locals at the bar before the band started.

This was a more innocent time, and being young and hungry, Yonder Mountain was just what I was looking for.  They had one foot in the traditional world, but more more importantly they were taking that next step into the unknown, steering bluegrass to where it had never been before.  I don't remember too many details from this show in particular, but as a diehard Phish and Grateful Dead fan, I latched on to Yonder Mountain big-time and for the next half dozen or so years would see them well over twenty times.  When I started learning to play oldtime and Irish music I temporarily got too snooty for bluegrass and jambands, or bluegrass jambands, but things are starting to mellow out again now to the point where I can circle back around to this music with a whole new appreciation of how truly fun it was and is.

My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket and Dr. Dog, 1/24/2004, The Canal Club, Richmond, VA
Jambase.com had named My Morning Jacket's album It Still Moves in a tie for the best album of 2003, so on that testimonial alone I went to go check them out in Richmond on 1/24/04.  Prior to the show I had only listened to It Still Moves a couple of times, and it hadn't really made any impression on me.  As we were walking in to the Canal Club, the opening band was just starting.  I didn't even know there was going to be an opening band - opening bands always suck anyway - who is this Dr. Dog?

Minutes later I was enthralled by the music being made by an opening band that I was completely unfamiliar with.  I think Dr. Dog basically played everything off of Easy Beat, even though that yet to be classic album wouldn't be released for almost another year.  I remember going up to the band after the set telling them that was the best set I had ever seen an opening band play and I bought the only CD they had with them that night, which was Toothbrush.

As My Morning Jacket took the stage I was still gushing about Dr. Dog.  As far as I could tell, there was no way they were going to top that, but boy was I wrong.  Like the budding rock stars they were, My Morning Jacket commanded the stage with a gusto that instantly made them the equal of Led Zeppelin, U2, Pearl Jam, and all the other great rock bands that had come before.  Even more impressive, I would later discover that this was one of the first shows with Carl Broemel on guitar - as their previous guitarist had left the band just prior to this tour leaving them scrambling to find his replacement.  Even though I was completely sober for this show, I was so jazzed up afterward that I stayed up all night consumed by an excitement that I could find no limit to.

The Ceili Bandits (Yvonne Casey), 11/20/2004, McGann's Pub, Doolin Ireland
On our first trip to Ireland we stayed the first two nights in Doolin, a small village in West Clare reputed to be a music mecca.  This was a case of perfect timing, because we woke from a nap to find flyers posted advertising the CD release party for Yvonne Casey's debut album that Saturday night at the pub a short walk from our bed and breakfast.  Yvonne Casey was an up and coming local fiddler who had just recorded a self-titled CD with the band she was in called The Ceili Bandits.

I was completely ignorant and naive to Irish music at the time, but I thought we'd give it a go.  We weren't the only ones with that idea.  McGann's was packed with family, friends and locals, all of whom were in an extremely jovial mood, even for the Irish.  I don't know when exactly the music started, and I don't know when it stopped that night either, if ever.  Truly, truly magical.

At one point in the night I had this feeling rush over me that this was something to never forget.  Copious amounts of Guinness, champagne and Bulmer's had been consumed over several hours, but, despite the effects of booze I was able to harness that euphoric state and use it as a means to slowly nurture a true appreciation of Irish traditional music in the ensuing years.

Mandolin Orange

Mandolin Orange, 2/14/2014, Ashland Coffee and Tea, Ashland, VA
It happened again out of the blue and seeing Mandolin Orange a couple weeks ago is probably the impetus for this post.  I've had some great live music experiences over the last decade, but the ones that come to mind as peak experiences were all by bands that I was either already a big fan of, or at least relatively familiar with.  However, Mandolin Orange caught me completely off guard.

Mandolin Orange is a duo consisting of Andrew Marlin on guitar and mandolin, and Emily Frantz on fiddle and guitar.  I had listened to one of their CD's once and had watched some YouTube videos, but frankly it sounded sort of boring and I didn't really decide to go to this show until the day of.  Yeah well from the moment the first lyric was sung to the last note of the 2nd set encore, I was enamored by this transcendent, beautiful, mesmerizing evening with this understated duo.

The lyrics so oddly remote yet accessible, the musicianship so refined, the songs so natural, going places I didn't see them going, ending when I didn't expect them to end, and continually enticing me in a way that was perfect in that moment.  I think everyone in that room felt the same thing.  Words can't describe it so I'll stop trying.  Andrew writes some great songs.

As I was driving home tonight something reminded me of that Dr. Dog / My Morning Jacket concert from 2004, and then it occurred to me that it was ten years ago last month that it happened.  Then I thought about those couple other occasions from my past that were similar experiences, and then I realized that most recently Mandolin Orange had left a similar impression.  Then I felt compelled to get this all into words so I spent the last 2 hours writing this.  Thanks for reading.

Holding the Mandolin – A Beginner Looks At Fretting Hand Placement

How do I grip the neck…where do I put my thumb?  Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!

After a half-dozen blissful, ignorant years of playing tenor banjo, I am starting to learn mandolin.  It is harder than I expected!  Sure, the mandolin tuning is the same as the “Irish” GDAE tuning I use on tenor banjo but the different fingerings means that I am having to unlearn some tenor banjo things that have become second-nature.

On tenor banjo I employ a cello or guitar influenced finger placement of one finger per fret – with finger 1 (index finger) covering fret 2, finger 2 (middle finger) covering fret 3, finger 3 (ring finger) covering fret 4, and finger 4 (pinkie finger) covering fret 5.  If you need frets 1 or 6 you just slide slightly out of position to reach those, and in lieu of playing fret 7 you simply play an open string whenever possible.

With the shorter scale of the mandolin, you'd think the stretches would be easier, but you end up having to splay the fingers out a lot more.  On mandolin the fingering assignments call for finger 1 on frets 1 and 2, finger 2 in charge of frets 3 and 4, finger 3 responsible for frets 5 and 6, and the pinkie finger on frets 7 and 8.  Because you can theoretically reach all these frets in first position, with mandolin you should be able to play melodies without the use of open strings. 

I’m struggling with getting my fretting hand into a comfortable position on the neck while still being able to reach all of the necessary frets with the proper finger.  My mandolin teacher has me practicing 4 different mandolin finger position combinations/stretches.  (I’m using fret 2 as my starting point for the example below, but these can actually start on any fret on any string as long as you keep the whole/half step spacing consistent.)  

Pattern	Index	Middle	Ring	Pinkie
1 and 5	Fret 2	Fret 4	Fret 6	Fret 7
2 and 6	Fret 2	Fret 4	Fret 5	Fret 7
3 and 7	Fret 2	Fret 3	Fret 5	Fret 7
4	Fret 2	Fret 4	Fret 6	Fret 8

Finger patterns 2 and 6 are pretty doable, but try to simultaneously place your index finger on fret 2, middle finger on fret 4, ring finger on fret 6 and pinky on fret 7 (patterns 1 and 5), or index finger on fret 2, middle finger on fret 3, ring finger on fret 5 and pinky on fret 7 (patterns 3 and 7) or index finger on fret 2, middle finger on fret 4, ring finger on fret 6 and pinky on fret 8 (pattern 4). 

Pretty tough stuff, and it seems to be the most difficult on the lower strings.  It’s hard enough to get your fingers into these positions in the first place, but try lifting them off the fretboard and then putting them back in the same place.  OK I'm signing off now to go work on this for like the next thousand hours.

Bob McQuillen - Contra Dance Piano Player

Just a few days after Pete Seeger’s passing, another traditional music icon died, albeit a much lesser known one.  I am referring to Bob McQuillen, the New Hampshire old-time contra dance piano player.  McQuillen died on February 4^th at the age of 90, following a stroke.

Bob McQuillen played piano accordion, but he is best known as a vamping piano player in the "boom-chuck" style common to New England contra dance music.  Although he played chords instead of melodies, Bob still managed to write approximately 1,500 traditional sounding original tunes. 

Bob McQuillen at house party in 2013.  Photo by Don Plummer.

I’ve never wanted to dance in a contra dance and have never played in a pickup contra dance band, but I am still drawn to the sound of contra dance music. I find its hybrid of Celtic and Southern Appalachian styles coupled with a strong sense of rhythm appealing.  I could never limit myself to just the Irish trad or just the old-time repertoires, but I could probably survive for quite a while on a mixed bag of contra dance standards.

You don’t have to delve too far into contra dance music recordings before you find ones with Bob McQuillen on piano.  A couple of my favorites are New England Tradition from 1988 featuring 6-string banjo master Pete Colby and Bob McQuillen with the Rhythm Rollers from 2008, which has some tasty accordion by Laurie Andres.  Just last night I was working on learning the first tune on that Rhythm Rollers album, a reel called Road to California.

Check out those recordings and more like them.  In the meantime here’s a public radio interview with Bob McQuillen from 2002: http://nhpr.org/post/archives-bob-mcquillen.