A new tune each Wednesday (more or less), chosen arbitrarily by your Webmaster, a mixture of traditional and new (but traditional in style) tunes. Site visitors are encouraged to nominate tunes for this page via the Suggestion Form.
This week’s tune:
Jack Broke da Prison Door (and went ska). Shetland legend has it that Jack Goudie was jailed for drunkenness one time, but later that night made his escape. The local police decided not to bother pursuing him and he went home, picked up his fiddle composed this tune.
Last week’s tune:
Walker Street, aka The Carpenter’s Reel, just came to my attention and I think it’s fun! Do you know where it’s from (what region)? If so, let me know via the Suggestion Form.
Recent Tunes of the Week:
- Swinging on a Gate. Continuing an agricultural theme, this G reel is a fvorite session tune. From Ireland? England? Scotland? USA? –pretty North Atlantic international.
- The Rambling Pitchfork, a very popular traditional Irish jig. The title refers to an itinerant farm laborer.
- Half Past Four, a wonderful old-timey reel, probably from West Virginia. Don’t miss the YouTube of Bruce Molsky and friends playing it up to tempo (or a little faster).
- Nelson Mandela’s Welcome To Glasgow, A fabulous six-part(!) march but a little challenging to remember all six parts in the right order😅. Don’t miss the YouTube.
- Mahony’s Last Glass, This very Irish sounding reel is by Englishman (I think) Simon Mayor, and has become a favorite in jams around here.
- Shapinsay Polka. Here’s a wonderful polka from Orkney. Check out the video of it played by Jennifer Wrigley. Also, the other two Orkney tunes often played with this one as a set, Scapa Flow and Jimmy O’ the Bu (links in the Notes section of that page).
- The Road to Spencer. This great reel was composed by Ricky Skaggs. It sounds Irish to my ear but is newish and American in origin. Don’t miss the YouTube of Ricky playing it with Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs, no less.
- Purple and Pearls. My friend Susan Reid and another fiddler, Gianna Marzilli Ericson, co-wrote this tune four years ago. As Giana said, “My friend Susan suggested that we co-write a tune in honor of the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris, so we did!” Suddenly, we’re playing it again!
- Motorway Mazurka, a wonderful, danceable mazurks by Jon Swayne. Check out the second MP3, played by the composer’s band, Blowzabella.
- Possum Up a Gum Stump This reel is traditional old-time as far as I know. Not to be confused with another, quite different tune by the same name, reportedly transcribed and played by John Hartford.
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- Background: I started this site about eleven years ago largely for my own convenience, but it quickly grew to be useful for a number of other musicians in my area. Since then it has grown far beyond my original vision, with over 1,100 tunes posted and around 4,500 user sessions per month from more than 30 countries. Until now I have built and maintained the site out of my own pocket but its increasing size and complexity is requiring more outside resources and costs; hence this appeal. So if this site is helpful to you, please consider a small contribution.