Sausage Grinder will be playing a square dance at this year’s 40th Annual Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention in Goleta, CA on Sunday, October 9. The festival starts at 10, the dance is around noon, and David and Chris will once again teach fiddle and banjo workshops later in the afternoon. And we’ll be hanging out and playing all day so come say hello.
This is one of the premier old-time events in Southern California (well, Southern-ish) – don’t miss it. There’s a great line up this year including Laurie Lewis, Eric and Suzy Thompson, Peter Feldmann and more, plus of course the contest. You can read more at the convention website or like their Facebook page.
Here’s some footage of the Grinder from last year jamming with Steve James, plus a bonus track of Chris on the contest stage with our friend Jennifer Fitzpatrick playing a little Memphis Minnie. See you there!
Notes:Sausage Grinder is playing a big square dance at noon, David and Chris are teaching fiddle and banjo workshops and we’ll probably be hanging out and playing near the National booth again. This is one of the best old-time events of the year in Southern California so don’t miss it!
The California Traditional Music Society’s Equinox Festival is September 10-11 at Rancho Cordillera del Norte in Northridge. Sausage Grinder will be there officially on Sunday (although most of us will be there on Saturday hanging out, jamming and going to performances and workshops.
David and Chris will be teaching fiddle and banjo (respectively) workshops from 1-2 p.m. and then at 2:45 we’re playing a square dance called by our own Bobby Reed.
You definitely don’t want to miss this festival — folks like Dan Gellert, Triple Chicken Foot, Old Sledge, Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwarz and a bunch more will be there. We had a great time last year and this year’s festival is going to be even better. You can check out the schedule here.
It occurred to me this evening that Mel Durham would have been 97 years old a few days ago if he were still around, so I thought I’d share one of his tunes with everybody.
If you don’t know who Mel is, he was a fiddler and bass player originally from Southern Illinois who lived in Southern California from after WWII until he died in 2008. He was a lot of fun to be around and play with and shared a lot of his music with a lot of people in the old-time community around here. You can read a lot more about him and see more pictures here.
This is a tune he called “Brush Creek,” and chances were good that if you were starting out in G, Mel would play this tune first. Somehow this tune got left off Mel’s “Skillet Fork” CD (which you can buy here) although I know it was recorded during those sessions. This version is from 2000 from a few recordings I made with Mel at his house in Lakewood on one of those little Tascam 4-track cassette recorders. Sound quality isn’t the best, and I think I just stuck the fiddle on one side of the mix and the guitar on the other when I transferred these onto my computer, but Mel’s in good form on this tune.
As Inspector Kemp said in Young Frankenstein, “A riot is an ugly thing. Und … I think it is just about time that we had one!”
Well, we feel the same about our Sausage Grinder web posts, so today we have some fiddle and banjo lessons for you, plus the news that our album Delicious Moments is on sale for only $9.99. We know you already have one, but with wedding season getting underway why not buy several for gifts? Who really needs a set of guest towels anyway?
We’ll have some news on some gigs coming your way soon. Meanwhile, why not enjoy this?
David taught these two fiddle tunes from Kentuckian Jim Bowles at the Los Angeles Old-Time Social last month. He plays the tunes up to speed and then gives ‘em to you slow with the bowing and a bunch of cool playing tips.
Here’s a banjo lesson — a full 20 minutes, thanks YouTube — on Dock Boggs’ banjo song Danville Girl. I taught this at the Los Angeles Old-Time Social last month, which was a bunch of fun. Hope you enjoy!
In case you weren’t aware how splendid Sausage Grinder’s debut CD, Delicious Moments, really is, there’s a great review of the album by Joel Okida over at online magazine Folkworks.
Here’s (finally) the video version of the banjo lesson I promised at the Goleta Old-Time Fiddler’s Convention. The tune is Marching Jaybird; you can buy the original (and I highly recommend this album — Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians) here. Hope you enjoy the lesson, and if you don’t play banjo, if you watch a minute or so you’ll get to hear the tune.
Here’s a little jam we had with Steve James (far left) at the National Guitar Booth at the Goleta Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention last month. A slow and sweetly melodious version of Stuff Smith’s “If You’se a Viper”. (Washboard Margie n’ lil’ Forrest got cut off the right side, sadly.)
