Mtngoat - Posted - 02/04/2022:  06:33:59

Grand River Whiskey - TOTW 02/04/2022

I’ve chosen Grand River Whiskey for this installment of TOTW.   The Traditional Tune Archive notes the tune "is from the repertoire of Canton, Georgia, fiddler Alfonzo Ellis "Fonzy" Kennemur (1918-1991), who was recorded in the field by Tom Schaffer.  Kennemur was a sometimes contestant at the Fiddler's Grove, N.C. and Galax, Va. Festivals, coming in 3rd place in the over-50 category at the 1971 Fiddler's Grove contest, and 2nd place the following year.”  His name is sometimes given as 'Kennemer' but the Kennemur spelling is engraved on his gravestone at the Oakdale Baptist Church Cemetery in Canton.

The tune has a modest internet presence.    

Here’s Mr. Kennemur’s source recording:  slippery-hill.com/content/gran...r-whiskey

Here’s a string band version: youtube.com/watch?v=ldkW-PQvMbs

Here’s a workshop video:  youtube.com/watch?v=_NQDTxqw8wY

I could not find a banjo tab but most folks should be able to pick out a basic arrangement in double D after listening to the tune for a few minutes.

Lily May Ledford of the Coon Creek Girls recounted a story wherein her mother admonished her to “not be like that sorry bunch down the road where all the women pick the banjo and the men make rot gut moonshine.”   My own grandmother held similar views.  Fortunately for OT musicians this sentiment was not shared by everyone in the community as evidenced by the several titles in Janet’s TOTW list which mention whiskey directly and a few more, such as Give the Fiddler a Dram, offering oblique references.  

Readers are encouraged to post observations, opinions, performances, and tabs contributing to this thread.  Tune history and biographical information about Mr. Kunnemur would be greatly appreciated.

janolov - Posted - 02/04/2022:  07:21:52

It is a nice tune.

I had it bookmarked in the Milliner-Koken collection, and I have listened to it earlier. (I have all Milliner-Kokem tunes at Slippery Hill downloaded to an mp3-player, and I used to listen to it in the commuter train and at the hard gym - however, during the last two years there has been very little of both commuting and gymming).

Here is a quick tab, how I interpret the tune, as a start..

Grand River Whiskey

 

Mtngoat - Posted - 02/04/2022:  10:07:21

Jan,

Thanks for the great tab. The tune is a bit of an earworm and can fall into a long playing groove at a jam. I hope we get some performance posts.

JanetB - Posted - 02/04/2022:  17:38:35

Aw, Mtgoat, you choose the best from that Slippery Hill website and you've already offered info from the Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes.  Maybe someone will know more about "Fonzy" the Georgian fiddler.  

I won't hold it against you that you've given us another whiskey tune -- that's two weeks in a row.  :)   Jan's tab was helpful and right on, but I thought I'd try to arrange something to offer anyway.  I listened to the source recording and came up with this one. The A part keeps one position for the first six measures, beginning on the 4th fret.  After trying the multiple hammer-ons in the B part, they became transformed into ASPOs (alternate string pull-offs) to give a fun work-out to anyone who needs practice on this skill.  

Grand River Whiskey (TOTW)

Grand River Whiskey (CH) tab

Mtngoat - Posted - 02/05/2022:  12:49:26

Janet,

Thanks for the tab and performance. I notice you and Jan both start on the fine part of the tune whereas I normally start on the coarse part. It's a personal preference.

Regarding ASPO I seldom employ them except on wild little banjo tunes like Shout Little Lulu but it is definitely a skill I need to develop further. I guess there's no time like the present to practice.