Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/385853
aschweigert - Posted - 09/23/2022: 07:10:23
Hello again!
It is I, Adam, with another tune from SW Pennsylvania.
This one I heard at a late night jam at Clifftop this year and it was new to me. The mention of Pennsylvania, of course, piqued my interest and it's really a lovely tune so I thought I'd arrange it and share with you all.
Samuel Bayard collected it from a number of sources, mostly fife players, though it did make its way to the fiddle at some point. The modern players I've tracked down who play it seem to have gotten it from the Canote Brothers. It appears in his collection "Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife" as number 391. It is in G and I am playing it in standard tuning.
Oddly it also seems to go by a bunch of different names that are various combinations of Old/Home Town/Time Band. So if you go looking for it, you might find recordings of the same tune called The Old Home Town Band (or whatever) but it's usually this tune. Interestingly, Bayard has another tune he collected called The Old Town Band which is a completely different tune (in D).
Bayard notes that it's an old-country melody, possibly Scottish, but says he wasn't able to find any sources outside of central/western PA.
There are two of his field recordings of this tune online that I could find, this version from H.C. Horner: youtube.com/watch?v=mup1YhPp_Sk&t=235s and this one from Chas Ganiear: youtu.be/mhguGPmEWk0?t=523 (both on fife).
The version I worked out is pretty close to these but incorporating a few ideas from Bayard's other transcribed sources that I think work well on the banjo. A nice feature of this tune is that you have some options around what you can do harmonically, ending either part on either the I (G major) or vi (E minor) and you have also have quite a few options for ornamenting the melody. The tab I'll add here goes through the tune three times with progressively more fancy stuff. Obviously I wouldn't (and you probably shouldn't ??) play all of these ornaments every time through, but I thought I'd give you some ideas anyway.
So here's that version more or less as I have it tabbed out: youtu.be/30TovU03mc0.
Here are a couple versions with fiddle if you want to play with friends:
youtube.com/watch?v=dLO8iWmcq2Q
youtube.com/watch?v=HREFHQiRiBg
Anyway, it's a nice tune that you can fancy up as much or as little as you like and I hope you enjoy learning and playing it!
Edited by - aschweigert on 09/23/2022 16:00:14
lapsteel - Posted - 09/23/2022: 09:22:07
Thanks for all the work you did making the video and tabs. Your story behind the tunes is icing on the cake. Well played Sir!
Noah Cline - Posted - 09/24/2022: 11:59:15
Nice playing. Thanks for the background info as well -- always wondered about this one. I learned this tune as "Old Town Band" via Mary Z. Cox. I recorded a version similar to hers a while back, playing it once through in TFTL and clawhammer: youtu.be/81eYLpXLaGw
JanetB - Posted - 09/24/2022: 12:06:43
Thanks for the enrichment of learning a fife tune from Samuel Bayard's collections. You did an amazing job of tabbing and playing so many variations, Adam. Your comments about them are appreciated, too.
As for me, I stuck with the fiddlers' renditions and can play along with the videos you shared. The B part threw me when I listened, as it was perhaps crooked. There's unexpected phrasing there which throws off the meter I expect and it took my tabbing to see it clearly. Still, it's hard to explain. It's as if one wanted to leave out the fourth measure of the B part, but then you'd only have seven measures -- very crooked -- and the tune would lose some of its charm. As it is, I like it and can imagine the fifers playing and marching. By including the minor chord in the A part you added to the overall sound and I play it, too.
maryzcox - Posted - 09/27/2022: 11:00:42
Haha--had to look through videos to find an Old Town Band recording where you can see my hands. :) Also--spellcheck got aggressive on this vid & its listed as Old Time Band--but didn't mean for that to happen :)
Learned this tune at th Florida Folk Festival either in the 1990s or the early 2000s from Lloyd Baldwin on the fiddle that was presenting old North Florida tunes ? However--he said he found this one on a piece of sheet music in an antique store in N. Florida that was published in the early 1900s and it was called Old Town Band. Besides its interesting and danceable melody--I was attracted to it because Tallahassee originally meant & was named "Old Town .
youtu.be/HFnvfz3Mk-0
This video was taken on my phone during the Pandemic at Grayton Beach FL & Janet Burton--it may answer some of your questions about timing.
I recorded this tune on A Secret Life Of Banjo back in 2003 & although the CD is sold out & out of print--you may still get it on Bandcamp & also its on all the major streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, Itunes & more--so it should be easy to find no matter where you listen.
maryzcox.bandcamp.com
A simple tab to Old Town Band is available with tuning and playing notes in A Secret Life Of Banjo Tab Book which is available on my website
maryzcox.com
If you don't have this tab book--please order one before they become unavailable--its one of my best and its so much more than just a collection of tabs--its worth it for many of the vintage Florida photos and pix. Let me know if you are interested in that story--because I would never have access for those photos at this time and place.
Always liked this tune as it has a fairly strong melody and well defined A & B parts so it doesn't sound like a 100 other tunes.
Hope this helps :)Mary Z. Cox
Edited by - maryzcox on 09/27/2022 11:02:02
aschweigert - Posted - 09/28/2022: 18:32:55
Learned this tune at th Florida Folk Festival either in the 1990s or the early 2000s from Lloyd Baldwin on the fiddle that was presenting old North Florida tunes ? However--he said he found this one on a piece of sheet music in an antique store in N. Florida that was published in the early 1900s and it was called Old Town Band. Besides its interesting and danceable melody--I was attracted to it because Tallahassee originally meant & was named "Old Town .
Sorry Mary! I meant to mention your recording but was in a rush when I put this post up. I'm so curious about this history! It does feel like such an old melody that it wouldn't be surprising at all to find in some old collection, do you have any more information about the source?
aschweigert - Posted - 09/28/2022: 18:36:45
The B part threw me when I listened, as it was perhaps crooked. There's unexpected phrasing there which throws off the meter I expect and it took my tabbing to see it clearly. Still, it's hard to explain. It's as if one wanted to leave out the fourth measure of the B part, but then you'd only have seven measures -- very crooked -- and the tune would lose some of its charm. As it is, I like it and can imagine the fifers playing and marching. By including the minor chord in the A part you added to the overall sound and I play it, too.
@janetb yeah it does feel a bit crooked, but weirdly isn't! It's part of what i think caught my ear, it's really just a lovely melody that's very enjoyable to play!
