Mtngoat - Posted - 10/06/2023:  03:48:05

I’ve chosen Going Down the Valley for this installment of TOTW.  I first heard the tune played for a square dance at a festival in February then heard it again a couple of weeks later in a fiddle contest I was judging.   Both performers attributed the tune to Alabama fiddler James Byron.

The internet is mostly silent about the tune's origin and history.  The sole authoritative source is a post by  Brendan Doyle on the Fiddle Hangout wherein he says “Gwine Down The Valley is normally a G tune that Greg Canote set in Calico (AEAC#) tuning. I first heard it from my friend Tim Cape, a fiddler from Decatur, Georgia. Carl Jones plays it as well.  It's possible that Tim and Carl both learned it from James Bryan, but I'm not sure about that.”

A couple of references cite Uncle Dave Macon and/or the Skillet Lickers as sources but I could not find recordings by either of these artists.  One citation calls it a Mississippi tune.   Perhaps a knowledgeable reader can provide more information for us.

I did find three online recordings:

Here’s a solo fiddle rendition:  fiddlehangout.com/myhangout/me...ived=true

Here’s a version from The A & E Old Time String Band:   vimeo.com/71730439

Here are The Rosin Sisters from their 2009 CD Sweet Sunny South:  secondhandsongs.com/performance/1066894

I could not find a banjo tab or transcription but the tune is simple and straight forward and most folks should be able to pick out a basic arrangement in open G or A tuning after listening to the recordings  a few times.

Readers are encouraged to post observations, opinions, performances, and tabs contributing to this thread.

ndlxs - Posted - 10/07/2023:  05:31:01

Being set in the Calico fiddle tuning with the third on the top string, it might sound dandy in open C tuning: gCGCE or the key of D equivalent; you could get that nice unison on the first note of the tune.

I am currently on the East Coast on vacation, 3500 miles away from my banjo.

JanetB - Posted - 10/09/2023:  15:27:12

Another nice choice, Mtngoat.  Too bad we can't hear James Bryan's fiddling or the earlier sources.  I can hear Canote Brothers style.  Using the first two links you gave (I don't have an amazon music subscription), I heard the tune was in the key of A.  Andy's idea of open C tuning sounds good.  I thought it might be nice to try it in equivalent to double C tuning on the cello banjo.  The fingering was easy, which was a main consideration.  The cello banjo is tuned to eAeAB.

Going Down the Valley (TOTW)

Going Down the Valley (CH) tab

Mtngoat - Posted - 10/09/2023:  15:32:48

I chased down the dance band banjo player as they were packing up and he kindly recorded this sample for me. The poor recording quality of the handheld device doesn't do justice to his beautiful playing.

Going Down the Valley sample