aschweigert - Posted - 12/29/2023:  06:33:44

Happy holidays everybody!



I've been spending the past week down in Greenbrier County, WV so I thought I'd do a Mose Coffman tune for the TOTW here.



I'll admit to picking this tune based on the name but after working out this arrangement I think it's a really fun tune! Very evocative of skating she-possums.



My version is based on this reconstruction of the tune by Jimmy Triplett with the Sky Island Stringband.

The liner notes from this recording say that the reconstruction is based on two recordings Gerry Milnes made of Mose Coffman.



You can hear one of those source recordings made in 1992 on the Augusta Heritage site (it's the second audio player on that page starting around 13:30).

It takes a while for him to remember the tune but then he does play through most of what we hear on Triplett's recording. The liner notes from that recording say that the tune has roots in Kentucky and Texas but I haven't been able to turn up any other recorded or printed sources. 

I'm playing it in standard G tuning but the second part is in C. I experimented a bit with playing it out of alternate tunings with a lowered C but decided to go with just playing that part up an octave out of standard tuning. 

I hope you enjoy it!

VIDEO: The Old She Possum Skating on the Ice - Mose Coffman Fiddle Tune
(click to view)

The Old She Possum Skating on the Ice

JanetB - Posted - 12/30/2023:  11:16:59

A fine discovery, Adam, and skillful portrayal of the tune.  Your she-possum is skating fast!  Going up an octave for the B part was clever and more traditional, as well.

I decided to try it in a double C tuning.  Sometimes I colored it with notes to include a chordal sound.  I didn't write all of those into the tab, but they're hopefully heard as I placed my fingers in partial chordal position without playing the note, or I left a string open intentionally.  The A part is repeated after five measures, the B part after four measures and there's a crooked half measure to begin the tune again -- unusual and it gives the tune its unique flavor.  I also like the first two measures with their two little sets of descending notes.

For a TOTW I used the same source recording recently of Mose Coffman playing Silver Lake, made by Gerry Milne.  It's a valuable source, isn't it.

The Old She-Possum Skating on the Ice (TOTW)

The Old She-Possum Skating on the Ice (CH) tab