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mjt0229 - Posted - 01/04/2024: 21:16:48
I have a bit of a challenge for you all this week. I haven't been playing as much lately so there weren't any tunes on my mind this week. So I went looking for an unusual tune by a fiddler I always love. Looking through Slippery Hill, I stumbled across a tune I'd never heard of by Marcus Martin called "Wake Robin" that's never been a TOTW and seems to have been hardly played at all. So, that's what I'm sending you all this week!
slippery-hill.com/content/wake-robin
If you look at the entry on Slippery Hill, it's a D tune and Martin is apparently playing in DDAD tuning. So far, I haven't found any banjo renditions, but there are a handful of fiddlers who've tried their hand at it. To my ear, the real challenge in adapting this tune is that it's full of long notes, and with the limited sustain available to us, we're probably going to have to fill that space somehow. Maybe it won't work, but it's worth a try!
Here are a couple of more recent fiddle versions to listen to:
Dirk Powell:
youtube.com/watch?v=UYPKcy5IpFw
Kenny Jackson:
kennyjackson.bandcamp.com/trac...-boatsman
Lastly, here's a quick bio on Marcus Martin himself:
blueridgeheritage.com/artist/m...s-martin/
Edited by - mjt0229 on 01/05/2024 07:15:12
JanetB - Posted - 01/05/2024: 12:54:06
Thanks for the challenge, Mark. Slippery Hill is such a great resource, as are the fiddle tune recordings of Marcus Martin, who Adam Hurt gave me an appreciation for. This 3/4 time tune reminded me of other old-time tunes (Jack of Diamonds and another I can't think of yet) and it wasn't too hard to figure out an arrangement. I wonder what the title refers to -- literally, waking up a robin? or a robin waking you up? Anyway, a nice tune indeed.
mjt0229 - Posted - 01/05/2024: 13:36:24
quote:
Originally posted by JanetB
Thanks for the challenge, Mark. Slippery Hill is such a great resource, as are the fiddle tune recordings of Marcus Martin, who Adam Hurt gave me an appreciation for. This 3/4 time tune reminded me of other old-time tunes (Jack of Diamonds and another I can't think of yet) and it wasn't too hard to figure out an arrangement. I wonder what the title refers to -- literally, waking up a robin? or a robin waking you up? Anyway, a nice tune indeed.
Wow, I didn't even catch that it was waltzy! Great rendition, you put a lovely bit of sway into it and with that signature touch on the banjo. Thanks so much for taking me up on it!
carlb - Posted - 01/07/2024: 11:52:15
My setting for Wake Robin. Pretty similar to Janet's
BrendanD - Posted - 01/08/2024: 19:15:13
Great tune choice, Mark! Marcus Martin has always been one of my favorite fiddlers and tune sources. So much so that I commissioned this painting by my friend Greg Canote for my wife Maxine’s 60th birthday several years ago. That’s Maxine in Marcus Martin’s thought bubble!
Edited by - BrendanD on 01/08/2024 19:17:20
robinja - Posted - 01/25/2024: 12:49:06
FYI, Wake Robin is a common name for the wildflower Trillium, which grows all over the NC mountains.
