Long-time player Rick Hocutt takes us back to his learning roots with this week's song by Gil Tanner and the Skillet Lickers.  It's a banjo piece that can be played with more than one style, as Rick does and as Jack Beuthin demonstrates with a video and tab.  The song has a story and Rick delights in singing it for us with his deep-down voice.  Here's string band music at its heyday with more to hear, such as by Doc Watson, Bob Dylan, the Everly Brothers and more.  Tune in to TOTW, 1/30/26, The Rovin' Gambler.

Old-time string bands are the source of music we learn and play today. Carl Baron presents a tune from one of the first recorded bands -- Dr. Humphrey Bate and the Possum Hunters. Bate played harmonica and produced the melody and rhythm as well as a fiddle. Carl offers an instructional audio of how to play the tune on banjo. The title may be somewhat macabre, but it's a lighthearted and lively tune: TOTW, 2/7/26, My Wife Died Saturday Night.

Virtuoso Noah Cline is tapping into a rather obscure old-time resource, Virginia fiddler David Hamblen (1809 -1893), whose tunes were revealed by the fiddle/banjo duets of Christian Whig and Mark Ward. Though this tune has been compared to Billy in the Lowground, it surely has a distinctive and regal, but also jaunty melody worthy of hearing and learning.  The range of the tune is enormous, but Noah has dealt with the issue on both banjo and fiddle. You're bound to enjoy this TOTW, 2/13/26, Queen of France.

Porter Branch, himself from Alabama, has chosen "a West Alabama tune with a ton of great versions floating around." His favorite version comes from Bob Carlin and Bruce Molsky, two living legends. Porter has good links to hear others, plus offers his own take.  Give this lively one a try, and if you learn it from the Lukas Pool version, it can be played prettily as well.  TOTW, 2/20/26, Big Footed Man in the Sandy Lot.

Andy Taylor's presentations are always welcomed and well-received.  Today he's chosen the title tune of a Christian Whig CD.  Andy found an opportunity to do an interview of a Foghorn Stringband musician to learn more of how this old tune was passed around.  It's crooked and therefore what Andy says may be a "jambuster", but still appealing and fun to play.  If you haven't heard this one yet, tune in to TOTW, 2/27/26, Chadwell's Station.

This week we're presented by Jim of Virginia with a song whose history links to the tragedy of fire destruction in the big city. These events aren't easily forgotten and are memorialized by composers and musicians. Fortunately, we also see the determination and unity that drives people to rebuild and recover, while improving their city as they do so. The solo banjo is appealing even without lyrics. Give a listen to the TOTW, 3/6/26, The Baltimore Fire.

Mark Gentry offers an old tune today that's worth exploring.  It's been compared to Paddy on the Turnpike and has many recordings, even with a completely different melody. His portrayal of the tune is beautiful.  Mark also describes the title for those of us who like ornithography and compares some of the musical effects to sounds in nature.  Enjoy the TOTW, 3/13/26, Snowbird in the Ashbank.

I've chosen a tune first heard by Bruce Molsky's fine fiddling on his CD "Poor Man's Troubles." The title's namesake may be a cavalry colonel with connection to President Theodore Roosevelt. The tune has eight distinct parts, which kept me from learning it until now. Once learned, it's not really too hard. Listen in on our new TOTW, 3/20/26, Grigsby’s Hornpipe.

 Lyle Konigsberg offers this week one of the many Dear Old Illinois tunes. It is related to the more well-known Dominion Reel. The speculation is that the seldom heard title relates to farm laborers who harvest soy beans. Take a listen, with the added treat of hearing two legendary fiddlers -- Charlie Fulk (1916-2021) and Charlie Walden (still fiddling): TOTW, 3/27/26, Bean Walker’s Mile.

Our recent study of Texas fiddler, Eck Robertson, is followed through this week by Jan Olov Sundqvist presenting a medley that combines and mixes up several tunes. Most of them you are familiar, such as Bill Cheatham and Old Billy Wilson.  Perhaps you're not as familiar with Drunken Billy Goat or Wake Up Susan.  Jan provides a lengthy tab to follow along with Mr. Robertson. See if you're up to the challenge of playing along with something as lively, yet jumbled up, as this TOTW, 4/3/26, Brilliancy Medley.

Pat Lyons goes by Banjukebox here and he has a huge collection of tunes we love to hear him play.  His choice for Tune of the Week is from Canada, composed by a well-known Métis fiddler, John Arcand.  Pat gives background on the title as a pseudonym for an actual person, on the historical background of Métis music, and examples and a tab to give instant access to this TOTW, 4/10/26, Grey Owl.

This week's tune, offered by Adam Schweigert, doesn't have a known source, but has been played by today's great players such as Dan Gellert, Rayna Gellert and the Canote Brothers.  You can hear in the melody the urgent calling for a doctor with a bothersome malady, which lyrics state may have been the swallowing of tobacco! Adam newly learned it in a jam and skillfully portrays it in a video, so let's see who will also give it a try this week.  TOTW, 4-17-26, Doctor, Doctor.

Noah Cline is related to WV fiddler Israel Welch and thus we get the benefit of learning tunes we might not otherwise hear of. This week Noah found one in an interview by Gerry Milnes where Israel played a rather obscure tune. So let's learn it and pass it around. It sounds like a fun one to play -- TOTW, 4/24/26, Pay Me Up Eleven Pence.

I've been delighted to discover the 2-finger banjo playing of Morgan Sexton.  Though I have focused on clawhammer style, it's rewarding to hear the nuances of a different style, and Morgan's is said to be praiseworthy and unique to him.  The first tune I ever heard from his playing is this Tune of the Week, solo instrumental with no vocals, and captivating in its melody.  If you prefer clawhammer, there is both 2-finger and clawing versions to enjoy.  Tune in to this week's TOTW, 5/1/26, Beautiful Doll.

Carl Baron has a unique background of having learned old-time music from his travels, especially WV fiddlers such as Melvin Wine.  This week he introduces us to another one of West Virginia's "accomplished traditional musicians" of the past, Doc White.  Doc was a medical doctor and was musically self-taught.  When he said he learned from famed blind fiddler Ed Haley, that was through actual contact and friendship.  Carl provides recordings of Doc White playing the tune in two different sessions -- not a source we'll find on a CD.  Give a listen to TOTW, 5/8/26, Pigeon on the Gate.

Andy Taylor offers us a modern tune written by the phenomenal banjo player Brad Kolodner.  Andy was able to interview Brad about the tune, as to how he came to compose it and what family of tunes it may belong to.  Already played in the UK, now is a good opportunity to spread this week's offering from its New York beginning to even more places in the world.  TOTW, 5/15/26, Otter Creek.

One of our talented contributors has agreed to post a Tune of the Week.  We welcome snoot (yes, snoot) and his thorough coverage of an old time tune covered over ten years ago. As we know, the older an old-time tune is, the more we hear a variety of renditions and even titles.  Snoot offers tab, multiple instrumental versions, and an invitation to us to offer even more variations on this old tune. He also credits and gives a link for Bob Blanham's tremendous contribution of recording all the tunes in the Miles Krassen clawhammer banjo tab book by which many of us benefited.  So please join in and add to this TOTW, 5/22/26, Old Jake Gillie.

This week's tune is a lively French Canadian polka composed by a prolific fiddler named Matilda Murdoch (1920 - 2019).  (Have you ever noticed that many old-time fiddlers enjoyed long lives?)  Our prolific presenter, Mtngoat, came across this tune via his jam and says that many fiddlers have recorded it, but no banjo nor tab was yet available.  So, let's get to work!  TOTW, 5-29-26, The Loggieville Two-step.

Rooting out classic bluegrass tunes to their old timey beginnings is something we haven't explored much yet.  Bill Rogers gives us a lead to the beginnings of this week's tune and who and how it was transformed. The one clawhammer version Bill reveals is "blazing" fast, but he also writes "it's a relatively simple tune and lends itself to adoption for clawhammer playing at a slower pace--and fewer notes, easily simplified for novice players."  So let's comes up with yet another version of this classic TOTW, 6/5/26, Pike County Breakdown.

Our newest tune is a bit of a challenge -- a composition by someone you might already consider a living legend, Jay Ungar.  Our presenter, Mark Gentry, does a great job breaking down the tune with a tab and video to make a complex tune learnable.  Ungar stated that it all came to him at once back in the 1980's.  Take a listen and see what inspiration sounds like with this classical melody, TOTW, 6/12/26, The Wizard's Walk.

From Porter Branch we get a tune from Gusty Wallace, Kentucky fiddler, as collected by Bruce Greene.  Porter tells us that there's not too much information, and that he learned it at a jam.  It's "a fun little tune with a funny little B part."  Less than a year ago, we covered another Gusty Wallace tune entitled "Bound to Have a Little Fun."  Can't wait to try this week's offering --  TOTW, 6/19/26, Come Along Boys, Let's go to Anaky.

Jim from Virginia is gifting us a modulating Missouri tune this week from Bill Driver, a Black fiddler  who lived to be 104 years old. The tune modulates from G to C and has the smooth, loping and upbeat feel of many Missouri melodies. Join in the fun with the TOTW, 6/26/26, Scott No.1.