My turn has come sooner than expected and I hope you enjoy this TOTW as much as Gold Rush, posted two weeks ago. 

Across the Plains is an appealing tune that fits its title.  It’s one of those tunes that brings to mind covered wagons ambling over dirt roads, precariously rolling through flowing water, and struggling up and down hills and mountains.  There may be hardships, but the tune expresses optimism with time to stop for rest and even to relax. The pioneers take turns watching at night for possible problems (that’s the B part). At least, so goes my way-out-west imagination.

I’m a fan of the source fiddler, Kentuckian W.L. “Jake” Phelps (1885-1977), known because of Bruce Greene’s collected recordings in 1973 and Jeff Titon’s published notations, plus a short bio at the end of his book Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes. He “lived in Pea Ridge, Todd County, near Elkton.  He had a large repertoire of unusual tunes.  He was first recorded by folklorist D.K. Wilgus and later by Bruce Greene.”  Searching the archives for the work of D.K. Wilgus didn’t pan out as far as learning more about Phelps.

   Jake Phelps from the Digital Library of Appalachia site

Titon wrote in his book on page 32: “Phelps played this at a moderate tempo, not as a dance breakdown.  He learned from Will Stegall (b.ca. 1869), a local fiddler who had learned his tunes in the Purchase section of western Kentucky as well as from Todd County fiddlers, including African American fiddler George Holland.”  Apparently Across the Plains was the title in the western part of Kentucky and Old Red Rooster was its title in the south-central part of the state.  In liner notes for the CD “Five Miles from Ellum Woods” Greene noted that Jake’s neighbors called him “Mr. Jake, because he was greatly respected for his age and his knowledge of early music and the old ways.”  

If you look at the index in the Milliner-Koken American Fiddle Tunes book, you’ll see that every tune attributed to Jake Phelps is in the key of G. I’ve tried it in a few other tunings besides standard G for fingering ease, but open G seems to work the best. When Jake Phelps recorded it, his fiddling was a bit rough and not totally consistent, which gave me a bit of leeway in working out the meter and pattern, especially in the B part.

There’s something for me about Phelp’s tunes that speaks pure mountain music.  I only found a couple of on-line recordings of Across the Plains. To hear Bruce Greene's great version you may need the CD. We’ve covered some of Jake Phelps' tunes in past TOTWs and other known tunes that were part of his repertoire, such as:  Durang's Hornpipe and Horses in the Canebrake.  Perhaps one day we'll cover others, such as Meriweather, Big Mule, Gal on a Log, George Holland’s Tune, and Sail Away Huldy.

I’ll record a video soon to add what is on-line:

Jake Phelps

Phil Lederer

Traditional Tune Archive with notation

Five Miles of Ellum Wood CD order info

Across the Plains

Across the Plains (CH) tab

Edited by - JanetB on 08/28/2026 07:02:43