Posted by fiddlepogo on Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Four Wednesdays a month I play at a small senior facility. Every now and then, someone new shows up, and today the new fellows were originally from Oklahoma near Muskogee.
Based on my previous experience with senior residents with roots in Oklahoma or other fiddling states like Texas, Arkansas or Missouri, I guessed they would have a good time and in fact, they REALLY LIKED FIDDLING. So I played WAY more fiddle than anything else, and went longer on the fiddle tunes before going to slow tunes.
One of them asked for some Bob Wills, so I played Take Me Back To Tulsa (need to learn the words!) and the Wills version of Cotton Eyed Joe.
The only problem was that thanks to them, I went a half hour OVER.
Boy am I TIRED!
Still, it's so much fun to play fiddle for people that REALLY enjoy it!
I'm using Booker with the Zyex strings for the fast stuff ( I'm getting close to fully used to them)
and Carthy with the Pirastro Tonicas tuned down a half step for the slow stuff.
I've tuned it down before, but the Tonicas really add something nice to the tone.
One thing that's been helping with the synthetics is that I realized that while Jade rosin was adding something nice for me on the Prims, it's not working for me at this point on the synthetics... maybe some day, but not in this adapting phase.
For now, the Kaplan Premium Light as a base and Becker Dark as a top coat seems to be doing better.
This might however be a good time to try something different.
3 comments on “Some New Fellows in the Audience at the Wednesday Gig....Fiddle-lovers from Oklahoma!”
fiddleiphile Says:
Thursday, June 20, 2013 @11:51:29 AM
Why would you automatically assume that someone from Okla. REALLY LIKED FIDDLING? There are fewer fiddlers here than any other place I've been. There are all kinds of large music festivals but very few are about OT or Bluegrass. I can think of two, Jana Jay's thing in Grove and Woody Guthrie's thing in Guthrie. Those are the only two events that I would expect to find a fiddle and not so much at Woody's event. There are a few country bar bands that have fiddlers but they are scarce. You wouldn't be trying to stereotype a bunch of dumb Okies would you?
fiddlerd Says:
Friday, June 21, 2013 @6:48:50 AM
I'm glad to hear you can play longer after your finger problem. I have Prims on my fiddle thanks to you and love them. I use a mixture of Jade and Magic rosin on my new bow I bought for Christmas. What a difference it makes!
fiddlepogo Says:
Friday, June 21, 2013 @7:20:01 PM
Actually, no, it's just been my experience that the residents with roots in states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas, appreciate fiddling more than average- but you have to remember I'm talking about specific generation- these folks are old enough to be my parents, or almost at least- and I'll be 61 next month! Many have shared memories of fiddling relatives. There is also the factor "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Living IN a fiddling state might be like living next to Disneyland- so what??? Big deal!!! "Familiarity breeds contempt". As a matter of fact, I do know a lady from Arkansas in her mid-40s who moved here 5 years ago, and she has the HARDEST time understanding WHY I'm so fond of Old Time Country fiddling!
I was reading some autobiographical article on-line by a WWII vet who was from Chicago, and he was astonished to find how popular Country Music was here in California... that was in WWII, but the lady from Arkansas has observed the same thing.
SO... lets say it's long time, especially elderly California residents with ROOTS in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri or Texas.
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