No thinking about it, what was it? Got any stories to go with it?
For me: Chinquapin Huntin'. The rest of the Presonus groundhog band was cooperative and not terribly grumpy, as the guitarist was the only other member who bothered to show up...they still managed to drink up a ton of coffee, though. I never knew the difference between a chestnut and a chinquapin...I always assumed by old folks' tales, that they were one and the same, but I might have that wrong. Anyhow, the old folks used to say the bears were never a pest until the American chestnut disappeared, due to a combo of cutting the giants down all the time for wood and also a blight brought in by ornamental Chinese chestnut shrubs...the American chestnut was the "Redwoods of the Appalachians." Every Christmas, I'd hear about this while we would eat Chinese chestnuts freshly roasted...the Chinese chestnuts just didn't taste "right," and the bears lost the sweet mast of the American chestnut and had only bitter mast after that and started bothering people to find something sweet again in their diet. And maybe a chinquapin isn't really a chestnut after all...I don't know. There's chinquapin oaks, but I never heard of anybody eating those acorns...although you can, if you get the tannic acid out first...don't forget that, just in case, ya know. Goats love any acorns, of course, but they eat anything...even poison ivy, so...don't do no good to follow them around hungry, unless you like the taste of the goat itself. I'd label it as mutton, close enough anyway. But that's the last time I picked up the fiddle...I only do, these days, when that grumpy ol' groundhog band gathers round the ol' frustrating computer and Presonus. So...somebody else's turn now...what'd you play last...what kinda images, stories, etc., does it bring to mind? Who'd you play with, where? Come on...play my little "facebook" game here with me...lol.
Edited by - groundhogpeggy on 06/25/2021 04:29:39
Lafayette (last night)
Merry-go-round Broke Down. Tues. night. Similar to Chinese Breakdown, but CB is in C commonly.
Steve, is that the one they play on Bugs Bunny, Merry-go-round Broke Down?
Hi, Peggy,
It's my understanding that the chestnut was Appy Mtns, 'chinky-pin' is Ozarks. Those are gone here, too. We do have chinky-pin oaks, it's named cause the leaf looks the same. You can make bread out of white oak acorns, they actually taste OK but any other acorns will tear up your stomach.
I play Chinquapin Hunting, too, it's one of my favorites--version I play goes modal in the B part.
Anyway, last I played yesterday is "Leather Britches." Good one to shuffle on. I used to think it was referring to some britches made from leather like frontiersman would wear. But it actually refers to green beans that are preserved the mountain way--threading them on a string and letting them dry in the sun. Then you hang them in your cabin rafters and eat on them all winter.
That was real interesting Peggy. Thanks for sharing that. I reckon the last piece I worked on was Soldier’s Joy. Still working on getting the bow and my fingers to sync up.
Fiddle Do Polka.... great Canadian tune in D and G.....just plain fun to play...I added a third position version for the last go round...
Play Happy
Swing
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggySteve, is that the one they play on Bugs Bunny, Merry-go-round Broke Down?
This:
Oh thanks for the link...sounds good. That' s what I think of as Chinese Breakdown...lol.
Last tune I played (yesterday) was "Sunny Home in Dixie." Thought about "Lafayette" but I don't think I quite got to it. Haven' been playing much lately, and it was good to feel some warmth flowing back into my hands and arms (as opposed to weeding the garden).
Scott, I thought "Leather Britches" was about the beans too, but what about the words "Little boy, little boy, where'd you get your britches? Daddy cut 'em out and Momma sewed the stitches?"
Mountain City used to be called the "Bean capital of the world" and had a summer festival with the crowning of a "Bean Queen" - until the Japanese beetle arrived.
Before that it was the railroad hub for shipping out lumber cut from the local forests, including some huge chestnuts. This must have been a different world when those giants were around. I believe nearby Whitetop mountain was not named for being snow covered in the winter, but for the sea of white chestnut blossoms in the spring.
The American chestnut restoration project is a big thing around here, but I don't think they're getting very far.
I always figured Leather Britches was strung up half runner beans drying out. The lyrics might suggest otherwise, but sometimes lyrics could have been added by somebody who wasn't around when the tune came about...etc. But who knows for sure? I guess we'll never know...lol. Playing the fiddle is better than pulling weeds, so, that's a great place to be at. How long do the weeds stay out of the garden? My weeds always grow a lot faster than my purposeful plants...lol.
Last tune was 'Festival Waltz'.
Before that I was trying 'Listen to the Mocking Bird' (without the bird imitations, that is....)
Working hard on closed position double stops and I can see light at the end of the tunnel...
Last tune I played was "The Braes of Dunvegan," a strathspey, part of a set a friend and I are working on. The set starts with a marching air, "Fenella" (Paul Cranford), goes to a pipe march, "A Boy's Lament for his Dragon", the strathspey, then speeds up with "Jenny Dang the Weaver," "The Stone Frigate," and "The Silver Spear." A mix of old and modern tunes from across the water and here in Nova Scotia and a nice progression of tempi.
Restrictions are easing around here, so it's now possible to play on the porch again or even in the piano room. Come to think of it, I live a pretty blessed life, if I have more than one friend who has a music room.
Last tune played was East Tennessee Blues.// A Chinquapin "nut" is much like a small Chinese or American Chestnut. A chinquapin and chestnut are two different types of related trees. On a farm near Meadow View, VA, they have been trying to develop a blight resistant American Chestnut via a cross-breeding technique for the last 40 years. They have been successful under controlled conditions. In recent years, American Chestnut seedlings have been planted in uncontrolled forests. It will be several years before it is known that they truly have an American Chestnut unaffected by the blight.
Last tune I played? “Sound of Silence,” on cello. Last tune on fiddle? “The Tennessee Waltz.”
Edited by - DougBrock on 06/25/2021 16:09:57
I keep going over the 60+ tunes I learned during Lockdown. I played a few of them today.
The last was the calico version of Billy In the Lowground. I got it from Howard Raines.
J tunes in cross A Jeff Sturgeon
Johnny Cope
Jimmy Shank
love the drag across the low A in cross
very "bagpipey"
Yesterday I only practiced for about an hour, just one tune; Black Mountain Rag. The reason I practiced this tune for so long is because I don't want to play this tune note-for-note every time I play it, I want to improvise it, and the chord progression is great for this, hence playing it for so long. And yesterday I found the 'talking metronome' on youtube which is of great assistance.
The talking metronome, did you say?
Horgalåten. Swedish polska/hambo, from Hälsingland.
Edited by - gapbob on 06/25/2021 19:30:19
So a few months ago I signed up for Pegheadnation. Yesterday, I was struggling thru playing “your love is like a flower”in five different keys. When I had finished I took a deep breath and without thinking fingers went into my “Liberty/Saint Ann’s Reel” medley. Ahhh, so relaxing.
I was trying to figure out what a tune was that was in my head.
I have the coarse part which is, I think, complete, but then I draw a blank on the next part. Don't have a clue as to the name. 
Doug said "Last tune I played (yesterday) was "Sunny Home in Dixie."
If I had to say what my all time favorite G tune is, That's it!
Chickenman...that happens to me all the time. "What's that tune circling my brain? Is that the right B part? OMG, I will go nuts...I know what that is, so what IS IT????" Happens all the time and 'bout drives me crazy.
Edited by - groundhogpeggy on 06/26/2021 16:14:17
This morning I played a few rounds of "Dull Chisel". After which I went to work in my shop (making an F-5 currently) and worked with sharp chisels.
OK, new day, new song. Sorry, Peggy, but you started it.
Last played "Drop Kick Me Jesus, through the Goalposts of life (Bobby Bare song)" with my buds.
We plan on playing it in church when football starts back up. We have a good ol' country church.
Newest Posts
'Cornerless Fiddle' 9 hrs
'That time of Year' 1 day
'Jackson Guldan, nice back' 2 days
'Rattle Them Strings!' 3 days
