April 2010 1

N ews

Nashville Old-Time String Band Association : NOTSBA

www.nashvilleoldtime.org Post Office Box 160038 Nashville, Tennessee 37216

april 2010

Breakin’ Up Winter: The Primer of the Old-Time Festival Season Mary Alice Bernal

Breakin’ Up Winter is the perfect introduction to the old-time music festival season. All winter I go to local jams, learn new tunes and practice at home. I long to get that intense, concentrated experience that festivals provide. Breakin’ Up Winter does not disappoint. The concerts were amazing! Paul David Smith, Bobby Taylor and Alan Jabbour gave performances that were inspiring. They were all the nicest people as well. I got the chance to play with Alan at a few jams and his encouraging manner was a big boost to my confidence level. He was like any other player at the jam. How cool is that? How about all the great people that attended from around the country! Everyone I met was so interesting. From folks I’ve seen locally to those I’d never met before, I really got the chance to get to know much more about so many great ambassadors for this music. My husband and I camped in our tent in the backfield with a few other brave souls where we had two cold nights of wonderful bonfires, great conversation, laughter and yet more great music until early in the morning. Saturday night’s Square Dance was one highlight of the weekend with The Hogslop Stringband and Friends. Daniel Allen Frazier Jr. was a terrific caller and loads of people got good exercise and tons of laughter in during two hours of danc-ing. Whether you were dancing or just watching – it was a ton of fun for everybody. I love the fact that several people from East Nashville’s “5 Spot Wednesday Night Old-Time Jam” came out just for the dance and provided some great partners who actually knew what they were doing! The most memorable part for me was getting to jam with players I’d never met before. I learned tunes I’d never heard before and made so many new friends that I look forward to growing through the coming years at other festivals around the country. It’s wonderful to watch NOTSBA’s Breakin’ Up Winter continue to grow into one of the great festivals for Old-Time mu-sic. It provides such a great atmosphere of learning, history and camaraderie. I have personally seen how much time and effort goes into getting BUW ready and I am very thankful that the committee does such a great job. I hope they realize that this festival actually plays an important role in keeping old-time music alive and thriving in this age where technology can sometimes take over our lives. I love and need that step back and look forward to helping to carry the torch forward.

Breakin’ Up Winter 15~The Bird’s Eye View Pat Gill

First and foremost, as co-director of BUW 15 with Mary Lou, I want to again thank everyone who helped to make this year’s festival happen. As BUW has grown from year to year it takes increasing commitment on the part of all of our many volunteers to make the weekend happen and make it happen in a relatively smooth manner. We have been so fortunate to have a group of people whose dedication to the event has been enough to power it through the last 15 years and from the depth of my being thank you all!

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As the time drew nigh, we were holding our breath for some good weather, my personal expectations were lowered to include any kind of weather that didn’t include snow and thank goodness that is exactly what happened! We had some wonderful talks and performances over the weekend and a few other nice things happened along the way besides all of the many general compliments that I would like to share with you. One of the evaluations stated that they had such a good time that they wanted to see the exact same program next year with the exact same people coming, it’s nice to know that the folks we invited were so well enjoyed. An attendee who works with the National Endowment for the Arts suggested that we apply for a grant from them, that is very high praise for what we are doing although we already have wonderful support from the Tennessee Arts Commission and don’t really need to do more at this point. And al-though some years have been spent using a lot of time “putting out fires” during the weekend, this last event seemed to run very easily for the most part which really means that there was actually a little time left over for playing some tunes. But now it is time to move forward and into the planning stages for the coming year. Although Breakin’ Up Winter has become a complex event that requires a great deal of time and attention to detail, it is also very rewarding in terms of compliments for the event and comes with a dedicated core of people on the committee who assume various parts of the work involved in putting everything together. So please, if you have any interest in helping to keep BUW going, get in touch with Mary Lou or any of the committee members to let us know. We will be having a post event meeting on Sunday, April 25th after the jam and are hoping that we will identify all committee members plus one or more chairper-sons by then as this meeting is designed to settle in to the basic plan for BUW 16. This has been more of a technical description of BUW for this year, but to really experience the joy and enthusiasm of BUW you should read Mary Alice Bernal’s article as a participant in BUW. Her comments are the real reasons to keep this festival alive and well in Tennessee.

NOTSBA Members Enter The Clarksville Fiddle Contest By Phil Sparks

On Saturday, March 20, Mary Alice Bernal and I attended the Clarksville Fiddle Contest. We each paid $10 to attend the festival, but there were no fees to enter the contests. Mary Alice signed up to play in the Junior Fiddle Contest (for ages 17 to 49), and I signed up for the Old-Time Banjo Contest (for all ages).

After we entered the spacious high school building that housed the festival, I crawled off into a corner for some much-needed practice, and Mary Alice went exploring.

The people who put on this festival are uniformly pleasant and easy to work with. They sell cold drinks and sandwiches (good barbeque!) for reasonable prices, have some nice souvenirs on hand, and answer anyone’s questions about who and how many people have entered each contest. There were also some vendors on hand selling fiddles, guitars, and other instruments.

When I went to sign up for my contest, I was only the second person to do so. That was discouraging since the contest is cancelled if it doesn’t have at least four entrants. Soon, however, that number climbed to seven. Mary Alice had no such problem. There are always plenty of fiddlers out to collect the $2,000 first prize.

Ordinarily, Tyler Andal, Ben Bateson, and Luke Richardson show up for the old-time banjo contest and can be counted on to take the top spots, but none of them showed up that Saturday. Nevertheless, ol’ Phil failed to place, nor did he expect to.

Mary Alice did a fine job with her waltz and her breakdown, but she didn’t win anything either. That was no surprise considering that she competed against some incredibly accomplished professional fiddlers.

Why did we do it? First of all, we had a good time and met some mighty nice people. In addition, we served as a sort of OTM ambassadors. So many people are unaware of old-time music but love it when they hear it. I keep thinking that some little boy or girl will hear our music and think, “Hey, I’d like to do that!”

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The Buchanan Log House Spring Cleaning, Saturday, April 24th: Please Volunteer to Help

If you’ve ever enjoyed a jam at Buchanan Log House, you know what a special place it is and how well it suits NOTSBA functions. Saturday, April 24th will be the annual spring cleaning at Buchanan, and we are needed to help out.

NOTSBA has had a very good relationship with the Buchanan Log House for five years now and it serves as our “home away from home.” This is our chance to pay back the good folks at BLH for their generously sharing their wonderful space with us. They maintain their site partially through rent-als of the historic log house and grounds, and our helping to keep everything functioning and looking good is our contribution to that effort. Please join us if you can.

We’ll be mowing, raking plant beds, trimming shrubs, washing windows inside and out and painting. With enough volun-teers, we’ll make short work of these tasks. If you have a gaso-line powered chain-saw, one is needed to cut down a couple of trees, too.

The work day will start at 9 am. If the weather interferes, we’ll notify the NOTSBA members email list as soon as that deci-sion is made (likely Friday, April 23).

If you’re unable to join us on April 24th, please consider helping out some other day with mowing and trimming. The yard has to be maintained all summer, and volunteers are needed throughout the season. Get ahold of Ron Whitlow, Mary Lou Durham or Don Kent and we’ll help you help out at Buchanan. Thanks in advance for your contributions to the Buchanan Log House. ~RW

NOTSBA BUSINESS

BUW MEETING: Sunday, April 25th, after the Jam at Buchanan Log House

Each year the Breakin’ Up Winter committee meets soon after the event to go over the one that just happened to re-view and discuss what worked and what didn’t and also to make plans for the next one, getting a list together of artists and presenters to bring and discussing the basics for the following year, including finalizing the chairmanship and com-mittee. The event has grown in terms of complexity and we are always welcoming new members into the committee and would love to have your help. If you would like to be part of next year’s festival from the starting point, please email us and we will be happy to include you.

The committee is constantly considering suggestions for the event and people to have come give talks and play for it. Because we also have forms for making suggestions at the event we get some great observations and suggestions that get incorporated into later BUW’s. Please feel free to email this year’s co-chairs, Pat Gill, oldtimegirl@charter.net, and Mary Lou Durham, mldurham1@juno.com, with your willingness to join the effort or with comments or suggestions you’d like to make and they’ll be brought to the meeting. ~MLD

At the March Sunday Jam at the Fiddle and Pick. L. to r., Bubba, Jim, Martin and Don.

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BOARD MEETING

Monday, April 26, 2010

There is a meeting of the NOTSBA board of Directors scheduled at 6:30 at the Buchanan Log House. All members are welcome and, if you are unable to attend, you can bring information or issues to the Board through any of its members.

Board members are, in no particular order, Martin Fisher, Ed Gregory, Don Masters, Don Kent, Darlyne Kent, Lilly Hsu, Roger Stolen, Pat Gill, Ron Whitlow, Andy Shivas, Joe Lipman, Mary Alice Bernal, Jim Hornsby, Todd Wright and Mary Lou Durham. We encourage you to participate in the running of this increasingly complex organization. Speak with us about helping out and we might just have the perfect tasks for your gifts and talents!

MEMBERSHIP

NOTSBA has changed to a once annual membership renewal date which is now January 31. This date has a grace period through Breakin’ Up Winter, the first weekend of March. If you couldn’t make BUW or didn’t get to renew your membership there, it’s ok; just send a check to:

NOTSBA PO Box 160038 Nashville, TN 37216-0038 Attn: Membership The dues for one year are $10 for an individual and $15 for a family, and for two years they are $18 for an individual and $25 for a family.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS! We’d like to welcome five new members this month: John Duncan Cunningham, Tennessee Becky Stovall Easley, South Carolina Julie Heeren Williston, Tennessee Glenn Carpenter Watertown, Tennessee Bob Borcherding Okemos, Michigan We’re glad to have you with us. Hope you enjoyed all the jamming at Breakin’ Up Winter, and that’ll you’ll come to our regu-lar or 4th Sunday jams.

THANKS TO OUR 22 RENEWING MEMBERS! Bob and Cathy White Huntsville, Alabama Larry Revis Fishers, Indiana Julia Tissue Franklin, Tennessee Joe Lipman Nashville, Tennessee Chuck and Jo Linville Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Michael Duncan Brentwood, Tennessee Judy and William Sipes Lake Junaluska, North Carolina Jim and Cole Holland Athens, Alabama Ric Landers Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee Tom Johnson Martin, Tennessee David, Melody, Evan, Ketley, and Lee Johnson Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Anne Williams Nashville, Tennessee Lex Conaster Mt. Juliet, Tennessee Ed Gregory Nashville, Tennessee Ron and Cynthia Whitlow Brentwood, Tennessee

~Ron Whitlow, NOTSBA Membership

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Scheduled Jams and...look... the 4th Thursday Jam is at Two Rivers

PERFORMANCE GROUP PRACTICE is currently held on the first Thursday of each month and is designed for the

group to get ready for public performances. Buchanan Log House, April Fool’s Day (April 1st), 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

2nd THURSDAY REGULAR JAM - APRIL 8, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Buchanan Log House, 2910 Elm Hill Pike. Come on out

and have a tune up-to-speed. All are welcome and this is the time to play or try out the tunes and take home the titles.

3rd THURSDAY SLOW JAM / LEARN-A-TUNE / OLD-TIME 101 - APRIL 15, 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

Mansker’s Station Frontier Life Center, 705 Caldwell Drive in Goodlettsville. Call it what you will; we’re going to have some terrific tunes taught.

Mike Baugh will teach this month in the key of G, Chase the Devil ’Round the Stump; and in D, The Belle of the Mohawk Vale. He will play mandolin and guitar.

He’ll also bring Kansas City Reel, A; Hog-Eyed Man in A modal; Weary Way in G, and teach some of those if there’s time.

These are tunes that were taught at recent slow jams.

D - West Fork Gals, Lady of the Lake, Over the Waterfall, Needle Case, New Five Cent Piece, Shoo! Fly, Martha Campbell, Year of Jubilo, Cherokee Shuffle, Country Waltz, The Cigarette Reel, South Missouri, The Calhoun Swing, Star of Bethlehem, Christmas Eve, Durang’s Hornpipe and Rochester Schottiche

A - Booth Shot Lincoln, Hunting the Buffalo, Little Dutch Girl, Red Rocking Chair, June Apple, Shooting Creek

G - Nail That Catfish to a Tree, Seneca Square Dance (aka Waiting for the Federals), Shove that Pig’s Foot a Little Further in the Fire, Garfield’s March, Georgia Railroad, Old Yeller Dog, Cora Dye, Sweet Jenny, Meriwether, Jake's Got a Bellyache, Josie Girl, West Virginia Rag, Jenny Lind Polka, Stoney Point, Gary Owen, Old Aunt Jenny with her Nightcap On,

C - Billy in the Lowground, Black River, Old Malinda, Tennessee Wagoner, The Darker the Night (also in G), Texas Gales, East Tennessee, Hell Broke Loose In Georgia, Old Joe

Am - Cold Frosty Morning, Campbell's Farewell to Red Gap, Battle of Bull Run

Em - Queen’s Polka

GDGD (cross-tunes in G) - Old Gray Cat on a Tennessee Farm, Hunting the Buffalo, Georgia Railroad, Huldy in the Sinkhole, and Sally Coming Through the Rye

4th THURSDAY REGULAR JAM—APRIL 22, 6:30-8:30 pm, Two Rivers Mansion, 3130 McGavock Pike. Enter

through the front door rather than the back veranda which is in need of repairs. Note about entering: The front door, while having what appears to be a turning doorknob, actually has a latch underneath that you must push upward to open the door.

4th SUNDAY JAM—APRIL 25, Buchanan Log House from 2-5 pm. This jam is scheduled at one of our regular jam

places, in fact our “home base,” so the Breakin’ Up Winter committee can have its reprise meeting for BUW 15 and launch planning for BUW 16 right after the jam. We’ll still have a break as usual with snacks and beverages with all of us contributing to the treats and thereby hosting each other. If the weather is good we can play outside. Bringing chairs for jams at BLH is not necessary.

OTHER OLD-TIME JAMS IN THE AREA: Come play at these diverse venues that welcome and support OT music.

The Fiddle And Pick in Pegram has open old-time jams on the first and third Tuesday evenings each month. All are welcome. fiddleandpick.ning.com/

The 5 Spot, a friendly neighborhood watering hole located in East Nashville, has a Wednesday night old-time jam each week. Check it out on Facebook.

Mansker's Station in Goodlettsville has, in addition to the NOTSBA Third Thursday Slow Jam they host, a second Monday Jam starting at 6:30PM. If you have questions, call Laura at 615-720-8829.

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Transcribed by Mary Alice Bernal as heard at local jams. American, Breakdown, G Major. Standard tuning or GDGD. AABB.

~Mary Alice Bernal

We thank Gretchen and Tim of the Fiddle and Pick for a fine afternoon

of playing and fellowship at the March 4th Sunday Jam!

Pictured are l. to r. Phil, Mary Alice, Tim, Bubba, Jim and Martin.

Tune of the Month

Chattanooga

The Newsletter’s fine print: Please send information by the 20th of the month for next month’s edition to Mary Lou - mldur-ham1@juno.com. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Nashville Old-Time String Band Associa-tion. NOTSBA is a volunteer organization and the News publishes material from members and others who wish to contribute. While we strive for accuracy, we do not label “official” any content found here. We appre-ciate our contributors! ~MLD