Dan: Washboards, Guitar, Percussion, Background Vocals, Washtub Bass, Mandolin
Jeff: Steel string Banjo, Lead Vocals, Background Vocals, Percussion, Writing

Lyrics:

There you go
There you go again
You shouldn’t have stolen that plane
From those angry Mexicans

There you go
There you go again
You called yourself a pilot
But you never learned to land

There you go
Your’a crazy crook
Flying high
For a second look

There you go
With me in toe
Here we go
----------------------------------
There you go
Throwin’ bottles at friends
You even threw the game
For a stack of ben franklins

There you go
Stealing tips from the bar
The only keys you have
Are for scraping paint off cars

There you go
Youra crazy crook
We’re out of fuel
And pretty god forsook

There you go
With me in tow,
Aw hell, here I go

There I go
There I go again
Woke up in a stolen car
Sitting next to a dead man

So I drove
Drove to Michigan
Pushed that crate in the lake
Never spoke of it again

There I go
I’m a crazy crook
Flying lies
And pretty god forsook

Now how’d I get
To be this way?
My mind is clay

There I go
There I go again
Shouldn’t have hung out
With the wrong kind of friends

There You Go Again

Photo by Kate Simon, 2008

Two years ago today I found out my friend and, mentor in many ways, Steve Paul, had passed away. This was less than a week before hurricane Sandy hit and I was caught up in a crazy period of my life at work fighting the effects of that storm. 

I was a personal assistant for Steve from 2002 to 2005, and he and I had become good friends. He taught me a lot about theater, photography, arts, and a little bit about show business. Mostly he taught me about New York, and fighting to get things done. He was a sharp mind, a master wit, and he took no breaks from reminding you. He thickens your skin like a Kung Fu master.

He was also obsessed with the color blue. Steve had wild blue eyes, and throughout his life he hoarded anything fantastic, exquisite, and blue. 

At his memorial, a friend of his spoke of the years before I knew him when he was on top of the world. In those days he was doing quite well for himself and had  a blue mansion, blue jukebox, and even a blue Mercedes. Now Steve does not drive, but when I heard that I just pictured him riding shotgun in his blue car, driving way to fast down a windy California road over looking a big blue ocean. So I wrote this song with that in my mind, but I will leave your minds to paint their own pictures.
-Jeff
RIP Steve Paul

Dan Greenwood: Mandolin, Penny Whistle, Harmonica, Gut Banjo, Uke, Percussion, Guitars, Slide, Washboards

Jeff Burns: Writing, Banjo, Bass, Percussion

Learn more about the wonders of Steve Paul
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/nyregion/steve-paul-owner-of-the-former-scene-nightclub-dies-at-71.html?_r=0

Blue Mercedes (in memory of Steve Paul)

Woodscrew, from April 2014, was the first piece we really sank our teeth into and started to build big, aggressively layered arrangements incorporating an electric approach to old-timey material. It's also still possibly my favorite piece we've done.

It's a great Jeff Burns instrumental original, not a traditional, and as soon as he sent over the solo banjo track I knew I wanted to make it as loud as possible. I think it caught Jeff by surprise, but he dove right into the mix and added more to it. His mix balanced the acoustic core and the electric dressing to great effect; I knew as soon as I heard it that we'd be able to revisit and expand on this approach.

This is also a new mix as of October 2014; Jeff tweaked it further last week to clean up some parts that had been bothering him.

Jeff: composition, steel-string banjo, percussion, editing, mixing, mastering
Dan: guitar, gut-strung banjo, pizzicato fiddle, mandolin, percussion, jaw harps


Woodscrew

This track is a classic which Leadbelly recorded a few different times, but on the defining version he was joined by the wonderful Golden Gate Quartet, if memory serves. It's strange to think of a gospel quartet singing a profane (for the the time) work song, but in later versions (for more polite company, supposedly) Huddie replaced 'whoah god damn' with 'Cunningham.' I haven't heard any of those, though. Whoah, god damn!

I cherrypicked and adjusted slightly my favorite verses from Leadbelly's in order to focus the narrative on the singer's relationship with his gal. I see him taking out his frustration on the stuck ruminant and cursing the maker of the faulty back band that allowed him to get stuck. Or something like that. I've never refused to let my gal dance at a party. Or driven a draft animal. . But Leadbelly sure sounds like he has, so we had to leave him in a bit.

ldsb: guitars, mandolin, vocals, washboards
@jeff-burns-4: electric bass, banjo, shovel, a whole bunch of percussion, sampling, mixing & editing

One of the things I've enjoyed about some of these big mixes with Jeff is that we so often have the same ideas as a track progresses; I emailed him with a bunch of thoughts on the rhythm's development throughout the piece (you'll note that it shifts fairly constantly, while never straying too far from the basic boom-clank) only to find he was already taking it in that exact direction. Plus, that clank? It's a shovel handle that he was beating with a trowel or something. My kind of makeshift instrumentation.

Whoa Back Buck

AA II YA SASA! 

So among our more hare-brained old-time fusion idears, recasting the classic standard Reuben as an Okinawan folk-pop sendup probably stands out a bit. That's my gut-strung banjo filling the role of the far cooler Okinawan sanshin (authentic sanshins have a snakeskin head, for starters), Jeff clapping his ass off, both of us shouting and singing and whistling (poorly, in my case). Then it devolves into a jam on the Reuben theme.

The astute among you may note that the classic Reuben melody has been altered slightly. Blame Tony Trischka, whose electric version of it from his fantastic World Turning record makes the same change and remains my favorite version ever. The fact that it ties in neatly to pentatonic Okinawan scales is a bonus.

I vividly remember the first time I heard Okinawan pop music; it was an NHK special on Shokichi Kina I stumbled onto, and it blew my mind. Wild hair, super energy, a beat I mistook at the time for ska, high pitched shouted backing vocals, crazy whistling, some banjo thingy that wasn't a shamisen. Not a bad start, and Kina remains my favorite Okinawan musician as well as a key influence on several of my favorite mainland Japanese bands.

So you can make what you want of this: a curious version of an old-time song, a joyously inauthentic cultural appropriation, a brilliant if misguided attempt at folk fusion. If you like it and want recommendations for further listening along the lines of the stuff that influenced this arrangement, give us an inbox or drop a comment on the song. In the meantime, have a good time listening because we sure had a blast putting it together.

Dan: Banjo, guitar, whistles, vocals, percussion
Jeff: electric bass, vocals, whistles, percussion, mixing, editing & production


Reuben No Kisha

Happy 2015, everyone. 2014 was an awesome year for G&B; thanks to all of you for listening to & encouraging us. More tracks on the way this year and hopefully not long til we put some of the 2014 tracks together for an official album. Woo!

This one is an extrapolation from a ditty sung by Jean Ritchie on her Children's Songs & Games from the Southern Mountains record. I loved the way the melody flitted, plus the charming little timing oddity - if you count this in 2/2, it's 16 bars, but there's a 3d beat on bars 11 and 16 that throw a bit of a loop into things. It might actually be easier to play it than to count it.

Banjos, guitars, mandolin, tub bass, whistle, jaw harps, percussion



Jenny Put the Kettle On

Isaac "Uncle Boo" Curry is a hard man to come by. I found him on the excellent compilation 'Virginia Traditions: Non-Blues Secular Black Music," which has been an excellent source of inspiration for me. Curry's contribution of 'Casey Jones' is probably the most idiosyncratic version of that ballad I've ever heard, with an odd almost avant-garde feel to the spoken verses and a bouncy, catchy, and creaky instrumental chorus.

Curry was recorded in 1976 or 1977 in Virginia's Northern Neck region by folklorist Kip Lornell. If I understand correctly, he was in his 80s already at time of recording and hadn't played actively for quite some time, though recalled the accordion as the dominant instrument of the area in his youth. He said he learned this song from his dad, who had also played it on accordion.

Casey Jones was a real guy, it's worth mentioning. He did drive a train and he did die in an accident when his train hit another. That was in 1900, so it's possible that Curry was alive when the event happened and as the song spread. That's kind of mind-blowing to me. It is possibly unfortunate that one of the lines that made it into Curry's very streamlined version of events involved Mrs. Jones; there is apparently no evidence that Mrs. Casey was ever unfaithful, and she was apparently wounded the rest of her life by the allegations apparently included for comedic value.

Given its uniqueness, we decided to tackle Curry's version head on instead of trying an interpretation more fully our own. We wanted to reinforce both the bounciness and catchiness of the instrumental bits, and also the weirdness of the verses. The original recording was left mostly intact, save the effects applied to the vocals; we added mandolin, cigar box guitar, percussion, harmonica and bass. 

The unadorned version can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWkjj-tQF3Q

Isaac "Uncle Boo" Curry - Casey Jones, 1977 (G&B augmented mix)

Loran Otzer  was kind enough to let G&B join the fun with his original tune "Blue." Loran had already done an awesome solo bluegrass version, so we suggested taking it in a different direction; he knocked it out of the park and we just fleshed it out a bit. Hopefully you'll hear a blend of sounds rooted in a mid-60s California folk-rock vibe, with bits of bubblegum, country, jangle pop and psychedelia in the mix.


Loran Otzer: words & music, acoustic guitar, lead & harmony vocals

Greenwood & Burns: additional words, electric guitars, slide guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, ukulele, dulcimer, low harmony vocals, wordless choir, melodica, percussion.

Check out Loran's amazing songs on his SC page 
https://soundcloud.com/loran-otzer

Blue (Loran Otzer with G&B)

G&B were somehow lucky enough to get the ear of the supremely talented https://soundcloud.com/yaredsound, and even luckier that he took us up on our offer to open our catalog to him. He liked Franqui, and he did this to it, and we love it. We hope you will too.

Many many thanks to Jared for taking the time to do this. If you like it, please take the time to explore the https://soundcloud.com/yaredsound page - it's well worth your time, covering a wide range of electronic musics and with a special interest in interpretations of field recordings, folk and international roots music. 

A few videographers have found this piece a fitting soundtrack to their work as well. 
Big thanks to:
Krispy Media for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WIA9CvfmPU
Bladecam for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KZfRxdzFYg
Nuttynu for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwmE7XAp0Xk
Road Royals for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d02XmNnOX2g
F8L Films for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mo-_6VZNBs
and Chaos Causes for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ42EgLIXvY

The Mighty Franqui(Yared Sound Version)

Though this one, Child 214, has been recorded by   personal favorites Jacqui McShee and Bert Jansch (separately), it was the version by Soundcloud's own Lindsay Straw that really grabbed us and wouldn't let go. The kicker is that Lindsay's version hasn't been posted to Soundcloud, so you have to go to Bandcamp and buy her record at https://lindsaystraw.bandcamp.com/ to hear it. It's a great record through and through, and well worth the purchase.
Lindsay's version is a somewhat Americanized take on  a Scots border ballad that doesn't seem to have gotten much traction on this side of the Atlantic. This is interesting as it has clear lyrical and thematic connections to several other ballads well established in the old-time tradition, such as Little Margaret and Barb'ry Allen. So we tried to rush it through 400 years of the folk process, first giving it an old-timey arrangement and then adding some voltage to that. We built on her melody and used a traditional acoustic base - banjos, guitar, dulcimer, cigar box slide guitar, ukulele, mandolin - then added a hint of chamber-folk and a noisy, anarchic aesthetic that gets pushed to the fore later. Ideally Our Heroine's mounting despair should be audible reflected in the music. I mean, she drags her dead lover home by tying  her hair to him and pulling him along the river shore. That's pretty bad.
While our debt to the classic British electric folkies from Fairport up through the Levellers and beyond is clear, so too we hope is the inspiration coming from American acts like Cordelia's Dad, Boiled in Lead and the Drovers. Class acts all and well worth your time if you're not familiar already.

Acoustic, electric and slide guitars, cigar box guitar, gut strung banjo, electric steel string banjo, clarinet, acoustic & electric mandolin, ukulele, dulcimer, electric bass, didgeridoo, kalimba, drums & percussion

A note on lyrics:
'Yarrow' refers to a Yarrow Water, a river in Scotland
'Marrow' is apparently an archaic Scots word for an equal, partner or companion
'Dowie'  is dialectic for dismal or dreary
'Den' is a narrow wooded valley

Yarrow

Martin brought us this tune and asked us to have fun with it. He'd written the melody and recorded it for sarod and guitars (hear the original at https://soundcloud.com/martin-k-g/out-m4a) and was looking for something bigger. Our initial focus was on reinforcing the amazing drones & overtones from the sarod's sympathetic strings, but as we worked on it more lines toward the melody and rhythm became clear. As it got toward finishing, the great Chris Okunbor took the time to bless us with lilting and slide that belie both her British Isles heritage and her love of the blues.
The result is a polyethnic, panchronological world fusion jam reminiscent of some of my favorite music of the 1990s (a recurring theme in my recent Soundcloud posting). We've got musicians from three different continents playing instruments with roots in five  different continents and spanning the last 40,000 years or so. 

Martin wrote the music and played sarod, ukulele, acoustic and electric guitars. 
Chris played slide guitar and sang.
G&B played banjo, clarinet, cigar box guitar, jaw harps, dulcimer, bass, hand drums, chimes & digital percussion, melodica,  dulcimer, ngoni, kalimba, didgeridoo, Korg monotrons .
Jeff did a bang-up job producing.

Thanks to Martin and Chris for being such  great collaborators. Each has already posted this, so thanks for listening and reading again if you've heard it before. If not, check them out for more incredible music.

Martin: https://soundcloud.com/martin-k-g
Chris: https://soundcloud.com/chris-okunbor

Picture: my 10 year old out for his first solo paddle, on a small Poconos pond.

Lost At Sea (Martin Kirwan, with Chris  O(2) and G&B)

Child #286, aka The Sweet Trinity, The Golden Willow Tree, and others, which dates back to the early 17th  century at least and seems to have begun as a tale in which Sir Walter Raleigh plays the villain. Learned from the singing of the one and only Pete Seeger, this one doesn't feature Sir Walter but does bear the hallmarks of the ballad: an attack at sea, a cabin boy's saving the day, and  a captain's treachery. There are plenty of other versions out there, but few save an obscure one from shanty singer Stan Hugill have involved the call-and-response mechanics of a sea shanty proper. This one definitely doesn't amount to a sea shanty proper, but hopefully the influence of the art form can be felt in the group chorus; we aimed to take that influence and combine it with a massive soundscape for  a version that would evoke aesthetics associated with both work and rest. 

To do this, after the basic vocal was  established, all three of us created our own drones along with some basic melodic input to accompany it. We all sang too,  even Martin (who I think we can all agree should do so more frequently), to try for a sea shanty feel.  Jeff worked his way methodically through all of it, combining it as he does in just the right ways  to make the perfect folk wall of sound. Again, with such a delightful yet tragic story being told, we hope that the music helps convey the emotions and tensions created by the players' actions - the cabin  boy's not-quite-selfless heroism, the captain's utter selfishness, and a resigned and tragic ending in the low and lonesome sea.

G&B sang and played banjo, whistle, dulcimer, guitar, cigar box guitar, MIDI organs, melodica, pocket synth, didgeridoo, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting
Martin Kirwan sang and played sarod, guitars and droney things

 Martin: https://soundcloud.com/martin-k-g

A nice think piece on The Golden Vanity from our friends at Murder Ballad Monday: http://singout.org/2015/03/30/golden-vanity/

Oh, there was a lofty ship, and she put out to sea
And the name of that ship was the Golden Vanity
As she sailed upon the low, and the lonesome low
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea

Oh, she hadn't been at sea, more than two weeks or three
When she was set upon by a Turkish revelry
As she sailed upon the low, and the lonesome low
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea

 And then up spake our little cabin boy
A-sayin' 'What would you give to me, if I do them destroy?
If I sink 'em in the low, and the lonesome low?
If I sink 'em in the lonesome sea?'

'To the man who them destroys,' oh, the captain then replied
'I'll give five thousand pounds, and my daughter for a bride,
If he sinks 'em in the low, and the lonesome low
If he sinks 'em in the lonesome sea.'

Then our boy smote his breast, and down jumped he
He swum until he's come unto the Turkish revelry
As she sailed upon the low, and the lonesome low
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea.

And he's had a little tool that was made for the use
He's bored nine holes in her hull all at once.
And he's sunk her in the low and the lonesome low
He's sunk her in the lonesome sea.

Then he's swum until he's come unto the Vanity's side
A-saying 'Captain, pick me up, for I'm a-wearied with the tide,
And I'm sinkin' in the low, and the lonesome low
I'm sinkin' in the lonesome sea.'

'No, I will not pick you up,' oh the captain then replied,
'I will not pick you up, I will sink you in the tide.
I will sink you in the low, and the lonesome low
I will sink you in the lonesome sea.'

'If it were not for the love that I bear unto your men
I would do unto you as I did unto them.
I would sink you in the low, and the lonesome low,
I would sink you in the lonesome sea.'

Then our boy bowed his head, and down sank he
Farewell, farewell to that Golden Vanity
As she sailed on the low, and the lonesome low
As she sailed upon the lonesome sea.


Picture: Townshend's Inlet, 2014


The Golden Vanity (with Martin Kirwan)

We're very lucky that Loran, the troubadour of the Alps, brought us another fantastic tune to work on. It showed up in our inbox as an already-complete radio hit, as far as we were concerned, but Loran wanted to layer up the arrangement and we were of course more than happy to oblige. We wound up with a longer chorus and a whole lot of the requested layering, hopefully evoking some of the baroque folk-pop arrangements of circa 1965-68 and with some modern twists. 
We didn't have to do much; Loran supplied not just the voices and guitars, but also the great mandolin and whistle work. We discussed how to build it up without masking the greatness of his input, and over the past few weeks have tried a whole bunch of things, some of which haven't even stayed in - but that's the fun of this kind of project.

Loran Otzer: Words & music, guitars, voices, mandolins, whistles

Greenwood & Burns: Banjo & fuzz banjo, bass, fuzz & slide guitars, jaw harps, xylophone, trumpet, percussion, keys, ukulele, MIDI & electronic effects

Loran's music can be heard, and frequently downloaded for free, at https://soundcloud.com/loran-otzer and we suggest you hurry there to avail your ears of some very fine listening.

John Doe (Loran Otzer with G&B)

Tim (Uncle Clatterbox, https://soundcloud.com/uncle-clatterbox): Creative Genius, Melodica, Cimbalom, Omnichord, Taishogoto, Percussion, vocals
Martin (Martin Kirwan, https://soundcloud.com/martin-k-g): Slide guitar
Alan (newshoe, https://soundcloud.com/newshoe): Accordion
Dinah (newshoe's daughter) (needs a Soundcloud page!): Lead vocals
G&B: Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, Percussion, Washtub Bass, Whistle, Jaw Harp, Ukulele, Trumpet, Unidentifiable Lute Thing, Dulcimer, Vocals 

(For a sneak peek at the developmental process, here's some of the correspondence throughout the project)

On Oct 23, 2015, at 7:34 PM, Tim wrote:

>Hey Dan, I was inspired to take a quick look at the tune before I leave the house today...

>Some initial thoughts...

>Can we do it in A? I think the 3 mustaphas version is in C but A would sit nicer on the cimbalom.

>It's a fairly well known tune, played all over Serbia and Macedonia. Lots of interesting versions out there.

>Do you aim to add an American or Appalachian/Old-timey touch to it? The reason I ask is, firstly that's what springs to mind when I think of you, but also was thinking many english speakers would misread 'Banja' as sounding like 'banjo', so we could make a play on that...

>Also, it's in 9/8 which divides up into 3 as well as the uneven 4 (short short short long) that it's traditionally done... That got me thinking of a kind of lazy 'country waltz' version of the tune and then morphing into the more aggro Serbian rhythm somehow... Once you know the tune try stretching it into a waltz and you'll see what I mean

>I never knew the words (can't speak Serbian), but it seems to be a drinking song, if that helps.

>Cheers
>Tim


On Nov 6, 2015, at 10:34 PM, Dan Greenwood <dangreenwood@verizon.net> wrote:

> Oh my goodness do I suck.
>
> First I completely misremembered your email as saying it was in A, you'd prefer C.
>
> Then I completely heard it in the wrong key anyhow.

On 11/10/2015 12:20 AM, Dan Greenwood wrote:
> I was just tooling around adding some whistle parts and saw OH S*** TIM'S GOT A TAISHOGOTO

On 11/11/2015 7:58 PM, Alan wrote:
> Hi All-
> My high school daughter is interested in trying to make a vocal track for this too.   I think she can get to it this weekend. I thought I would use Tim's vocal tracks as a guide  if this is OK .  In any case the song will be a fine cautionary message to her about Serbian Gypsy men (at least on the english translations) .
>
> -Alan- 

On 11/12/2015 12:20 AM, Jeff wrote:
> This is a lot of wacky tracks.

On 12/3/2015 8:03 AM, Martin wrote:
> Hi Dan ,I'll give it a go ,although my Serbian is not what it used to be .

On 12/8/2015 at 3:29 pm, Martin wrote:
>Holy sweet lord lamb of divine jayziz

Niska Banja (KGB, Uncle Clatterbox & the Newshoe Family)

For those of you who are curious to know more about this Christmas tune selection, Dr. Greenwood will be with you shortly for a comprehensive lesson. The short of it from myself, Mr. Burns, is that Dan and I wanted to get a Christmas song together in time for the holiday. He suggested a French number being that my beautiful wife is Acadian and would dig it. We pilled on the folk arsenal and I think it came out pretty neat. Hope you enjoy it and have a fun holiday!
Jeff
---
Dan sez: Jeff's got it right - he wanted a Christmas tune, and this was the first that sprang to mind for numerous reasons. Not least among those is that it's one of the few carols that has pretty much - at least in the US - avoided holiday season saturation and commercialism; it helps that the  melody maintains a sense of mystery that is a hallmark of the best carols, and the lyrics mix a sense of comfort and hope and awe all into one simple refrain. I also did want to honor the French language heritage of the newly minted Mrs. Burns and say thanks for all the time Jeff spends fixing my screw-ups instead of cuddling, or whatever newlyweds do.

I didn't find any other versions like this in researching it, but the progression makes it a natural for that grey area in between folk, blues, and jazz; we layered as always, but still tried to keep the end mix understated, as befits the way I like to celebrate the holiday and my favorite songs honoring it.

Dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Pennypacker. When we first met she was my elementary school librarian, where she encouraged a love of literature.  I was lucky to have her later for two years of junior high French, where she was able to encourage her students to explore French language, literature and culture in a way that led them to a learning-, or even curiosity-based, approach to life far beyond the confines of her subject or the classroom. Among the students' least favorite activities was caroling classroom to classroom, in French, at this time of year; thirty years later, however, this song (among others from the same exercise) is still with me and I find it just as haunting now as I did then. 
Not long after I graduated from junior high, Mrs. Pennypacker died of cancer, a tragic loss to the students who would never be so lucky as to have her, and to those of us who hoped to share our own growth with her as we aged.
So, a joyeux Noel et une bonne annee a vous, Mme Pennypacker, et merci pour tout. And I hope everyone else enjoys it as well.

Entre Le Boeuf Et L'Ane Gris

I was pretty excited when Dan said he had a rap to chomp on, and it turned out to be a pretty addicting venture. Couch King Presents provided a fantastic vocal track, and you should check out some of his other mixes and collaborations with Buttermilk Biscuits!

https://soundcloud.com/couch-king-presents/the-couch-king-buttermilk
https://soundcloud.com/couch-king-presents/russell-sinfield-and-the-couch
https://soundcloud.com/couch-king-presents/angelo-annicchiarico-and-the

While we were mixing this, it sort of veered into a house style thing, and I tried to definitely cut it as a DJ would at a live event, only through the lens of old-time. Hence the big booming bass, but it's washtub. Even the electric lead line is a tweaked Mandolin. Dan really provided a ton of authentic voices in this one. I managed to at least stick my Gourd in there. I like to think Old-time and House make Old-House. it's a certain kind of wacky, but we think you will like it. 

Couch King Presents: Rap
https://soundcloud.com/couch-king-presents
G&B: banjos, washboards, washtub bass, percussion, vocals, mandolin, guitar

Buttermilk Biscuits (with COUCH KING PRESENTS)

Jerry Rockwell is another true inspiration from the Soundcloud experimental folk community. He has quite literally been playing and making mountain dulcimers since before we were born, has written multiple books on the instrument and has taught all over the US and abroad. Jerry's also pursued new ways to play, including chord-melody, fingerpicking, tapping, electric dulcimers and the use of electronic processors; his page is filled with wonderful improvisations walking the blurry lines between folk, new age and psychedelia, exploring the modal possibilities inherent in the dulcimer's traditional diatonic fretboard. Do your ears a favor and spend a day or so letting his page stream and  be sure to follow him to hear more exciting sounds coming down the pike.

Jerry is also damn fine at the traditional strummed drone-noter style, of course, and we're very lucky that he agreed to let us have a crack at this medley of fiddle tunes from his Roots Project set. It's only 1:40, so the challenge was in making each tune in the medley stand out while also employing the wide range of instruments and stylistic influences that has become a KG&B trademark. It was hard to fit everyone (the old-time band, the world music ensemble, the swamp-rock band, the Hooverville Hobos Mens Choir, and the '90s Scottish roots band) into the virtual studio but as always Jeff has been able to pull it all together, and how.

Jerry said he wants to be surprised, so he hasn't heard this at all prior to posting. Hope he likes it - and enough to do some more tunes with us in the future!

Jerry Rockwell: Mountain dulcimer
Kirwan, Greenwood & Burns: vocals; sarod; steel & gut string banjos; acoustic, slide & cigar box guitars; electric & washtub Basses; didgeridoo; jaw harps; mandolin; ukulele; Monotron; shruti box; pennywhistle; harmonica; percussion; digital effects.

Listen & follow:
Jerry Rockwell: https://soundcloud.com/jerry-rockwell
Original version of Cindy/Cripple Creek/Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine: https://soundcloud.com/jerry-rockwell/cindy-cripple-creek-bonaparte-crossing-the-rhine?in=jerry-rockwell/sets/roots-project
Martin Kirwan you should know by now but in case you don't: https://soundcloud.com/martin-k-g

Cindy/Cripple Creek/Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (featuring Jerry Rockwell with Martin Kirwan)

So this started a lot like a few of the other songs Dan and I have done before. Woodscrew and Oldtime thinking come to mind of similar beasts, that began as improvised original tunes. Re-occuring themes with variations along a path across dynamic range and tempo. Building on it is a real pain in the butt, but Dan does a good job learning the changing steps for sure. Martin as well jumped on this beast with Sitar and Shruti box! That certainly extends the range around the gourd makes things a lot more fun. 

Hopefully the expert wordsmith Professor Greenwood will amend or rewrite this introduction when he has a spare moment with the Smith Corona   -Jeff.

Dan sez: Jeff should do less flattering, or I'll blather on even more. Anyhow, the lack of patterns is a refreshing challenge. Jeff's tunes like this strike me as an application of sorts of an American Primitive aesthetic to the banjo, at once a modern contemplation on a technique, a pure evocation of a feeling, and a look backward to a time before the rules of meter and composition and were codified as such. 

The feeling in this case is one of dread suitable of the big old not-a-bird whose name the tune bears. Jeff had already built an ominous percussion section when we started in on it, and Martin and I tried to emphasize that with drones and sound effects and a generally cinematic soundscape. I hear something that falls squarely in line with the developing KGB niche of retro-futuristic global old-time; Jeff's banjo is out front where it belongs the whole time, but there are plenty of other sounds packed in there for the auditory picking. Hopefully you'll be inspired to listen closely and repeatedly and will be rewarded accordingly. Thanks as always for swinging by.

Sounds: Gourd banjo; guitars played with fingers, picks, slides, ebows and digital effects; percussion; sitar; shruti box; ukulele; didgeridoo; kalimba; ngoni; jaw harps; and Korg Monotron and Monotron Delay.

Flight Of The Quetzalcoatlus (with Martin Kirwan)

Aosta is deep in the Alps, the most rural and least populated region of Italy, but, bordering both France and Switzerland, is also a melting pot for cultural influences. It's no surprise that our Aostan friend Loran Otzer is drawn to rural musics, especially how they blend together various styles and influences. This is another treat from him, featuring Loran's amazing Alpine yodeling couched in his trademark catchy folk pop styling.

We were very excited to get to work on this one, and we tried to take the dense, folk-baroque production style that's worked well on his earlier tunes and make it denser and more baroque, including our debut use of (my daughter's pint size) cello.  As we were putting the finishing touches on it, my wife was watching Silicon Valley and the scene where Dinesh karaokes to Crispian St. Peters's 1966 hit 'Pied Piper' came on. That's pretty much the style we were aiming at and I probably hadn't heard that song since the 1980s, so I considered this a very good omen. He showed us where it's at, and we hope you agree.

Thanks to Loran for bringing us another  song we love and letting us do crazy things to it.

Loran: Vocals, acoustic guitar, drums, bass
Greenwood & Burns: Banjo, percussion, mandolin, ukulele, bass, fiddle, cello, trumpet, electric guitar, pennywhistle, MIDI stuff, dulcimer, glockenspiel,  washtub bass, acoustic guitar
Words & Music by Loran Otzer
Additional Lyrics by Greenwood & Burns
Mixed, edited, & produced by Jeff Burns



Coralie (Loran Otzer with G&B)

Happy Holidays everybody! Dan and I along with several soundcloud buddies have been working for months on a Soundcloud all-star holiday spectacular, and the wait is nearly over. We will be releasing songs on soundcloud every week, and a few weeks before Christmas we will post the whole EP for free download on Band Camp. Please send us a message if you want to be notified when it drops.

First up is an original tune from the talented troubadour Loran Otzer! Accompanied by the G&B and the very incredible Martin Kiran!

This is a Loran Otzer Original by the way so please check out more of his music!
https://soundcloud.com/loran-otzer

Une Petite Eglise Au Pied Du Mont Blanc (Loran Otzer with G&B and Martin Kirwan)

Allan Ingall sent us this bouncy Chanukkah song, and Dan instantly wanted to run a Ska take on it. After spending some time on the mix, It makes me think the line between ska and polka can be a faint one. 

Dan sez: I wasn't immediately familiar with this song when Alan sent it to us, but as Jeff intimates the oompah coming out of Alan's left hand had me running for the horns. In retrospect I'm surprised I wasn't more familiar with it as it seems to be a famous, widespread melody with lyrics in Yiddish and popular translations in English and Hebrew readily available, as well as a history of usage as a theme in modern classical compositions. I'm also surprised that I couldn't really find out much about the song's origins or dispersion, though I did uncover a few pop versions and a punk-ska version (by The Holophonics).

Martin jumped in on Bouzouki, which while not a traditional Yiddish instrument is quite common in Israeli music of the last 50 years thanks to the popularity there of Greek music. The final mix itself has a healthy dose of both first- and third-wave ska going on with a hint of Middle-Eastern tinged dance music, mixed as though it were a live jam threatening to come apart at the seams but still blazing ahead full steam. As the English lyrics say, dance the hora, spin a dreidel, eat some latkes. Have a good time.

Alan Ingall (@newshoe): accordion
Martin Kirwan: bouzouki
Greenwood & Burns: bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone, melodica

Chanukah O Skanukah! (Newshoe with Martin Kirwan and G&B)

We bring you the new Push it Along MIX of Breaking Up Christmas, now featuring Couch King Presents and Chris O!

This tune is most closely associated with the incomparable and influential old-time fiddler and 1982 National Heritage Fellow Tommy Jarell, of the greater Mt. Airy NC region of the Appalachians.

While (all according to online sources) the tune itself is not believed to be particularly old - possibly mid-19th c. - the tradition it celebrates is an Appalachian take on the idea of celebrating Christmas over the period between 'new Christmas' (when it's commonly celebrated today) and 'old Christmas' in early January. The holidays would be marked in the mountain communities of SW VA and NW NC by breaking up Christmas, a moving series of house parties with music and dancing and all associated goods and sundries.

I had no idea of any of this when I heard the wonderful John McCutcheon sing and play it on his 1984 record Winter Solstice, which I discovered around 1990 or so while exploring the folk records in my college's radio station library. The song stuck with me for years; I'd hear it played at jams and always think about learning it (I always took my tub bass to jams, so I didn't bother learning the full tunes, just the changes) but never got around to it. So when Jeff started bringing up the idea of a holiday record, I thought this would be a good tune to use to showcase the electric old-time sound (especially since I've never come across an electric version) and bring in some friends on too. I started researching other versions of it, including listening to a classic Tommy Jarrell filmed recording endlessly, and started piecing this together.

It's usually played at a pretty breakneck speed, so we slowed it down, swung it a bit, and Jeff added a swampy beat to it. Jeff did the initial vocal arrangement, and had so much fun he wrote another four verses to go with the original four. I will note that we didn't play the B part exactly right - what started out as adding a few grace notes sort of got out of control, so our apologies to any purists who make it that far. We are of course incredibly lucky to have the very lovely and very busy Chris Okunbor singing and playing along with us once again. 

Traditional, arranged by Greenwood, Burns & Okunbor
Additional Lyrics by Jeff Burns and Couch King

Couch King Presents (@couch-king-presents): Rap
Chris Okunbor (@chris-okunbor): Vocals and slide guitar
Greenwood & Burns: Vocals; mandolin; banjos; fiddle; three-, four-, and six-string guitars; dulcimer; jaw harps; pennywhistle; bass; drums; washboard & of course triangle
Produced, mixed & edited by Jeff Burns

John McCutcheon version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbs9fLzjM8M
Tommy Jarell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fGg2gUgkT0

Lyrics
Hooray Jake and Hooray John
Breaking up Christmas all night long
Way back yonder, Long time ago
The old folks danced the do si do.

Way down yonder, along side the creek, 
I saw santa Clause washing his feet.
Santa Clause come, Done, and gone.
Breaking up Christmas all night Long.

i dun gone said it
driving down that muddy road
this is the best you’ll ever get it
and the rain never slowed

if your boots dry wet it
we’re going all night long
stomping out time to forget it
till christmas is long gone

Hold up Jake 
and Hold up john 
the wagon sink we’ll never let
lets push it along

i dun gone said it
their gonna play our tune
and you bet they won’t regret it
come on y’all

let’s get there soon

push it along
push it along
push it along
yea, push it along

Wood on the fire
food on the grill
Mama lights the candles on the window sill


Uncle brought the steaks
He just bagged a deer
Poppa grabs a mug
Pours a pint of beer

Santa takes a break
Pulls up his black boot
gives a quick shake down the chimney chute

Pulls out his list
its 12 miles long
breaking up christmas all night long

Breaking Up Christmas (Push it Along MIX) now featuring Couch King Presents and Chris Okunbor

Dan sez: An augmentation of a solo take I did on this a few years back. The song is a great one,  part of the gospel and country-gospel holiday traditions, which came to me from Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. There are a gazillion other versions out there too from the Folk Revival and everything after; it seems to be a favorite deep cut on Christmas albums from old rockers. Really. REO Speedwagon has a version. It's not all that bad, either. Nick Lowe's is really good. Hall & Oates did it justice too.

Starting from my tinny four-string guitar and vocal, Martin added his new rock solid thumb to it on guitar to give it a rolling bass line. Then came Jeff's bass, some G&B percussion, backing vocals, a little electric cigar box slide and some electric banjo to finish it off. The idea was to keep the sparse vibe even as the sound and scope expanded a bit, and we hope we succeeded.

Kirwan, Greenwood & Burns: 3 string cigar box guitar, 4 string guitar, 5 string banjo, 6 string guitar, electric bass, percussion

The Brownie & Sonny version that inspired this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPByB8_yw0c

Children Go Where I Send Thee (Martin Kirwan with G&B)

Jeff and I met up with Hank the first weekend in August. We stayed up late, and we played a lot of music. Hank culled this one from the Saturday afternoon (I think) sessions. As is typical, we'd swapped instruments left and right and jammed on this and that and developed some of the stuff that stuck. This is a standard that both Hank and Dan have recorded separately but like all good folk songs it's fun to keep trying different and new settings.
Dan's playing Jeff's doctored Deering Goodtime Midnight Special banjo and singing.
Hank is playing Jeff's electric bass.
Jeff is playing Dan's son's electronic drum kit. 
The whole thing is being engineered by Hank and recorded to his new Zoom 16-track.

Pic: Mssrs Tilbury and Burns in the pocket

The Cuckoo (TG&B, Live from Dan's Basement 8-5-17)

Live from the basement... Late Friday night 8-4-17, really very early Saturday morning by the time we got here. Several beers in. Hank's Bag of Toys is very deep, and out came the talking drum, and Jeff's gift for a lyrical and pastoral clawhammer melody came roaring out. 

NEW HT mix!


Jeff: banjo
Hank: talking drum
Dan: bongos

More of these late night conversations to come. Really fun listening back through them and finding the best bits.

Burnsie's Banjo Bongo Boogie jam (TG&B, 8-4-17)

The dialogue immediately preceding this recording went something like
"Is that a little Cuckoo?"
"I'm in that kind of tuning..."
Still mining the late-night Friday recordings of the TGB weekend (and still with plenty to go), fun different combinations of instruments and arrangement ideas and sketches. I was reminded of this one today when compiling our other versions of this tune and had to dig it out. 
Hanks leads it on banjo (I believe Ol' Yohnson? Maybe he can confirm)and vocals with Dan on washboard and Jeff on rhythm sticks, and Dan singing along way too loudly. 
It runs in my mind wee sketched out a uke-led version of this tune too but I haven't been able to locate it yet. 

Recorded live in Dan's basement late on the night of 8-4-17 with some sort of wireless two-sided microphone recorder combination doohickey that was wicked cool. Hank and Jeff both have great toys.

Pic: Mixmaster Hank working the new 18-track

The Cuckoo (TGB, Dan's basement, 8-4-17)

Little is known about Tilbury, Greenwood & Burns, recorded on one of Mr. Lomax's last field recording trips through the wilds of Wayne, Pennsylvania. The previously released version of this (on FW19087)was reproduced from a seventh-generation wire recording made the original reel-to-reel played through a primitive loudspeaker, and the original tapes long rumored lost.
Recently however the Lomax Archives turned up that original tape recording. This digital-only release highlights Tilbury's powerful performance on vocal and what appears to be some sort of ukulele. What constitutes Mr. Burns's percussion ensemble remains lost to the mists of time, but we can hear evidence of great casual percussionists of the past like Washboard Sam and Theopolis Stokes. No one is quite sure what Greenwood is doing, but in the edited portions he appears to be ordering lunch.

Illinois Blues (21st c. remaster from the original reel to reel)

Still wading through the tunes from when Hank and Jeff came to crash (or rather, to set up) Greenwood Studios this past summer. This one is a medley of fiddle tunes led by Hank on the fly with Greenwood on rhythm banjo and Burns on percussion. I believe this marks Hank's debut on the washtub bass. 

Banjos, guitar, ukulele, percussion, jaw harp

Pig's Foot /Little Liza Jane (TG&B, 8/6/16)

With all three of our heroes self-medicating due to two  days of extreme banjo picking of dubious quality, the heady combination of local beers and processed pork product specialties had an unusual overnight effect The next morning Messieurs Tilbury, Greenwood, and Burns all reported visions of @uncle-hassell in the basement studio. Sure enough following breakfast Hank found these seven tracks mysteriously deposited on his brand new 18 track recording device.
This is the first mix of the sounds deposited therein. May you find them as weird and warm as we do.

Uncle Hassell Pays A Call (Tilbury G&B , 8/6/17)

Ladies and gentlemen: Loran Otzer has acquired a pedal steel. The world will never be the same. Or at least this poem by William Wordsworth will never be the same. 

Loran did most of the instrumental work, with G&B primarily adding textures and Jeff's editing skills in full force. We were aiming for a fuzzy, crunchy contemporary update to the classic Cosmic American sound. 

Loran: Music; guitars, pedal steel, whistles, accordion, bass, percussion
G&B: more guitars, horns, bass, percussion, maybe some banjo

Daffodils (Loran Otzer with G&B)

Headphones recommended! 

Child 81, one of the most well known ballads among the fans of British folk rock thanks to the epic version on Fairport's classic Liege & Lief record. We look instead to Nic Jones for source material; his take was only a year behind Fairport's, and was according to his notes based lyrically on an American version and melodically of his own construction. The song dates to at least the 17th century. 

We've sort of re-modalized it from Jones's take with lot of drones, DADGAD tunings, some electronics and dulcimers and whatnot else. This has been a while in the making. Along the way we asked some friends for some input and were lucky enough that Alan sent us some accordion takes and Carl Young put several of his hand pans to use, adding texture and color and even more of an ethereal feel. The music, as is our wont, builds to the climactic deaths with layers of electrics on top of acoustics and Jeff keeping track of it all somehow. 

Newshoe (Alan Ingall): Accordion
Carl Young: Hand pans
Mark Bennett & Chris 0(2): Valued input
G&B: 4-string guitar, 6-string guitar, cigar box guitar, ukulele, mandolin, dulcimer, pennywhistles, percussion, jaw harps, Monotrons, kalimba, vocals, midi synth, bass

pic: Hickory tussock moth caterpillar, October 2017, French Creek State Park PA

Little Musgrave, ftg. Carl Young and Alan Ingall

More music live from Dan's Basement, Music Weekend 2017, with Tilbury, Greenwood & Burns. Yes, we're still working through the pieces, even though I'm supposed to be working on another @LoranOtzer track now. 

This came around on Sunday around noon when Hank pulled out a variety of kalimbas. Of a small one made I believe of a sardine tin, he said 'Well, the only thing I can do with this one is this sort of generic Latin riff.' We said 'Oh? Keep it going' and before long my boy (then age 12) heard me trying, and failing, to play a bossa beat on the kit and came down to show us how to do it. I jumped to uke and Jeff laid down some heavy bass. Hank had heard the Headhunters version of Watermelon Man on the way into the Greater Wayne PA Region, so we added some empty bottles and hoots to the background along with some extra percussion and melodica. Whole thing took about 45 minutes, and it only took us a year to edit it. 
End result is vintage 'world' music: aLatinate calypso riff, anchored by a lamellophone of African origin, a Hawaiian stringed instrument, a Brazilian drum beat, and a free reed developed by a German company but played here on the offbeat in pale imitation of its greatest proponent, Augustus Pablo.  Blend it up in the basement.

Hank: kalimba, beer bottles, vocals, composition, production & engineering
Dan: Uke, melodica, beer bottles, 
Jeff: bass, beer bottles, percussion
Matt, age 12: Kit drums

Dan did most of the mixing in Audacity, which explains a few things. Now you know why Jeff usually does the mixing!

pic: not where we ended up on this one

Hankalimbossa Dub (Tilbury, Greenwood, Burns & Greenwood, 8/6/17)

Beer bottle parts from the Hankalimbossa, clipped out and mixed. 
Live in one take, 8/6/17. 
I don't remember the exact bottles used but that lowest tone is a Mad Elf magnum. Rest are probably a mix of 750 mls and 12 ouncers of various shape. 

Hank: Beer bottles, vocals
Dan: beer bottles
Jeff: beer bottles

Beer Bottle Blowout (TG&B)

One of the last salvageable pieces from Music Weekend 2017, this is from a boozey late night hand drum jam in the wee hours of Friday night or perhaps Saturday morn. There's not much of a way to be positive at this point but I believe Hank was playing one of his frame drums (with snare? I dunno), Dan was playing tambourine, and Jeff was banging on a mini-djembe. That might be all wrong though. Either way, we found the best 8 bars, trimmed them out and looped them with a fade in and out. 

We've been meaning to use this as a beat for something else and may yet get there, but for now, feel free to download and re-use it in whatever way you see fit. I can also send the original 8 bar sample if that would be easier, just drop us an inbox with your email.

Hand Drum Groove, 8-4-17 (feel free to use)

Origins of this tune are muddy. I learned it primarily from the mighty Odetta, and also the Weavers in my folks’ collection, with a more recent nod to Alvin Youngblood Hart’s great version from the Otis Taylor & co. album ‘Recapturing the Banjo.’
It seems like other versions all flow back to Pete Seeger’s bringing the song to the Weavers in the early ‘50s. The lyrics and the idea of a missing Willie are fairly common, so it’s been tied to other tunes by academics, but it seems that Pete himself was unsure of where he’d gotten the song or where it came from. 
This has been kicking around the G&B stable for a year, and finally brought back to life. In a twist, I (Greenwood) played the bass guitar and drum kit and tried mixing/editing. So it’s a little (or more than a little) sloppier than usual in those aspects but hopefully that’s okay since it’s supposed to sound like slacker early ‘90s roots rock. 

Guitars, cigar box guitar, ukulele, vocals, bass guitar, drums.

As an aside, this is the first time I’ve played a bass guitar in I think 27 years. Last time was in Osaka for an international music students’ festival. I signed up to play some folky stuff but then got asked to fill in on bass and vocals with a couple guys who liked heavy stuff so I sang For Whom The Bell Tolls. It was an awful rendition, but fun. I believe I have the sole surviving VHS tape of the event.
Anyhow, I don’t have a bass guitar, so took the 4 track to the Music & Arts shop where my daughter takes trombone lessons, borrowed a guitar, and did my best to put a part together in that half hour. Pretty fun, even if it’s not any good. 

Versions:
The Weavers (early 1950s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xKp6qXB1Bc
Odetta (1956): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWG-yUOVdYk
Pete Seeger solo (late ‘50s/early ‘60s):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pREIf515I_4
Alvin Youngblood Hart (2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mXa4meChRo (he also does a good version of this with South Memphis String Band, and his SMSB bandmate Mr. Dickinson does an electric version of it with the North Mississipp All Stars).

Deep Blue Sea

G&B finally back on the Christmas carol bandwagon, with another traditional French carol. This one dates back (in published form) to 1862. It's a lovely carol, not as medieval-eerie as our other French favorites, but with a certain regal sense accentuated by the exuberant major key melody. We chose to feature the chorus and second verse.

We apply a lot of time-honored G&B techniques including the gradual layering of the folk orchestra finishing with a huge ensemble sound. The folk instrumentation (unintentionally sounding suspiciously like an elementary school holiday concert) speaks to the humility of the manger scene being described; the trumpet fanfare is to reinforce the idea of the aforementioned regal sense; and the electrics carry the power of the whole Christmas mythology. At least, that makes sense in retrospect.

Most of the 27 tracks are from 2017, originally intended as the followup to the smash hit project "Kirwan, Greenwood & Burns present: 2016 Soundcloud All-Star Holiday Spectacular,"  and have been in the vault. It feels good to be back.
In order of appearance: dulcimer, jaw harp, cigar box guitar, acoustic guitar, ukulele, pennywhistle, kalimba, mandolin, trumpet, electric guitar, drums, electric bass and vocals.

Production, editing and mixing by Dr. Greenwood, with input and assistance from Dr. Burns. Creative feedback encouraged & appreciated since Dr. Greenwood is clearly no Dr. Burns, but is working on it.

Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant

Retrofuturistic global old-time, roots pop & electric folk, with a particular joy in our frequent collaborations with other Soundcloud friends.
"The Split Rail Fence of Sound." Hank Tilbury
"Captivating folk vibes in psychedelic sauce." E-Ruizzo
"Packed to the gills, and still works." Jonathan Beckenstein
"Bonhomie encapsulated in a song." Gary Reeves
"Totally transporting music." Mark J. Bennett
"Like the old stuff... but improved." Chris O(2)


We are:
Greenwood: https://soundcloud.com/lonesomedstringband
Burns: https://soundcloud.com/jeff-burns-4

 Album art by Kenny Keil: http://talestosuffice.com/

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