A song that arised while I was thinking of the town I live in and l the places I left before

Light'n'Shine

Town down here

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

iTunes

1953

First Loves
Tim Fain, violin
Robert Koenig, piano

First Loves is a collection of quintessential violin masterpieces which first inspired me to be a violinist. Includes showpieces by Rachmaninoff, Sarasate, Wieniawski, and more, plus “Swan Remix,” my own arrangement of themes from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
As a kid, I was surrounded by classical, pop, rock, jazz, film and contemporary concert music – finding a balance of old and new music is still very important to me. Many of the works on First Loves are the ones that drew me in as a child – Rachmaninoff, Sarasate, and Wieniawski, arrangements by Heifetz, and Kreisler – and remain profoundly relevant today. I’ve also included “Swan Remix,” my own arrangement of themes from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, which I made after my work on-camera and on the soundtrack of the film Black Swan. Each track is dedicated to someone who inspired me or made it possible for me to be the person and the artist that I am today. My hope is that First Loves will inspire others, young and old, to fall in love with the violin as I did.

First Loves

Buy on BandCamp

Praeludium And Allegro - Fritz Kreisler

MUSIC VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9HZbDaAf6E

60 MINUTES OF BONUS MATERIAL (including exclusive new remix track) HERE: https://skyemusic.bandcamp.com/album/taken-for-a-ridextraganza-master-pack

Tally Hall - Taken for a Ride (Cover, feat. PlayfulPunch)

To The Brim is the first single off of Jennifer Kamikazi's upcoming Debut EP, WildFlower. 

To The Brim 

A response to Bob Dylan's poem 'Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie' 
I called it "Last Thoughts" as a tribute, but in truth they certainly won't be. In fact my silly naive highschooler butt didn't even put together that he wrote "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie" when Woody was in the hospital. You'd think the title would have clued me in but either way hope there'll never be any last anythings. This song is kind of about reaching in the dark, finding strength in the words of strangers and old friends too, lighting the path a little further down the road.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0OdNY8Aybw

Written/vocals and guitar by J R Altabef/AManCalledJack/Pe+richor, Copyrighted 2008. 
https://illusionsofthespleen.deviantart.com/art/Last-Thoughts-on-Bob-Dylan-82633236

Last Thoughts on Bob Dylan

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