Banjotronic

Lydia is a happy jazzy ditty I wrote, and my band Pictrola recorded it. Enjoy!

Lydia

Fiona and Me is a retelling of Knoxville Girl, a traditional murder ballad. My grandmother was a child in Knoxville when the actual event occurred. Knoxville is a river town and a replica of the Robert E Lee riverboat used to do dinner cruises when I was there for grad school.  These ideas merged and Fiona and Me was the product. My old band Dirty River recorded this at Patuxent Music. 
Guitar - Billy Park
Bass - Gary Cole
Resophonic Guitar - Michael Barton
Mandolin - John Relph
Banjo and vocals - me

Major shout out to the guys. This song is in F#, which is not the easiest key for bluegrass instruments.  I think you'll agree though that they pulled it off nicely.


6 Fiona and Me

Just two recordings to see how the axe sounds. Folsom Prison just to see how it does with an aggressive attack. Then Paul McCartney's Junk to test a softer sound. My recording setup is pictured. small condenser at 12th fret, large behind the bridge.  I put up a reflective board to get a more live sound.

Junk

I wrote this a few years ago.  Then when I was playing with Dirty River, I rewrote it bluegrass style as "Ragged Mile".  Just an example of how the same theme can transcend genre.

The busker

A gift for all my friends during the holiday season. A few years ago the great Dave Brubeck passed a few weeks before Christmas. Like many self-taught musicians, Brubeck was the one who showed me that 3/4 and 4/4 were not the only possible time possible. I thought it would be nice if we did a holiday classic Brubeck style, in 5/4 time. For my musician friends, I'm going into Phrygian mode then Phrygian dominant, just to mix it up a bit. I'm doing all tracks except percussion. That is my friend Ron Goad.  Enjoy the track! It was a labor of love.

banjo Dude