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OLD TIME NEWSOLD TIME NEWSNo. 102 Summer 2020

The only UK publication dedicated to American Old Time Music and Dance

Old-Time in Lockdown

2 OLD TIME NEWS No. 102 Summer 2020

In this issueEditorial 3FOAOTMAD matters 3OLD-TIME IN LOckDOWN:

Old-time music in the time of coronavirus, Maria Wallace 4House concert sites, Alan Pridgeon 8Quarantine Happy Hour, Gabrielle Macrae & Barry Southern 8Su Mo’s Old-Time Sessions, Su Mo 9In these strange times... Maureen Pridgeon 9Lockdown diversions, Jan Howard 9The Richmond Online Music Gathering, Julian Marshall 10Support from Old Time News, Judy Spindler 10Playing through the pandemic, William Duddy 11Spring camp under Lockdown, Andrew Cocks 14Dancing through the pandemic, Clare Sheridan 16

Getting started in dance, Paul Sheridan 17Step dance, body percussion..., Sara Marshall-Rose 18My first FOAOTMAD festival, Jo Moore 19kate Lissauer at Penzance Folk club, Bob Chase 20Griffin Banjos, James Bowen 21Obituaries:

Bill Skelson, Stu Weetman & Hannah Skelson 22carole chant, David & Shirley Dry 22Annie Warner, Colm Daly 23

The Woodshed, “Trouble, Trouble”, Mike Bostock 24Spotlight on... Ernie carpenter, Alan Pridgeon 26Reviews – cDs and films 27Dates for your Diary 30Latest news on Summer camp, Andrew Cocks 31Latest news on Gainsborough, Tim Rooke 32

Chairman’s Report

As I sit and write this it is hard to believe how much has changed in the last three months. We have seen our once reasonably measured and ordered world turned upside down leaving no one untouched. Undoubtedly in the time gap between writing this and it appearing in print we will have seen even more changes, but hopefully we will have a clearer picture of how life in the future will look.

Some people have suffered far worse than others and not always as a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic as ordinary life takes its toll as well, often unseen but not forgotten. Over the last few months we have sadly lost at least three well known and respected members of FOAOTMAD. We will no longer be greeted by smiles and hugs from Annie Warner and Carole Chant as we arrive at camp or the festival, nor will see the dapper Bill Skelson on stage at Gainsborough. There will always be a place for them around the campfire as we sit and enjoy the music they so clearly loved.

Many members are suffering hardship and despair as they see their way of life and sometimes their livelihood taken from them, but hopefully the end of the nightmare is in sight.

On the flip side of all that we should recognise the efforts some people have made to make our lives more bearable through the medium of old-time music and dance. Their contribution has been both generous and selfless, and we have picked out just a few examples to highlight in this magazine, but it is by no means all of them. It’s a huge thanks to all of those who have offered free lessons, run sessions, organised or given house concerts etc. during this crisis, and in many ways we have had the opportunity to enjoy more old-time music of late than before the lockdown.

While we all reflect on the past months we are also still working hard to try and prepare for coming out of lockdown. The summer camp, autumn workshops and next year’s Gainsborough Festival continue to be planned in the hope that they can take place, and some information on those plans is included in the magazine which gives us hope and something to look forward to.

Finally, as well as going to press as usual, we have also decided to post this issue of Old Time News on our

Cover photos show how some members have been spending their time in lockdown

website with free access to anyone who wants to read it. It is downloadable should readers prefer, and it seems the least we can do to help the old-time community get through these dreadful times.

Alan Pridgeon

Publicity Officer WantedWe are looking for an extra person to join the

FOAOTMAD committee to take on the role of Publicity Officer. We feel that we need to do more to both advertise

what FOAOTMAD has to offer and to reach out and encourage suitable advertising in the magazine. Therefore

we are looking for someone who preferably has some experience in advertising or marketing and is willing to work with the other committee members to formulate

and manage our publicity.If you are interested drop a note to

[email protected].

OLD TIME NEWS No. 102 Summer 2020 3

EditorialI thought that this issue of the Old Time News might be a bit thin because so many of our usual activities have been curtailed during the Covid-19 crisis. But not a bit of it. If anything the issue is testament to the power of music and friendship to help people in times of crisis. Robbed of the chance to play together in person people have found numerous ways to share music and dance via the internet. We report on a good number of these although no doubt we are only scratching the surface – if you have been involved in something which we haven’t reported please get in touch for the next issue as all the signs are that things may not be back to the way they were before for a long time (although there is some hope that some form of Summer Camp may be possible). It’s clear from the reports in this issue that many people have been finding old-time a useful way of maintaining their sanity – although reading Foxy’s account of his solitary Spring Camp, this grip on sanity may be stronger is some cases than others. I am particularly delighted to see so much dance content in the issue – no less than three articles. I am also pleased to announce the start of a new feature for the magazine, the brainchild of our chairman who has also penned the first contribution. Recent issues have run a series of articles

focusing on current old-time musicians. The new ‘Spotlight’ series will shine a light on key individuals in the history of the music and we begin with fiddler Ernie Carpenter. As with the ‘Classic Cuts’ series the idea is to build a resource which members will find useful – in this case of artists who have been influential and important in the old-time scene in the hope that people will seek out their music. I would very much encourage others to write pieces on other musicians – and dancers or dance groups - who deserve to be widely known.

One theme which shines out clear and strong from this issue of the Old Time News is friendship. Actually more than friendship. The strong bonds of companionship, warmth and love created by our shared love of old-time music and dance mean that we are all privileged to be members of an extended family. So it is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of three valued members of this family – Carole Chant, Bill Skelson and Annie Warner. The warmth of the comments in the obituaries is ample testament to how much all three were loved and how much they will be missed. I was honoured to call all three friends and will miss them very much indeed.

Steve Wise

Slim Jim Banjos Bespoke old

Time Banjos

Also Repairs And Restoration

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FOAOTMAD mattersOver the last few months we have become aware that some members’ details we hold are out of date. It would be helpful therefore if you could help us in the following ways.• Ifyouthinkyoumayhavechangedyouremailaddresssince

joining FOAOTMAD and not told us it would help us if you could do so. To let us know just go onto the website’s Contact Us page and simply put your name on the contact form and press send, we will do the rest.

• Somemembersarerejoiningusingtheoldprices;pleaseensure you are paying the correct amount as detailed in the blue box at the back of the magazine or on your renewal notice.

• Somemembersstillpaytheirmembershipfeesbyanoldbank standing order and have not changed the payment amount since the prices were increased several years ago. If you think you may be one of those we would be grateful if you could change your standing order amount to that shown in the blue box at the back of the magazine or change to GoCardless, our preferred method of payment.

• Somemembersareaccidentlypayingtwice,normallyasthey have a standing order in place then electing to pay their renewal by a different method, forgetting to cancel their Standing Order.

We have decided to send out The Old Time News in paper envelopes from now in an effort to ensure we are not contributing to the planet’s waste plastic problem. There is a small on-cost per unit which we feel is worthwhile and will be absorbed in our running costs.

Alan Pridgeon


JANE ROTHFIELD Based in Staunton, Virginia, Jane has been celebrated for several decades as an exceptional old-time fiddler, banjoist and tune writer. She taught banjo on the FOAOTMAD residential weekend back in 2017 and has toured the Uk with her duo Hen’s Teeth, one of her many projects.

How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted you and your livelihood?I was literally on my way for a two week Contra Dance tour in the southern US with my band Coracree, when everything started cancelling. After that tour, I was scheduled to head to Europe for a three week CD release tour with my fabulous European based band The Idumea Quartet, to be followed by solo shows and workshops in Italy, France and Germany. All cancelled. My “normal” was a busy life of being on the road internationally with my various bands and collaborations, and as a solo artist, teaching at workshops and camps. Also running my own home based Janie’s Jumpstart music camps, recording and hanging out at festivals like Mount Airy and Clifftop (just to name a few projects). Covid-19 has forced

the world to create a “new normal” and so I have started to reinvent my business model of performing, teaching and creating community in a virtual world.

Have you been able to move some of your work online? First of all, it took a few weeks for me to get used to being home all the time! My first step was to get input from friends, family and students about my ideas, marketing and outreach processes and most importantly what they wanted from me. I also did some test performing and teaching, to see what worked and what didn’t. I decided to add weekly group lessons for fiddle, clawhammer banjo and back up guitar, as well as hosting jams online on the Zoom platform. My students and those who contact me about my weekly jams will get the added value of a Dropbox link to my recordings of a Tune of the Week – played by me on fiddle, banjo and guitar (basic, medium and advanced versions). The next phase will be to add classes for tune writing, tune and song arranging and band coaching. As soon as my technology is updated for better sound and video, I will start more performing streams and videos. Ultimately I plan to invite and host other musicians for performance fun as well as group workshops and jams. Eventually I will figure out how to reinvent my Janie’s Jumpstart music camps. Lots to do! Finally, if anyone wants to participate in the Zoom group or jams and has financial hardship, they are more than welcome to join in. How can our readers help support you during this time?I love to see people from around the world join my classes and sign up for lessons. Contact me directly by email at [email protected] to sign up for lessons (private, group or hosted jams). You can stay connected via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with me and my bands The Idumea Quartet, Coracree, Little Missy, as well as Janie’s Jumpstart. You can purchase and/or download my recordings from my own website, or on Bandcamp and CD Baby. Watch out for my various performances and other events. And do stay in touch! I’d love to hear from everyone and stay connected. Let us know that you are listening and watching! Love you all.

Links:www.janerothfield.comwww.janiesjumpstart.comwww.idumeaquartet.com

As everyone reading this knows all too well, the Covid-19 virus crisis started to make a serious impact in the UK and USA in early March 2020 and in the following weeks the pandemic really

took hold across the world. It quickly became apparent that in addition to the serious danger to health and life, live music events – concerts, tours, festivals and sessions – would (quite rightly)

have to be cancelled for the foreseeable future. As well as the social toll this has taken on the old-time community, it’s had a devastating financial effect on independent musicians. With music streaming (which pays fractions of pennies to most artists) in the ascendant and sales of recorded music at an all-time low, live performance has become the main way that most grassroots musicians can earn a living. I contacted a handful of old-time musicians on both sides of the Atlantic to find out how

they’ve been affected, and to ask how fans and friends might be able to help them to survive and keep making music during this crisis. Their responses were received in late April and early May 2020.

OLD-TIME IN LOcKDOWN

Old-time music in the time of coronavirusby Maria Wallace


JAKE BLOUNTJake is a hugely talented young African-American fiddler, banjoist and singer based in Providence, Rhode Island. He performed at Gainsborough with the Moose Whisperers in 2019. As we go to press, Jake’s newly released debut album Spider Tales has been garnering outstanding reviews, including from The Guardian and Rolling Stone.

How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted you and your livelihood?To date, all of my scheduled performances from now through August have been cancelled (one camp is still hanging on and planning to make a call in the next few days, but the writing’s on the wall). As a touring musician, the total loss of income would be devastating under any circumstances. It hits especially hard right now because I have a new album coming out on May 29th. Touring is a critical part not only of publicizing a new release, but also starting to recoup the money I’ve invested into it. My savings were already depleted from that project before the pandemic got started, and I had planned to rebuild them over the next few months. Now, with no work and no real job opportunities, I’ve just got to burn through what’s left.

Have you been able to move some of your work online? My sole sources of income right now are streamed concerts, Skype lessons and revenue from online sales and streaming. These are proving more lucrative than I had initially expected, but they don’t generate the money or the fulfilment that my ordinary touring and teaching schedule would, and are significantly more draining. The Cabin Fever Festival did a great job of replicating an in-person concert experience on the Zoom platform by encouraging attendees to turn on their cameras as they watch. Being able to see people’s faces and reactions makes a big difference, and I hope this is able to set a trend.

How can our readers help support you during this time?Tune into all the streaming events you can, book Skype lessons, and buy music online! My streaming, contact and pre-order information is available on my website. I must say, I’ve been overwhelmed by the community’s support. It’s telling that in these trying times, we’ve all collectively turned to art (whether in the form of literature, film or music) to make ourselves feel better. I hope people realize that, while live performances and recording projects are mostly on pause, streamed concerts are the only way to hear the new art that’s being created. As my

u

friends and mentors Megan Jean & the KFB have repeatedly told me and others during these trying times: “being an artist is all about being backed into a corner and finding a way out of it.” We may not be feeling our best in this moment, but I suspect that it may yield some of our most compelling work.

Links:https://jakeblount.com/https://jakeblountmusic.bandcamp.com/https://www.facebook.com/notjacobnotblunt/

SIMON ROBINSONBased in Yorkshire, talented banjoist and guitarist Simon performs solo as well as with his trio the Redwood River Band. He also teaches clawhammer banjo and runs the Leeds Old-Time session.

How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted you and your livelihood?The virus has obviously had a massive impact across the world. As well as finding the isolation difficult mentally, the current situation has also meant that I’ve lost most of my work through cancellations. As well as working as a gigging musician and music teacher, I work as a music practitioner in care homes and Special Needs schools, and unfortunately these were some of the first jobs to go, due to obvious safety precautions and social distancing. The loss of gigs and festivals this year will cause a huge impact on many artists and production staff – it’s a tough time for everyone! I’m really missing the social aspect of making music with people and going to jam sessions. That connection you get making music in the same room can’t really be replicated in isolation. It’s not all been so negative though – I’ve had more time to practise and play, and I’ve been working on lots of new tunes and songs. Even my fiddle playing is improving slowly too! Music has and always will be an amazing coping mechanism for the stresses of life for me.

Have you been able to move some of your work online? I’ve managed to move my teaching for banjo, guitar and ukulele online. I also run a weekly ukulele group on Monday evenings, on Zoom and Skype. There have been a few


How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted you and your livelihood?The current crisis has put a complete halt on how I normally make my living. It’s actually really brought into focus how month to month my existence until now has been, with an almost complete reliance on gig work and very little long term infrastructure for earning outside of performing. So it’s been an eye opener, and I’ve really had to look at ways I can create income while locked in my house, which has been daunting at times.

Have you been able to move some of your work online? Yes and no. For me personally it’s been less about moving existing work online and more about creating new online opportunities. I had tons of gigs cancelled in March, April, May and June and starting to look further out at this point. Those gigs are gone, but some new online festivals and performance opportunities have popped up and I got the chance to perform for some of them. But there’s definitely a limit to how often you can access your online audience, it’s not exactly equivalent to performing in new places to new people each day. Luckily I started creating the infrastructure for an online teaching platform back in January, before this pandemic hit. It had been on my mind to start building an audience on Patreon so that I could generate some earning potential that wasn’t reliant on being on the road. I’m really glad I had a little head start on putting that together, because I’ve been able to put a lot of energy into creating content for followers on that platform and I’m proud of the community that’s building there, learning fiddle tunes and fiddle techniques.

How can our readers help support you during this time?Buy an album! Don’t just stream music if you like an artist – buy their music directly from them, or from Bandcamp. My album “Time and Place” is available on Bandcamp. Sign up to a Patreon page to help your favorite artists make it through this tough time. Many are offering some pretty great access to lessons or exclusive content. On my Patreon page I post lessons weekly or monthly, I break down old-time or bluegrass tunes and techniques, and there are tons of videos up for immediate access right now if you sign up. I also have a $5 tier for people who just want exclusive access to new music before I release it publicly. Lastly I’d just say be an advocate for governments to support the arts! Help us be heard and valued by governments who want to ignore how important music and art is to human endurance and joy. Help the arts gain and keep access to funding, and to be valued by our societies not just as a luxury, but as an essential service.

Links:https://www.georgejacksonmusic.com/https://georgejacksonmusic.bandcamp.com/https://www.patreon.com/georgejackson

technical issues to overcome, but I think it works well, and serves as a decent substitute. It’s been fun getting creative with the technology, and nice to be able to share my videos and creative ideas with others in new ways. Social media has become an even more important way of engaging people, so I’ve been posting new songs I’ve been working on. To fill the void left by the lack of sessions I’ve started an online singaround session, which anyone is welcome to join! One definite advantage of working online is that you have a much wider reach for your audience and the world feels like a smaller place in many ways. I’ve had people attending my groups from as far afield as Canada, America and New Zealand so far, and have collaborated with other musicians who I wouldn’t normally have had the chance to. The main issue with working online is that you can’t really play live together because of internet latency issues, and I think everyone who is doing online groups is trying to find their own creative ways of getting around this.

How can our readers help support you during this time?As well as joining one of my online groups, or taking lessons, you can support me by purchasing merchandise directly from me or through Bandcamp. You can also follow me on Facebook for more up to date information on the projects I’m working on.

Links:https://simonrobinsonsounds.bandcamp.com https://redwoodriverband.bandcamp.comwww.facebook.com/simonrobinsonsounds

GEORGE JACKSONBased in Nashville, Tennessee, fiddle ace George hails from New Zealand. His 2019 debut album Time and Place featured a raft of memorable original old-time tunes. The George Jackson Band was due to tour the Uk this September (including Sweet Sunny South) before plans had to be cancelled.


CHARLOTTE BREESEAlso known by her maiden name charlotte carrivick, gifted multi-instrumentalist charlotte is a fixture on the Uk old-time and bluegrass scenes with her bands Midnight Skyracer and cardboard Fox, and her duos with twin sister Laura and with fiddler kieran Towers.

How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted you and your livelihood?We first got hit by cancellations back in the middle of March. Laura and I had a couple of shows in Sussex. The first one went ahead, then the next morning everything started getting cancelled. I think we’ve had gigs cancel right into the autumn now – in fact I’m supposed to have just come back from a tour with Cardboard Fox. We met up on Skype instead and joked about which bits we’d have messed up by that point in the evening, and what time we needed to be up the next morning to get to the next gig. It was equally funny and sad. The biggest blow for me has to be for Midnight

Skyracer. We recently signed a major record deal [with Island Records] and after more than a year of preparation and hard work, our album is coming out in June. We had a great tour booked in to promote it, but of course that’s gone. As well as the immediate financial loss from the gigs, that will hugely impact the overall scope for album sales and promotion. That said, I much prefer to think of the positives: I have a routine for the first time in a very long time and that has made things a lot easier with our 10 month old son, than it was while touring. I’m finding time to actually practise, and our allotment is going to be great this year!

Have you been able to move some of your work online? I have a few students and I’ve managed to move them to Skype. I’ve even picked up a couple of extras. By the time this article comes out I’ll have been involved in an online festival style workshop with a bunch of other mandolin players, all of whom I really admire too. [Ed: check out the Isolationist’s Guide to Mandolin page on Facebook]. I’ve also started doing a series of fiddle tune arrangements for flatpicking guitar. Every Thursday I upload a video to my instagram page @charlotteguitar and put the tab up on my website for £1 a go. It’s small change, but I’m enjoying having a focus for my own practice! How can our readers help support you during this time?If anyone wants to help musicians, then buying their music or booking an online lesson is always a good way to do that. Also, engaging with any social media stuff is really important – it helps with the algorithms... or something like that!

Links:www.guitarmandolinbanjo.co.ukhttps://linktr.ee/carrivicks

These really are unprecedented times. Many of the stalwarts in our old-time community are in a high-risk group by virtue of age, underlying health issues or a combination of factors. People are missing contact with

friends and family members as well as missing the communal aspect of music making. In order to protect ourselves and others, we have had to forego our usual pleasures of gathering together in music and friendship, and that loss hits hard. The silver lining in all this is that thanks to the power of modern technology, we ARE still able to see and hear live music online, and to participate in workshops, lessons and jam sessions (to some

extent). I know it’s not the same as the real thing, but it’s something.

You might also like to consider donating to one of the main appeals which are making emergency grants available to individual musicians (across all genres) who are facing significant financial hardship:

Help Musicians UK – https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/support-our-work/make-a-donationMusicians’ Union (UK) – https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Donate

Musicares (USA) – https://www.grammy.com/musicares/get-help/musicares-coronavirus-relief-fund

For those that do have the means, your regular support of musicians will help them to survive this time. Book a lesson with a musician hero (who might usually be too busy touring) and throw a few pounds in the tip jar

for a live streamed performance you enjoy. Buy a couple of albums each month instead of just streaming on Spotify. If you can’t afford to contribute financially, you can still help by liking and sharing musicians’ social

media pages and spreading the word about online performances and workshops. That helps keep the community spirit going too. As well as the handful interviewed above, thousands of other grassroots musicians are going

through the same thing – your favourite OT musicians among them. Seek out their websites, social media pages, Patreon accounts and Bandcamp pages. Most importantly, I hope that everyone reading this can stay safe and well, so that we can gather together again in the future to play tunes, sing, dance and make merry.


Old-Time in Lockdown

We’ll start with Quarantine Happy Hour organized by Gabrielle Macrae and Barry Southern of the Horsenecks (who reflect on their experience of running the concerts below). The concerts are free but most performers have an online tips jar. There have been some really top class performances from the likes of Bruce Molskey, Nadine Landry and Sammy (Foghorn String Band), Aaron Jonah Lewis and Alice Gerrard to name just a few. Occasionally technical problems occur, normally a reversed image which is just a shame, but other than looking odd it doesn’t affect the show. The shows are live then archived on facebook page Quarantine Happy Hour.

Another source of old-time music has been via the Fire in the Mountain facebook page, organised by Joe Buirski – it has hosted house shows as a virtual festival. It works in a similar way to the Quarantine Happy Hour but has a greater mix of genre, by no means not all old-time but it does include some dance workshops. Again the shows appear to be archived and have included performances by Evie Laden, Bruce Molskey, Nadine Landry and Sammy and The Horsenecks. The shows can be found live and archived on facebook page fireinthemountain_ONLINE.

For those who want to try an online old-time jam there are several that come up on our facebook page but Su Mo’s

two (one slow jam and one normal) are proving popular. She reflects on what it has been like to run these sessions and William Duddy provides a consumer’s view.

A whole weekend of tuition and sessions was provided by the online version of the Old-Time Rollick, normally held in the Ashokan Center in New York State. The center has a series of events planned for the near future, all listed in the special https://ashokancenter.org/online-rollick-2020/ website. The center also hosted the dulcimer weekend described by William Duddy in his article which starts on page 11.

You may find other concert streaming sites on facebook, like the one run by recording label Free Dirt Records which has hosted concerts by their artists including Allison de Groot and Jake Blount.

There are also various sites with free lessons on various instruments. One of note is Peghead Nation with some archived free workshops on their facebook page by Evie Laden (banjo) and Bruce Molskey (fiddle). The website cabinfevertunes.com has started to list both future and archived events.

Either go direct to the relevant facebook pages or to the Covid-19 page on our website home page where you will find links to those mentioned above as well as others.

Alan Pridgeon

Gabrielle Macrae and Barry Southern started a regular series of online concerts which has been running pretty constantly through the lockdown period. Gabrielle says:

We started this originally as a way to try and help raise a little money for working musicians whose gigs have all been cancelled and as a way to stay connected to our music buddies while we’re all quarantined. It has definitely been that, but quickly turned into something else: a catalogue of great shows from some amazing musicians. Running it feels like a taste of what it’s like to book a venue, though there’s no loss associated with any of it for anyone, so it’s been a great way to showcase lesser known musicians to a wider audience, right next to people who are considered giants of the genre. At first we weren’t thinking that it would be old-time specific. We’ve had some early jazz, country, calypso, cajun, bluegrass, klezmer and americana. We’re still not ruling other genres out, but just by virtue of it being a couple of old-time musicians booking it, it’s turned out to be very old-time heavy, and it seems like it’s the wider old-time music community that has been consistently tuning in, tipping, and keeping up a constant stream of banter in the comments section. It’s been a lot of fun and a great way to connect with friends who we probably won’t get to see in person for quite a while.

Thanks to Milo Krims of the Misty Mountain Pony Club for the picture which shows a selection of the featured acts.

Gabrielle Macrae and Barry Southern

Quarantine Happy Hour

In this section we try and present an overview of the many ways in which the old-time community has tried to keep in touch with the music and

with each other during this unprecedented crisis.

House concert sites


In these strange times we are all living in I thought

I would update you with what strange things I have been doing over the past year. It all started when I finally had a moment of madness and decided to

start playing the banjolele. This was partly driven by my

need to learn something new and the encouragement I got

from my music friends saying, “Isn’t it about time you joined us and played an instrument?” I therefore embarked on daily practice sessions and trying to understand chords, tuning, strumming etc – all totally alien to me. I don’t consider myself musical and only ever got as far as playing a recorder at school until age 10. I persevered with the banjolele for a few months and then decided I would like to try a different instrument.

This resulted in me buying a tenor guitar as it only has four strings and I find that is my limit at the moment. I thought as I knew a lot of the tunes, having listened to them for the last 10 years, playing them would be relatively easy. I got that wrong! I struggled with learning the notes/chords by ear and found it helpful to have them written down. I did manage to join in some sessions at Dunfield House, our local pub sessions and even a workshop at Gainsborough. I was looking forward to going to Spring Camp for the first time but this was not be. I am living in the hope that we may get to do Summer Camp but if not will have even more time to practice.

Little by little some of the tunes are beginning to become easier to play and because of lockdown I can practice every day! Needless to say I will still have plenty of time to chat with friends over a glass of wine while I give my guitar a rest – I haven’t completely gone over to the dark side! So until we meet again please stay safe and well in these strange times.

Maureen Pridgeon

With a bit more time for music, I’ve been learning some new tunes including Maple Sugar from Ward Allen and Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase, mostly from Nate Leath. At the beginning of lockdown I experimented with a couple of on-line jamming facilities (jammr and JamKazam) but neither of them was ideal, particularly for old-time. Su Mo’s Open Old Time Jams on Facebook use Zoom which is better and it helps me learn other new tunes as they are being played in a session setting. In particular though, Steve Blake played a tune Hell Among the Yearlings from Wilson Douglas. His recordings have revived my interest in tunes I used to know, such as Flop-Eared Mule, Folding Down the Sheets, Leather Britches and Cold Frosty Morning… thanks Steve.

Another diversion has been to learn recording techniques, inspired by Josh Clark’s video tutorials from Get Real Audio on Facebook. I use free software (Reaper and YouTube Movie Maker) to make split screen videos of my multi-tracked tunes. It has certainly helped me to keep much better time in my playing, having to play to a click track metronome. I’ve got a

tune called Locked Up Lock Down Blues, https://youtu.be/AYYUnM12Qfc

Another free opportunity worth investigating is the on-line Song Writing course run by Sheffield University through Futurelearn.com. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to being able to go to a pub and play some tunes with people.

Jan Howard

Lockdown diversions

In these strange times...

During this Covid-19 crisis, it was the well-being of others that I had a concern for with difficult news and losing loved ones all around us. I even had to deal with my brother in hospital for a few weeks in ICU. Music and creativity is a saviour at times like these so I decided to help others keep music going virtually. When lockdown was in the horizon, I prepared quite early to deal with it, so much so that the first online session was ready to roll on the second day of lockdown. I teach music lessons online so I have a structure in place for dealing with the latency delay issues and focusing the music and sound for the listener. I started with just Facebook live video which was quite successful with the chat for interaction. Each session meant more improvements on tech and gear. Jules on guitar has a lot of great audio gear. He is also a bit of a social animal and suggested using Zoom for more interactivity. I quite like hiding so I wasn’t too enthused

about it and it meant more stuff for me to organise in my control freak way, but we did it without strangling each other too much! I started to run Zoom tutorials to help people get set up and also introduce how to adjust our human behaviour in using online communications. Many people find that hard to get used to at first which is very normal, but once you get the hang of it, it works! We have a strong group of 30+ on Tuesday and Sunday Slow jams. The session is also viewable on YouTube to keep things easy to access.

Su Mo

Su Mo’s Old-Time Sessions



The 4th Richmond Old Time Music Gathering was all set to happen at Easter, but once that was no longer possible, ROTMAD took things online, via our Facebook page. The community rallied round to turn our initial disappointment into a very special day.

We were thrilled to gather more than 50 musical contributions on Saturday 11th April. They came in from all corners of England, Ireland Scotland and Wales, as well as from Oslo and Berlin. There was Cajun music from Paris, and some old time and swing from Mississippi.

While some people performed live, others uploaded pre-recorded films and the page was busy with new posts throughout the day, from 12 noon until almost midnight. There were lots of supportive and encouraging comments from everyone and the whole occasion was very uplifting – in the face of the difficult times we have been living through.

Lockdown has given people the opportunity to learn new video recording and editing skills, and also to gain the confidence to play into cameras on their computers and phones and all this was on heartening display.

Hopefully, this online version of the Gathering was a one-off and we’ll be able to meet again in person next time,

but the internet has offered a great way for our community to stay connected in the meantime.

The Richmond Old Time Music Gathering has a public Facebook page, and all the performances from the online gathering are available to view there. The URL of the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/richmondoldtime

Julian Marshall

The Richmond Online Music Gathering

Welcome to these new members1445 Peter Coggins Swindon1446 Giles Conway Warwickshire

Members’ Small AdsClawhammer Banjo, Mandolin & Guitar TuitionLessons in Hemel Hempstead, Herts. Chris Lawrance is a music teacher with 40 years experience, specialising in old-time, bluegrass and blues. Beginners of any age welcome.E: [email protected] W: www.chrislawrance.co.uk

Support from Old Time NewsUntil a few weeks ago it was touch and go whether we would have enough material to fill this issue, however thanks to a big effort from the committee and our regular contributors, we have been able to give the good news to our printers and mailing house that we will be requiring their services as normal. If we had not gone to print, we had planned to put a simplified version on the website and we will still be uploading a full PDF of this issue only which will be available to anyone who visits our website. The website is also where you will find a list of the online sessions mentioned on these pages. Finally, in order to help our advertisers, we will not be charging them to place their adverts for the duration of the pandemic and we would urge you to support them if you possibly can.

Judy Spindler


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Playing through the Pandemicby William Duddy

When I boarded the train at Gainsborough Central on Monday 17th February after another great FOAOTMAD Festival, I had no real premonition of what was on the horizon. The small pack of antiseptic wipes, forced into my coat pocket as I was leaving home, were (in retrospect) scant safeguard for a homeward trek navigating three crowded trains, packed stations, Manchester Airport and a claustrophobic Easyjet flight when – as it now seems – trouble was already in the air. Nor did I realise that I’d sat in an old-time workshop with dear, departed, Carole Chant for the last time.

On 23rd March, lockdown was announced and, for most of us (except those involved in essential services) our world shrank into homes and – if we were lucky – gardens. No more sessions, gatherings, or camps for an indeterminate lapse of time. But then, in previous years, I had been quite limited in the FOAOTMAD events that I could attend anyway – other than those within a gentle night-time stroll of a feather bed in a quiet, self-contained room. Strangely, as things have turned out, I’m playing more music now, in the “virtual” company of many more people (across the globe) than would have been possible previously.

Su Mo’s Old-Time SessionsFrom where I sat, Su Mo was the first to take the initiative and set up (eventually twice) weekly online old-time sessions – initially on Facebook, then adding Zoom and more recently also livestreamed on YouTube. Welcoming the unexpected opportunity to play regularly with FOAOTMAD friends, I set aside concerns about Zoom security and, after installing the application on PC, settled into what is now a highlight of the virtual week. Su (with Jules Bushell on driving guitar) leads well planned, properly organised sessions, slower on Sunday evenings and faster when Tuesday comes around. Their sound system overcomes almost all of Zoom’s acoustic limitations – providing a clear, rhythmic lead to the “grids” of swinging bows and frailing banjos on “Gallery View”.

The well-known limitations on sound quality, and disparities in broadband speed around the nations does little to dilute the joy when Su hands the lead to visitors from all over the UK and, more recently, USA. Even on Zoom, two hours passes too quickly when great tunes are being played with old friends and new. Of late, Colm Daly and Cathy have brought their own Reading flavour to the set-lists – with the inevitable mirth, jollity (and sometimes, chaos) that brings. Impressively, shortly after the session finishes, Jules helpfully publishes the tune list by key. I understand Su is writing elsewhere [see page 9] on her organisation of the sessions so, for now, I just say a big thank you to Su and Jules for stepping out and providing this opportunity for increasing numbers every week.

Nonsuch Dulcimer ClubHaving bought my first mountain dulcimer (on a whim, as one does) from the Birdrock McSpadden marquee at the much-missed North Wales Bluegrass Festival some 10 years ago, I soon realised that I didn’t know anyone else in Ireland who played one. Nevertheless, being the fascinating diatonic thing that it is, many a rainy evening was spent accidentally discovering its joys in isolation. Then, having booked an “Albion to Appalachia” Weekend – organised by Brian Peters, featuring Jeff Warner, and in the unbeatable company of Jed Todd, at the lovely Halsway Manor (Somerset) in May 2018 – I noticed that the following week featured the evocatively named Nonsuch Dulcimer Club’s “Dulcimers at Halsway” gathering. Staying over the intervening Sunday night, I was thereby introduced to a great new “tribe” (with mountain and hammer sub-genres) marking the beginning of invaluable friendships with more kindred spirits.


PLAYING THROUGH THE PANDEMIc

The Nonsuch Dulcimer Club https://www.dulcimer.org.uk/ was conceived in 1989 by a small handful of hammer dulcimer players in the south-west of England. They settled on the name of the little red Nonesuch “Flower of Bristol” (yes, we know about the spelling!) – considering also that one of their regular tunes was titled Nonesuch and echoing Henry VIII’s boast that his new palace, Nonsuch at Cheam, was “without equal”. The Club soon expanded to incorporate mountain

dulcimer players and now has 240 members, including some in Europe and USA. Nonsuch has (or rather had, until “you know what”) an active programme of workshops throughout the year alongside their annual Autumn Gathering and a “satellite” Spring Fling in Allendale. In fact, I had been looking forward to my second Spring Fling (in March) until it became one of the first musical “casualties” of the Lockdown.

Following postponement of the scheduled Nonsuch Annual Weekend until 2021 (and typical of the enthusiastic, inclusive Nonsuch people) several different online sessions, workshops and events were quickly planned into what is now an active club Zoom calendar. My first participation in this new phase was with the South West group (under the aegis of Geoffrey Reeve-Black, he of Revels Dulcimers https://revelsmusic.co.uk/) who abandoned their monthly pub sessions in the Nova Scotia, Bristol to move online and extended invitations to the outer fringes to join.

The Nonsuch Events Organiser, Hilary Davis, convened an experimental Southern meet-up at the end of March and is now co-ordinating weekly Nonsuch online (Zoom) sessions. With tune lists circulated in advance, good preparations can be made by referring to the excellent resources generously and freely available on both Pete Bromwich’s hammer dulcimer site https://www.dulcimerheaven.co.uk/ and the aforementioned Revels Dulcimers page.

Thanks to Sally Whitehead (Chair/President and Website Manager), the club has an excellent website for online events and resources, including listings of online club dulcimer events in the UK and also in the USA. The move last November to a “wordpress” based membership website now better enables Nonsuch to respond flexibly to the evolving situation.

With planned club conventions now cancelled, Nonsuch is actively supporting the intended tutors (many American) – who have suffered drastic disruptions to their schedules and livelihoods by scheduling Zoom workshops with such as Stephen Seifert and Jessica Comeau – rapidly establishing what is now a busy “alternative” programme for as long as it takes.

And so, through Nonsuch, he who had been isolated with his mountain dulcimer for almost a decade is being introduced to a growing global community.

The Ashokan Center It was actually on the Nonsuch Facebook page that I saw notification of the Ashokan Center’s Autoharp/Dulcimer Weekend (15-17 May). Following the links, another whole new world opened up – on Beaverkill Road, Olivebridge in upstate New York!

The Ashokan Center https://ashokancenter.org/ (formerly the Ashokan Field Campus) is an outdoor education, conference, and retreat centre located in the Catskill Mountains – Ashokan meaning “where waters converge”. The first homesteaders on the land were Dutchman Jacobus Bush and his wife, Eycke Vandermerke (from Ulster(!) County, New York) in the late 17th century. Later, this was the frontier during the American Revolutionary War and General Washington authorised the building of a fort at Shokan, now under the waters of the Ashokan Reservoir.

The property operated as the Ashokan Field Campus from 1967 until 2008 when it was divided and part sold to the non-profit Ashokan Foundation which continues to support and develop environmental education programmes for schools in partnership with non-profit partner the Ashokan Center. Ashokan’s Music & Dance Camps for adults and families have been held – in this landscape of forests, waterfalls, stream-fed ponds, and open meadows – for over 50 years and accommodation facilities have been developed to host conferences, retreat groups, weddings etc when schools are not in residence.

The location was the inspiration for Jay Ungar’s iconic tune “Ashokan Farewell”, famously used as the theme music for PBS’s “The Civil War” series by Ken Burns – and Jay is the Principal Officer for the Foundation.


Anyway, back to the Center’s Autoharp/Dulcimer Weekend - my first purchased Zoom event and the best $50 I’ve ever spent. Having received advance links to the detailed schedule and the comprehensive “Resource Dropbox”, some 90 participants gathered in the “Garden Room” at 2pm BST (5 hours ahead) on the Saturday afternoon for welcomes and introductions, along with the Center’s hospitable hosts and under the watchful eyes of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason themselves. This set the stage for an enthralling weekend of top-flight tuition, jams and the Saturday night concert.

Sitting in on Neal Walter’s Autoharp Waltzes Workshop (not having an autoharp) was a revelation on what this instrument can do. The great Don Pedi, with his true old-time mountain dulcimer style, perfectly complemented Norm Williams’ focus on fingerpicking styles and tunings. If you’re wondering how to play “Whiskey (before breakfast)” on mountain dulcimer in 5 keys and 5 tunings – including “Whiskey Sour” in the minor – Norm is your man! Then, if ever there was a reason to stay up until 2am in Belfast, the Saturday evening concert was it, with Don, Norm and the two halves of Doofus https://doofusmusic.com/ stepping in from their respective abodes across the US for a wondrous night’s music (of excellent trans-Atlantic sonic quality considering the vagaries of Zoom).

Re-convening in the “Garden Room” on the Sunday afternoon, Don shared some great Appalachian ballads leading into the farewell jam. Each workshop was “facilitated” by one of Ashokan’s excellent team, monitoring the “chat” questions, sharing “split screen” tab where necessary and generally keeping good order. The links worked perfectly and,

most notably, Ashokan managed to create (within “virtual” limitations) the “down home” vibe of an actual camp – helped along by a live tour of the park with Jay and Molly. This being one of their first such online ventures, and the first I became aware of, The Ashokan Center nailed it and have set the benchmark for others.

And fittingly – the Weekend memorably finished with an emotional rendition of “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay and Molly from the porch of the Ashokan Conference Centre. Simply exquisite!

Learning in LockdownAnd so, to conclude…the world as we knew it stopped suddenly not long after the Gainsborough Festival, ruining the musical calendar (probably for the remainder of 2020). Many of us may have lost relatives and friends to Covid-19. Camps and festivals, as we knew them, which are the beating heart of old-time music (with their friendship, vibrant sessions and packed workshops) won’t be happening for some time. However, the disruption to the social side is a minor consideration compared with the hardship thrust upon hundreds of musicians worldwide whose livelihoods are in doubt. Strangely, I have played more music with more people in more places this year than ever. There are upsides to online workshops where the tutor is clearly visible and audible, one can try out new tricks in “a safe space” and the noodlers can be muted at the flick of a mouse. If we can sign up for the increasing number and variety of online music offerings, and divert some of the savings from camp registrations, travel expenses, camping fees and accommodation rental into the hands of hard-pressed “professional” musicians then some small comfort can be collected from Covid. q

PhotosPrevious page:The authorThe Nonsuch Dulcimer Club logoOpposite:Lychnis chalcedonica - the Nonesuch flower (Flower of Bristol)The Ashokan landscapeThe Ashokan Centre logoThis page:Ashokan Autoharp/Dulcimer posterDon Pedi in action


Spring Camp under lockdownby Andrew Cocks, Events Organiser

Friday 15th May 2020 was supposed to be the first day of Spring Camp. It was so sad that the Coronavirus Lockdown meant it couldn’t happen. When the day arrived I felt the occasion

needed to be celebrated even if in splendid isolation. Actually, I wasn’t entirely on my own! Here’s a review of my Lockdown Spring Camp. Just me and my pet pheasant Phil.

Many thanks to Mrs Frances Cocks who took the photographs.

Friday 15th. Setting up Camp. Tent up and I’ve found something to start the camp fire. Phil monitored the site to ensure social distancing.

In stark contrast to 2019, the weather was, hot, sunny and still. The tent went up and came down in the dry. Perfect. I’d been at work during the day and consequently it was getting

late by time we’d both set up. We went straight to the fireside session. It was great. In fact, the first one I’ve been to where I knew all the tunes! Phil reminded us that the camp site rules

meant we had to stop at 11:30 and so we retired early.

Saturday. We slept well and breakfasted heartily. I have to say the facilities were pretty good and almost uniquely for a FOAOTMAD event, there were no complaints about the catering. Phil asked me not to make any corny jokes about his eating habits.



And then it was Sunday and that sad time for packing up, saying our au revoirs and getting ready for the 120 yard journey home. No picture of Phil at this stage. He had an early flight! What a great weekend. I very sincerely wish you all could have been here!Do you have any pictures of Lockdown old-time style? If so we’d love to see them!

We spent most of the day “chillin’ an’ a tuning,”as Phil likes to say. So nice to have some time away from work and the worries of these times, just relaxing and having quality time with old instruments and old tunes. A chance to recharge the batteries in an environment where everyone attending had common interests and appreciation of the old-time scene.

Our early evening barbeque was a bit rushed as it would soon be time for the Saturday evening concerts. In fact Phil got a little impatient with me. Whilst I finished my burger, he was pacing up and down worried we might not get a seat.

Shortly after I realised where the “tension in the tent” had come from. Phil was performing on the Summer House Stage as a finalist from the open mic sessions which took place in the afternoon. I thought I’d heard something! Imagine how proud I was when he was voted best act of the show. After that we piled into the concert on the main stage. Here’s a picture of me in the “mosh pit” watching a two hour solo performance from that guy from the Malvern Hillbillies. Frankly, he hasn’t got any better!

Saturday evening ended with another fireside session with a difference. We all brought marshmallows and toasted them on the flames. I was missing some of the banter which I usually enjoy until the early hours of the morning. To remedy that I listened to old telephone messages from Eve Morris and Tony Mears and the time simply flew by!


While we are having to stay away from our favourite haunts, like Croft Farm Park during FOAOTMAD Spring Camp, we can still dance. Dancing is luckily something that you can do anywhere. While standing in the queue to get into the shop/chemist/etc you can be surreptitiously practicing a toe lift. It’s OK, people will just think that you’re impatient or that you need the bathroom!

Toe lift = flat foot step then on the same foot lift the toe up and as it comes down it would make a sound. There you have a two sound step. Step = 1 toe lift and down = sound 2.

Sara Rose is doing weekly dance movement sessions with a different dance/music each week which really makes you think about rhythms and how you use your body. As Sara will tell you, doing any form of dance or movement will help your dance technique.

You can put on some old-time music and dance to it on your own, get a feel with bending your knees in time to the tune, listen to the nuances in the tune, you can just do step lifts alternate feet and as the bar ends do a step step step, flat flat flat, or flat toe flat. Just play with making sounds with your feet.

Paul has included a simple design for a dance board, which has a bit of spring in it and sounds good as the raised box makes the sound, but you can just use a piece of plywood or an old cupboard door.

Su Mo is doing a weekly slow jam and it is ideal to dance along with on mute so that nobody can hear you but you can get a feel of being in a session.

Love to all you dancers and musicians out there. Stay safe and stay with the music and dance. We will play and dance our way through this strange time.

Dancing through the pandemicby Clare Sheridan, dance rep

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DANCE BOARD

The dance board we have been using for years is a very simple construction. A piece of 2 foot square5 ply wood screwed onto 2x1 inch battens.

The battens are just screwed together at the ends and with recessed screws to the top so no joints needed. There are no cross battens in the middle so it is free to move which gives movement that is better for your joints than dancing on a rigid surface. We have also attached a strap to carry it.

Because it is raised up it acts like a drum and you get a lovely sound when using hard soled shoes.

It is easy to transport to sessions where you might not have a wooden floor to dance on. Ours has served us well for many years as you can see from the wear pattern.

DANCE BOARD





The dance board we have been using for years is a very simple construction: a piece of 2 foot square 5 ply wood screwed on to 2 x 1 inch battens.

The battens are just screwed together at the ends and with recessed screws to the top so no joints are needed. There are no cross battens in the middle so it is free to move which gives movement that is better for your joints than dancing on a rigid surface. We have also attached a strap to carry it.

Because it is raised up it acts like a drum and you get a lovely sound when using hard soled shoes. It is easy to transport to sessions where you might not have a wooden floor to dance on. Ours has served us well for many years as you can see from the wear pattern.

DANCE BOARD






Getting started in danceby Paul Sheridan

IntroductionI would like to start by saying a few words about this style of dance. I could write pages on it but will give a brief summary as an intro to this section.

Appalachian clogging evolved from the mixing of European steps predominately Irish, English and Scottish step dancing with black African rhythms and native American steps and was essentially a freestyle percussive dance form. There are many styles of this dance in America with regional and local variations and various names for it for example, clogging, buckdancing, flatfooting etc. There are traditionally no set routines and only from as recently as the early 1970s has it been choreographed into set routines, and every group wrote their own dances.

Back in the 1980s and 90s there were Appalachian dance groups at most Folk and Bluegrass festivals and Clare and I were part of a group called Roughshod who performed at many of them. Some of the Roughshod dances can be seen here. https://www.youtube.com/user/Paulflatfooting

The two main styles done in this country are:Precision clogging – based on the Green Grass Cloggers

style, the many steps that are used are visually as well as rhythmically exciting.

Flatfooting or Freestyling – is much lower to the ground and is more to do with producing rhythms to the music using combinations of heel, toe and flat foot beats rather than set steps.

Precision clogging usually refers to the fact that more than one person will simultaneously be doing the same steps in a set pattern. Although precision clog steps can be equally well used for freestyling, I personally find flatfooting based around the walking step my favourite for solo dancing as it allows me to develop rhythms to fit the tune rather than trying to make steps fit.

The DanceWith this dance form there is plenty of scope within the basic style for personal interpretation of the steps/rhythms as long as the essential feel of the style is maintained. This can be see by watching different teams or solo dancers performing. I find it impossible to learn it from a book without being able to watch it, as it’s very hard to explain the feeling for the steps on paper.

An excellent video which shows many people in the North Carolina/Virginia area doing their steps and talking about the development of them is ‘Talking Feet’ This can be viewed here - http://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=121

Getting started As I said earlier it is very difficult to learn without seeing, so, if you see someone dancing in a session ask them to show you some steps. I’ve found that generally they are very happy to oblige. Attending workshops is also a good way to learn, most old time festivals and camps have workshops, and have a chat to the dancers at picking weekends. When attending workshops don’t be put off if you seem to be a lot slower than others at picking things up as they may have already attended other workshops or danced before. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or get the instructor to repeat a step again and stand so you can see their feet clearly!

All you need on your feet is a pair of smooth hard soled shoes (preferably leather). Tap shoes are not needed, think of them as amplification for your feet. They allow the sound of your feet to travel out to the audience whilst performing just like a musicians PA system. So in sessions hard soled shoes are loud enough. I take along a dance board as there may not be a suitable surface to dance on. Dancers are normally quite happy to share their board with others.

There are some basic stepping videos on the FOAOTMAD website https://padlet.com/chairman1/3v8pveikciu2o8bk

Unless you are planning on joining a team, you don’t have to remember sequences and it doesn’t matter if you don’t remember steps perfectly, as long as what you do fits the music! And above all have fun. q


Step dance, body percussion, old-time music and me: how I am finding my rhythm...

by Sara Marshall-Rose

I was born congenitally deaf with sensorineural hearing loss. This means that the nerves in my ears are damaged and therefore do not pick up sound clearly. As a dancer this presents many challenges. I don’t hear high sounds or low sounds, so listening to music cues is tough. I find visual or touch cues work best for me. When waiting for music cues there is an overwhelming sense of panic and when dancing with hearing contemporaries I am often left behind as they respond to what appear to me to be invisible cues.

I grew up in a musical family and have always had folk dance in my life. My initial ventures into step dance were through the English clogging traditions. I then discovered precision clogging after watching the Green Grass Cloggers perform at Sidmouth Folk Festival many years ago. After attending a workshop with Broken Ankles, I was hooked and was involved in forming Applejacks a team in Bristol who are still going today. It took me while to understand the nuances of the music because there are distinct differences between English dance rhythms and old-time dance rhythms. I became demoralised and decided it wasn’t for me and left the team only months after it was set up. However, I met various old-time and bluegrass players in that period and spent a lot of time hanging out in sessions and attending festivals and just enjoying and embodying the music. Needless to say, I returned to Applejacks and suddenly there it was, the rhythm and connection.

Fast forward a few years and I discovered the flatfoot

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style of stepping. It took a while to train my body to dance it but I think I got there in the end (although I am still learning). I am mostly self-taught. I attended a few workshops here and there at festivals but found that I just had to keep practicing until it stuck. I discovered that I really enjoyed the low relaxed style of moving as it allows me to feel the music resonate in my body and translate it. I also would get a metronome and watch the arm swing to try and master the control of the steps (nowadays I use a digital one with bone conduction headphones) and keep my timing together. It took many, many hours of developing the fundamental skills before I would ever allow myself to try and dance in a session. However, thanks to opportunities like the sessions in and around Bristol at the time and Gainsborough Old Time Festival I slowly refined my art and am now loving every opportunity I get to dance.

Body Percussion is my latest love. I started exploring it through my contemporary dance work while I was studying my dance degree a few years ago. I was curious to delve into some of the origins of it and then met Keith Terry and Evie Ladin, who have been both inspiring and encouraging over the past few years. I don’t yet perform body percussion, but I really enjoy playing with rhythm and feeling it in my bones and I love to share this with others.

Having been so steeped in the music for so long, I began exploring playing the fiddle. Wow, it is so difficult, but I am applying the same principles as I always do

– work hard and keep trying. My approach was to spend the first two years of learning just trying to get the rhythms through the bowing since this was something I could understand and feel. By playing with others I am learning what the notes

should feel like, but I have no idea if they are in tune or not – I just wait for the sweet spot that resonates through and then I know.

Old-time music is the love of my life. It is in my soul and is in my bones. It is the only music that has ever resonated with me in this way and has slowly but surely enabled me to find my confidence as a deaf person. I have been finding my rhythm for nearly 30 years, but I still marvel at the hearing dancers and musicians – they seem to have so many more choices in the musicality that I struggle to find. I don’t yet know if that is because there is more than I can hear or whether it is my confidence to explore it. Growing up deaf has a lot of challenges but I am learning to love the uniqueness that it is bringing to my artform. I will continue to find my rhythm... q

Sara

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2020

, by J

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Old-time music is the love of my life, it is in my soul and is

in my bones


At some point, when we both have time, my friend has offered to teach me the Appalachian clog routine she dances. So, thinking I could get a bit of a head start, I was wandering around the internet some time last year looking for videos and workshops and I stumbled across the FOAOTMAD Festival. I love good music. I love dance. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

I’ve grown up with folk – there was none of that awful pop music in our house (not until we were old enough to have radios in our bedrooms, anyway). The first ceilidhs I attended were on the back of the stage in a travel cot. Now I play 2nd fiddle in the family ceilidh band. We play all sorts of music – English, Scottish, Shetland, Irish, American. If it’s a good tune we’ll play it, but the old-time tunes are probably among my favourites.

It didn’t take long to decide that my husband and I were going to the festival (he didn’t really get a choice). When I told my parents about it they wanted to know what happens. “Well, as far as I can tell from the website, there are workshops in the morning and concerts in the evening. I think the rest of the time people play in sessions or just relax.” I said. They thought they would join us for the Friday evening concert and the full day on Saturday. Turns out there was plenty to keep us entertained and none of us were disappointed.

The concert on Friday evening was a great introduction to the weekend, with four interestingly different acts and some surprise flat footing from Sara Rose, the MC.

Saturday started with two workshops, with my husband and dad opting for guitar and fiddle workshops respectively. My mum had decided that she’d been playing the guitar for too long to learn anything new, so a week earlier, on her 77th

My first FOAOTMAD festivalby Jo Moore

birthday, bought herself a banjo. She found her workshops interesting but still has a way to go before the banjo makes an appearance in our band. I was torn. Fiddle or dancing? There wasn’t really any contest, but the fiddle workshops did look tempting. Dad would have to show me what he had learnt. I needed to dance.

I’d seen videos of flat footing before, but really couldn’t work out how it was done. Beginners Flat Footing with Paul and Clare Sheridan soon cleared things up. There were a couple of moves I just couldn’t get to stick in my head, but after 90 minutes the final opportunity to freestyle showed I’d learned the basics and had plenty to take away to practice.

Next up was Appalachian Clog with Jake and Alice Jones. This one wasn’t a beginners class. I remember doing an Appalachian step dance workshop about 20 years ago. I can’t say I remember anything from it. Jake assumed everyone knew the basics. I shook my head, but no one else seemed to disagree with him. “Excuse me. Could you just ask everyone else to wait half an hour while you get me up to speed?” That’s not me.

I’ve tried many types of dance over the years. Mostly these days I do English clog, so I’m used to making a noise with my feet. I watched and listened and found that I could follow Jake’s feet while he danced, but as soon as there were no feet to follow I was completely lost. He and Alice would teach a couple of steps and then leave us to freestyle for a while. That was my cue to shuffle my feet and lift my knees and tap my feet to the music. But I wasn’t dancing. Not what you’d call Appalachian step dancing, anyway. It was fun, and I think a little something has probably stuck in my brain or my feet, but my friend’s got some work to do if I’m going to learn her routine.

After lunch I was expecting to wander the corridors until I found a session I had the confidence to join in with. There was no need. The scratch band competition was entertaining and there were some interesting dances to try out in the Square Dance. Even my parents, with their dodgy hips and knees, were compelled to get up and join in.

My fiddle did come out of its case the next day. I had great fun learning a couple of new tunes with Ivy and David Sheppard in the Old Time Fiddle workshop and jamming with The Waggonhoppers was a really relaxing conclusion to the festival.

The quality of the evening concerts was astoundingly good and I loved the way the expert dancers were called upon to add some foot percussion every now and then. The intimacy of the Performing Arts Centre was perfect for the Sunday afternoon Concert for Voices and Feet. This was a real highlight for me, with a close up view of Alice and Jake’s Appalachian flat footing. And Phoebe Douthwaite’s Finding Folk was amazing. Astonishing. Emotional. Brave. I’m not sure I have the words. I do know I need to see it again.

I’ve never been to a festival like this before. Not too big, not too long. Everyone was really friendly, with the artists mixing with the ‘normal’ people and joining in each others workshops. I can’t think why I wouldn’t go again. q

L to R: Mick Moore, Jo Moore, Peter Crofts, Christine Crofts, playing as The Bald Mountain String Band


Kate Lissauer at Penzance Folk Club, The Bath ArmsWednesday, 4th March

by Bob ChaseHeadliner Kate Lissauer attracted a capacity audience of those who knew of Kate’s work with Buffalo Gals at The Acorn Theatre and Cornish Bluegrass Festival, and those who were willing to take a gamble.

An air of anticipation crackled as Linda Collins introduced the star of the night, and Kate wasn’t going to hold back as she burst into a trad ballad Blackjack Davy accompanied by her own driving fiddle: note – not all ballads dirge on for hours. Next we are introduced to Kate’s banjo playing for the song Red Rocking Chair demonstrating consummate musicianship against her unique vocals and also Sibs Riesen’s percussive footwork. Up with the fiddle for a pair of traditional Virginia fiddle tunes Old Christmas Morn and Shelvin Rock from the Hammons family, then Barbary Allen (American style) with beautiful open-tuned guitar. And so it goes – fiddle, guitar, fiddle, banjo, even two styles of banjo, the old knockdown and the modern bluegrass style, Five Miles from Louisville from Kate’s favourite fiddler,BuddyThomas;thedeeptune,Piney Woods, played beautifully on banjo accompanied by feet. The quality of musicianship is as astounding as the variety of instruments and the authenticity of Kate’s voice – after all, Kate is from Maryland (pronounced Mer’lan). Last Wishes, a heart rending song penned by Kate about her recently departed mother had some dabbing their eyes, only for those eyes to be forced wide open with singin’n’fiddln’ an alloy of Leadbelly’s The Gallows Pole and Hangman’s Reel.

But to list the songs and instrumentation Kate presented is to miss a big chunk of the performance, as between each song and tune we get the full blast of rural American jokes, humour, tales and tall stories. We were also given a taste of other projects in Kate’s life, including writing a song poking fun at ‘Bluegrass Family Values’, writing another about A.P. Carter of the 1930s supergroup the Carter Family called Wish I Had My Time Again, and composing and playing music to accompany a silent film, Beggars of Life, to be premiered at Stroud Film Festival virus (lockdown permitting).

Although in her immediate circle this visit to Penzance was billed as a solo gig, good friend, bandmate and stepdancer Sibs Riesen was on hand to provide rhythm and texture on several tunes and some theatre to illustrate Peg and Awl, and Sue Clare’s Jump Down.Kate’s husband, Johnny, got in on the last tune to play banjo to Sib’s feet and Kate’s fiddle in a rousing Elzic’s Farewell. Kate’s (almost) solo gig brought me right back to Wadebridge Folk Festival, over 20 years ago, where we first came across Kate – then as now, we were floored, touched and inspired by her intensity, authenticity and sassy good fun.

At the end of the evening – a fantastic response and lots of smiley faces. Two nights later, an almost identical scene is created, this time at the Bodmin Folk Club where a most knowledgeable/attentive audience was entranced by Kate’s performance. q

REVIEW

Photos by Hillary Jane Roberts


Griffin Banjosby James Bowen

Some 25 years ago I started dabbling at banjo making as light relief from a decade of hard work restoring an old farmhouse and barn in Rishworth, West Yorkshire, where we lived at the time, but it was the stimulus of the now legendary ‘Fry-Up of Banjos’ at Ripponden, of which I was one of the organisers, that really set me off on the track that led to the creation of Griffin Banjos.

At first I was just making banjos for my own pleasure, but after one was sold to a friend and enquiries started coming in I began to think that there might be some mileage in doing it for a living, and that was how it all started. The name Griffin and the original logo came from a book of designs dated about 1900 and seemed just perfect to me. They were nearly called ‘Snowdrop Banjos’ which doesn’t have quite the same ring!

The first few banjos were not at all bad, but as I learnt more they got better and better, good enough to start taking a stand at festivals to show them off. This was very hard going to begin with - we didn’t know anybody and they didn’t know us and for quite a while we were just completely ignored which was pretty disheartening. However, persistence paid off and eventually the sight of good players sitting at the stand playing away and drawing a crowd would result in enquiries leading to sales.

Griffin Banjos soon built up a fine reputation for having great sound, looks and playability - a reputation which I have always maintained was the most valuable thing I possessed. The banjos have always been made in the slim and elegant style of the banjos that might have been found in parlours or on stage in the late 19th or early 20th century, my inspiration being the models made by such firms as Fairbanks, Cole and S.S. Stewart. Griffins have often been highly decorated, and the ultimate example is surely the ‘Paradise Banjo’ custom made for John Les Pritchard, every inch covered in inlay, engraving or carving.

I should like to mention that, when Griffin arrived on the scene, established makers, far from being guarded and resentful were all very helpful and ready to advise. This I greatly appreciated, and we established good friendships with all of them - it helped that none of us were doing exactly

the same thing and we all had our own furrows to plough.

In the early 2000s when the economy was booming and people had money to spend, Judith and I would attend festivals all over the country with the Griffin stand and business was good. For a considerable time I had a waiting list of two years and I was working seven days a week to keep up. After the financial crash orders began to tail off as peoples finances worsened but somehow there would always be one or two orders in hand to keep us going, usually custom jobs to mark a significant birthday or as a retirement present. Just once, with a blank order book for six months, I just continued to make stock and it did all eventually sell within a fairly short time.

By now as Judith and I reached our 70s we cut right back on the festivals as, though thoroughly enjoyable, it is very hard work, and lately we have only attended one or two a year. Over the years we have had a great time, had a heap of fun, heard some brilliant music, joined in with epic sessions and made loads of really good friends. Nobody in this line of work expects to make a fortune, but the side benefits are worth thousands just in themselves.

At no time have I ever been able to complete more than twelve banjos in a year due to the complexity of hand making instruments of this nature and I had always thought that I would stop when I reached 200 banjos. Though that figure was passed some time ago we decided that this year the time was right to wind up Griffin Banjos as a business though I shall still be making a few instruments on a purely hobby level while stocks of timber and hardware remain. Completed instruments will be advertised on the Griffin site (www.griffinbanjos.co.uk) which will be retained for the time being and custom orders can be considered but on a limited basis.

Judith and I look forward to and easier pace of life and would like to take the opportunity to say a thousand thanks to all our friends in the music world for all the help, enjoyment and companionship shared with them over the years.

We shall still be around - don’t forget us completely - and we wish you all the best.

James and Judith Bowen

In sorting out my workshop, I have a number of surplus items for sale that could be of use to other banjo builders. Please email me on [email protected]

• Mahoganyrim,completewithbrackettube,turnedforWhyte Laydie tone ring - £110

• Walnutrim,turnedforTubaphone,alterationpossible - £85

• Mapleneckblank,laminatedwithblackcentrestripe,squared up - £45

• Beautifulburlwalnutresonator,new,unfinished-£99• Mapleneckblankfor‘A’scalebanjo,centrestripe,

squared, truss rod slot - £45• 8”brasstonering/nickelplatedtensionhoopsetc/w

Fibreskyn head, for ‘C’ scale banjos or ukes - £65• 8”heads,several,slightseconds-£3 each• 12”heads,alltypes,allshallowcrown-£5 each• 4dulcimertuners,newandstillinpack-£30

All plus carriage.

For Sale


OBITUARIES

Bill Skelson, 1949-2020by Stu Weetman and Hannah SkelsonI first met Bill at Sore Fingers Summer School. He was doing a double bass class, and I was doing old-time banjo. In those days, more people smoked, though it was not allowed inside buildings, and Bill

and I were both “roll your own” guys, so it was natural that we would meet in the smoking area behind the bar.

While chatting, I mentioned that I lived in Goring on Thames. Bill had a keen interest in narrow boats, and I spent many a happy cigarette break talking to Bill about boating, rivers, and canals. From then, I bumped into Bill every time I went to Sore Fingers, though we never seemed to do the same instrument at the same time. He would always greet me with “Hello, Steve”. Although that isn’t my name, he was consistent!

When I joined FOAOTMAD and started attending Gainsborough Festival, I kept bumping into Bill, and we finished up in the same scratch band in three separate scratch band competitions. The first time we were placed (with Bill on bass), the second time we won (Bill on bass again), and the final time we came about 7th (Bill on mandolin – though I am sure that is not a reflection on his mandolin playing – more the quality of the other entrants).

I also had the privilege of playing in a jam band with Bill at one of the Ira Bernstein/Riley Baugus dance parties organised by Sibs Riesen and others, while Ira was demonstrating how to dance on cream crackers.

In good health or poor, Bill was always a great musician, and a real asset to any session. A real old-time gentleman, he will also be remembered for his witty and warm MC slots at numerous Gainsborough Festival concerts. He was a pretty natty dresser, too!

I don’t think he ever got my name right, though…Goodbye Bill – you will be missed. Stu q

Carole Chant, 1936-2020by David and Shirley DryI met Carole at the second Diller/Bing workshop in Gainsborough, November 2000, and want to share a couple of photographs. All who knew her, loved her. She worked tirelessly for FOAOTMAD. Her easy friendly charm concealed a steely determination to get things done and master the banjo.

By profession she was an art and crafts teacher but many may not know that she devoted three months of her time annually to teach underprivileged children in India. We looked forward to her treasured Christmas

cards, all hand-made, simple yet inventive. They were given a prime position and kept.For almost 20 years she tried to stop smoking, claiming that she had done, then

lighting a roll-up just to join in! I hope I have captured her impish sense of guilt.The other picture is of Carole at Muker in Swaledale. As a girl her family holidayed in

the Yorkshire Dales and we had a wonderful week jogging old memories.Carole, you will live long in our hearts and memories. q

Bill ’s daughter Hannah kindly allowed us to use the following which she posted on Facebook to mark three months since Bill passed away:Today marks 3 months without my Papabear. I’ve woken up today with all of the heaviness and heartbreak as though he left us just yesterday. I could sit and cry all day, I really could, but I’ve decided to put my energy into remembering Dad and smiling at all of the wonderful memories I am so blessed to have been left with. I miss him everyday and I know he misses me too but in the moment of a memory we are together again. 3 memories for 3 months apart...

1) Remember when we were at the Tigers. Dad was just about to have his last mouthful of Guinness when a bird pooped right in his glass!!! The look of dread on his face when he realised how close he was to drinking it!! Oh how we laughed!!!

2) A couple of years ago, Dad and I went on a roadtrip to France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium. We stayed in a place called La Roche whilst in France. This was to be our home for a week as Dad was participating in a music festival with friends. Dad completely convinced me that La Roche is where “Ferrero Rocher” are made. I spent the majority of my time looking for the factory in the hope of a tour and tasting session. This, of course, was one of Dad’s wonderful pranks on me! I can picture him right now almost bursting wanting to laugh at me! Thanks Dad!!

3) When I was a little girl, Dad used to sing me a song before bedtime, “Daddy loves his Hannah”. It was something I grew out of and it was tucked away in my childhood memories. During his final week, Dad was in and out of reality. He was so confused and muddled up. Nursing him that final week was by far the worst and most painful part of the “Big C” journey. I longed so much to be a little girl again and hear him sing his song to me. The day before Dad was sedated, he sang it for me. Out of nowhere, he sang me our song. I remember saying to him, “I didn’t think you could remember that Dad” . His reply, “... always Sweetheart, come and join me and we’ll sing together”, and so we did.

Please feel free to share memories if you would like to. There is a lot of comfort to be found within them.

Stay safe. Be kind. Love always, Hannah xxx q

Other tributes include: Workers’ Weekly, http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-20/ww20-10/ww20-10-01.htm and The Wire, https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/fari-bradley-remembers-scratch-orchestra-s-carole-finer. Ed.


Annie Warner, 1944-2020by Colm DalyI hope to convey here my personal experience of knowing Annie Warner rather than the whole Annie, for she was greater than the sum of her parts. The more I got to know her the more I learned how little I knew her. Yes, back in the day, we had shared similar fruit picking environments in Kent, but I have never ridden an elephant in a circus, nor run an exhibition of my art, nor shared her love of horses, nor campaigned for prisoners’ rights and against apartheid, (for more on her politics have a look at her Potted History on the Padlet link), and yet seemingly these only scratch the surface of a varied life in personal relationships, and all leave a massive legacy of loving family and friends no matter what she did. All I can offer is my limited acquaintance with her.

I think we first met at Summer Camp many years ago when her cheerful humour became very noticeable and welcome around the camp fire. No matter what weather we endured she found a positive in it. She didn’t play much, some spoons at times, but was fascinated with my homemade tea chest bass which I eventually bequeathed to her. She adored it and played it well, and later even became a cornerstone of their local east London band The Bow Creek Ramblers.

It soon became a case of “Where is Annie?” if Paul and she didn’t turn up at any of our annual camps or festivals such would she be missed. While heads were down in concentration on a given tune Annie would be making contact with non-musicians on the sidelines and offering them spoons to join in, or simply just having idle chat if not getting her sketch book out and drawing hilarious representations of those around her. All the fireside activities from roasting marshmallows to baking potatoes were skills she’d share with the young ones and they loved her to bits.

An Annie Warner creative Learning Award has been set up on https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SomeoneSpecial/AnnieWarner. For more photos and further information see https://padlet.com/newtchaser/annie

Above: Paddling along the Avon at Summer Camp 2018, photo by Janet Crame; Annie with Colm and a tractor-full of children at Sacrewell Camp, photo by Cathy Mars

Annie out and about on her mobility scooter just a few months ago

Gypsy Annie

Sitting astride Birma the circus elephant in

the 1960s

Once at Sacrewell Camp Cathy and I were passing her with an entourage of kids by a scrap tractor and knowing I used to drive a tractor in Kent she asked Cathy to take a photo of us all on the tractor. I treasure this picture for it sums up my relationship with Annie, that of sharing our love of a rural past, and also of sharing it in a fun way with a younger generation who miss out on that these days... is that not what old-time is about I ask? For me the highlights of my association with old-time music and friends are summed up not in a particular quirky version of some obscure tune, but in meeting friends like Annie and knowing that what she brings us is immeasurable!

R.I.P. Annie. Condolences to her loving husband Paul, and all her loved ones. q


Mike Bostock


Trouble, TroubleThis lovely driving fiddle tune in A major with its standard AABB structure and riffing vocal is sourced from

Arthur ‘Cush’ Holston, a fiddle player from Alachua County in the rural north of Florida not far from the state

line with Georgia. Cush Holston, as he was known locally, was missed by the musicologists such as Alan Lomax

on their widespread field work throughout the southern states with their microphones and reel-to-reel

tape recorders in hand in the 1950s and 60s. The existent recording of this tune was made in 1962 at the

Florida Folk Festival when Cush was already of quite advanced years. The banjo player on the recording is

almost certainly the late Marty Schuman who played a unique finger style on a basic resonator banjo. Marty

is believed to have made the original recording. How this recording then subsequently came to the attention

of Virginia fiddle and banjo player Harold Hausenfluck is uncertain. One possibility may have been his

involvement running an FM old-time music radio station (WHBH) where it may have found its way onto one

of his playlists. We do know that through him this tune became known and played in his home area of South

West Virginia. The track appears on FRC119 Harold Hausenfluck Volume 1: The Fiddling Collection.

The MP3, tab and other references can be found on the Woodshed padlet which you will find by following the

Old Time News Woodshed link on the Useful Links page on our website (password old-time).

OLD TIME NEWS No. 102 Summer 2020 25OLD TIME NEWS No. 100 Winter 2019-20 25OLD TIME NEWS No. 102 Summer 2020 25

1

14

9

5

Cush Holston, Florida

= 180

Trouble, Trouble


Ernie Carpenter 1909-1997by Alan Pridgeon

“Music is a great gift, one of the greatest anybody can have, because it’s something nobody can take away from you. No way can they touch it. They can’t take a note away. It don’t make no difference if you’re a tramp or how low down you are, if you play music you can still keep it. That’s about the only thing left that the politicians can’t get in on! Money can’t buy it. You can’t even give it away yourself. You can learn somebody, but you can’t give it to them as a gift. It’s a very precious thing, I think, very precious.” – Ernie Carpenter

Ernie Carpenter is a name most of us associate with one tune, “Elk River Blues”, but like many of the other early musicians he left a wealth of music in his wake. It doesn’t seem quite clear when West Virginia fiddler Ernest “Ernie” Carpenter was born, but most sources quote 1909. What is agreed on is that he was born in rural Braxton County near the Elk River town of Sutton. He was descended from four generations of fiddle players and river men.

His great-great grandfather, Jeremiah, was one of the first white settlers of the Elk River area. Ernie can be heard telling the story of his great grandfather Solomon’s unusual birth on the website of The Berea College’s sound archive. The story goes that during a conflict with nearby Native American tribes, Jeremiah took his family into hiding in some rock caves after his son, Ernie’s great-great uncle, had been killed. The caves were on a tributary of Laurel Creek, which itself is a tributary of the Elk River. Ernie’s great grandfather Solomon, “Old Solly” Carpenter, was born while the family was in hiding in a cave, and family tradition claims that Jeremiah created the tune “Shelvin’ Rock” to commemorate this event. Grandfather William “Squirrely Bill” Carpenter was Ernie’s connection to these earlier generations and was the source of most of Ernie’s tunes and stories.

As a teenager, Ernie played music at home

with his brother Carl and his sister Goldie. As they became proficient, they started playing at dances and parties around their community, limited by the distance they could walk. Carl played the guitar, Goldie banjo, and Ernie the fiddle. Ernie’s fiddling was influenced by whoever he could hear. In the beginning that was his father, and grandfather William. Their music was cherished by Ernie - tunes such as “Betty Baker”, “Yew Piney Mountain”, “Old Sledge”, “Shelvin’ Rock”, and one he calls “Camp Run”. Another contributor of these older, special tunes was “Uncle Jack” McElwain who Ernie states, “was the best fiddle player I ever heard.” Wallace Pritchard, a neighbour and family friend, also taught Ernie tunes as a boy.

The wood alcohol plant near Sutton drew people to the area. Ernie told how many Calhoun County musicians stopped by their house to play music while working there. One old gentleman, George Hammons, would stay with the family and play the fiddle for a week or so in the spring and fall. Ernie recalls that he used to walk from Clay County, where he tended a cattle farm for someone in the winter, to the mountains at the headwaters of Elk River, staying with the Carpenter family coming and going. He carried all of his possessions with him, which included a fiddle.

There was a stretch of time, beginning when Ernie went into the service and lasting for 10 years, when Ernie hardly played music at all. He explains in John Lilly’s book Mountains of Music: West Virginia Traditional Music from Goldenseal, how he got started again: “I’d come up home and they was having music down here at this little country store at Laurel Fork. Well, I’d stop there to hear them, and as soon as I went in, there’d be somebody in there that knowed that I used to play. They’d start hollering for me to come over and play. I wouldn’t do it. Finally, they did get me to pick up the fiddle one night, and my goodness, I couldn’t do nothing with it. It kind of worried me. I had my fiddle up on a shelf in a clothes closet. One day I went and got it and took it out of the case, and there was white mould all over it from one end to the other end. It scared me to death. I was just sure it would fall apart. I cleaned it up and checked it over and didn’t see any places it was loose. Then I heard a Propst boy, a real good fiddler, stop in and play music for them people down there. He played “Golden Slippers” awful good and I was determined I was going to play it something like he did. So, I went to work on the doggone thing, and put in quite a bit of time on it and that’s the way I got started back.”

According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter’s LP (see below for details) the story behind his most well known tune “Elk River Blues” is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie’s life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia. He was a regular visitor during his working years to his home place on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950s and 1960s. Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbours to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government’s initial offer for his land (they didn’t offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court. He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbours had already left. Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off. “I was the last person out of there. I went ahead then and tore the old place down and brought it up here. Part of it’s in this house.” Of the tune, he remarked: “I was sittin’ here one day, an’ I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin’ about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin’ on the fiddle an’ that’s what I came up with.”(For those who like to be accurate the tune is played slower than a breakdown, at a very brisk walking pace.)

Ernie Carpenter received the prestigious Vandalia Award in 1988 for his old-time fiddling: the award is West Virginia’s highest folklore honour. He passed away January 23rd 1997, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, at the age of 89. q

Ernie carpenter cDs:• Old-TimeFiddleTunesfromtheElk

River, Augusta Heritage Records AHR-023

• ErnieCarpenter,FieldRecordersCollective FRC204

• ErnieCarpenterLP• ElkRiverBluesTraditionalFiddleTunes

from Braxton County West Virginia, Augusta Heritage Records.

Spotlight on...


The Auld Reekie String Band

Black BottleJames Stewart: banjo, vocals; Jakov Jandric: bass,vocals;LindaLarking:guitar,vocals;BenErrington:fiddle, suitcase, vocals Black Bottle / Big Sciota / Sugar Hill / Tippin’ Back The Corn / The Cuckoo / Elk River Blues Here is a debut EP from The Auld Reekie String Band. The youthful band comprises a Scot, a Cumbrian, a Swede and a Croat who play old-time Americana. I imagine that they have developed their vigorous sound by busking and gigging, initially in the streets, pubs, and clubs of Edinburgh, but now they have spread their wings and their influence into England and mainland Europe too. They have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/auldreekiestringband/) where you can watch videos of their performances and see the ardent audience reaction that they arouse. The Auld Reekie String Band is a good-time live band that goes down very well in spirited festival-type situations, where they can push out their exuberant and energetic interpretations of some of the best traditional music with an old-time passion. Vocals feature largely in their sets, and very vocal they are too;fourstrongvoicesandclassyharmoniesabound.Their album bursts open with a passionate song written by banjo player James Stewart about whiskey, Black Bottle. There is some similarity here with bands such as The Wild Turkey Brothers, The Levellers and The Waterboys. Even though the Auld Reekies do not use a drum-kit (just a kicked suitcase on some tracks) their overall sound on this song is commendable, though the bass has got a little lost in the mix. Big Sciota is a tune I learned years ago, but I had never realised before that there were lyrics to it as well. This is an imaginative song arrangement, with powerful vocal harmonies and fine musicianship all round. Sugar Hill is a traditional song that describes what might happen if you go up to Sugar Hill… it sounds like it was a dangerous place, though the music and vocals convey the excitement in a very up-beat style. The first of two instrumentals on this album is Tippin’ Back the Corn by Jordan Wankoff. I first got this tune from a YouTube clip of Roger Netherton jamming at Clifftop 2015 and the Auld Reekies give the tune a very danceable arrangement with blistering breaks from James Stewart’s banjo and Ben Errington’s fine fiddling. The traditional song The Cuckoo also gets a very lively treatment and will get audiences up onto their feet. In great contrast, the last track on the album is Ernie Carpenter’s Elk River Blues, played as a pensive and poignant air. Alternating between seemingly four in a bar and five in a bar means that the tune doesn’t support the all-out uninhibited dancing styles that the other tracks inspire, but it does demonstrate the Auld Reekies’ tasteful musicianship.

On this EP you get six tracks of four songs and two tunes, and 25 minutes of genuine enjoyment. The album is not entirely suitable for old-time music purists, but what it may lack in a strictly Appalachian traditional sense is compensated for with honest passion, power, and musical ability. There could be more biographical detail within the sleeve notes and perhaps more detail about where it was recorded and how, though it does say it was recorded and mixed by Andy Paul, and it turns out quite adequately and successfully. I would enjoy seeing The Auld Reekie String Band perform in a summer festival (probably in 2021) and have thoroughly enjoyed listening to their CD, repeatedly. I would like to see and hear them tackle that Charlie Daniels’ song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”;The Auld Reekie StringBand would smash it as a smash hit!

Jan HowardAvailable from: Bandcamp.com

Appalachian Heaven String Band

Hold Your Lying TongueIan Alexander: clawhammer banjo, vocals; SallyTaylor: fiddle, vocals; Kimberley Wheeler: bass,vocals; Graeme Fletcher: guitar, autoharp, vocals;Claire Alleway: celloElzic’s Farewell / Fall On My Knees / Red Ruby Rose / Chocolate Jesus / Hold Your Lying Tongue / In The Pines / I’ll Be Here In The Morning / Born In The Sugarcane / Sal ’s In The Garden / Single Girl, Married Girl / Long Long Road / Boatsman / Evangeline / Please Come In / The Train That Carried My Girl From Town / Bob’s FarewellThe Appalachian Heaven Stringband hail from Australia but have some serious old-time and bluegrass experience between them – fiddler Sally Taylor has soloed for Arlo Guthrie and played with Mike Compton, banjo player Ian Alexander placed third in the senior competition at Clifftop and autoharp player Graeme Fletcher was a finalist at the Mount Laurel Autoharp Championship. Their bio describes them as the ‘best old-time/Americana band in Australia right now’. Not knowing any others I am in no position to judge the truth of this statement but on the evidence of this CD it would be a very good band who could challenge them for that honour. The CD kicks off with a spirited version of Elzic’s Farewell and follows with another old-time standard in Fall On My Knees. Both show that the band’s old-time chops are solid. Driving fiddle, good solid guitar work with nice, understated bass runs, banjo providing a counterpoint to the melody and all underpinned by a bass section consisting of both double bass and cello. Guitar is dropped in favour of autoharp for Red Ruby Rose, providing a nice contrast of light and shade in the sound. The same variety is evident in the vocal work. Four of

the five members sing and the band use their vocal resources well. There is the variety of voice you automatically get simply by having both male and female voices, but some care has also been taken in the arrangements. The CD contains a nice mix of instrumental and vocal numbers and manages to include contemporary material alongside standards without any of the jarring which can sometimes occur when this is done. For me personally the stand-out track is Tom Waits’ Chocolate Jesus. Maybe this is simply because it is written by a musical genius but the band do a fine job with this, taking it at a slow, bluesy pace. This is probably the track on which the bowed sound of the cello adds most clearly and strongly to the sound. (Incidentally, if you want a treat look up Tom Waits’ version of this song on YouTube in which he uses a megaphone to add some edge to his otherwise honeyed singing voice! But I digress.) I very much enjoyed this album and it was my in car listening for quite a while. If this is a sample of the Australian old-time scene then I look forward to hearing more from our Antipodean cousins. Highly recommended.

Steve WiseAvailable from: Bandcamp

Betse and Clarke

River Still Rise (Smiling Violet Music)BetseEllis:fiddles,violins,viola,vocals;ClarkeWyatt:banjos, cello; Brett Hodges: guitar; Alex Mallett:string bass Stepping On Ghosts / The Two Brothers / Shelvin’ Rock / In This World / Calico / Requiem For Little Sadie / The Quail Is A Pretty Bird / Fair And Tender Ladies / Arkansas Traveler / Diamond Joe / Jericho / Fill My Way With Love / Rolling River / Take A Drink On Me / ASB Bridge BluesBetse Ellis will be known to many as the fiery fiddle player from the Wilders, although as some will know she is also a classically trained violinist. Her musical partner Clarke Wyatt is a new name to me but as well as playing three-finger banjo he has a background as a piano player and composer. On their debut CD as a duo they are joined on many tracks by the other members of their old-time string band Brushy Creek. This combination of solid old-time playing and formal training is very much in evidence in this excellent CD.The title of the CD is taken from a phrase in the journals from the Lewis and Clark expedition which explored the relatively unknown interior of the USA at the start of the nineteenth century. As well as making a nice nod to their own names, the connection is appropriate because this album is very much an exploration in its own right as the pair find new inspiration in traditional material. Having said that, the journey starts with an original tune composed by the pair. Clarke provided the musical motif over

To submit material for review (CDs, DVDs, books or films) or to join our team of reviewers please contact the Reviews Editor at [email protected].

CD Reviews


Fiddlin’A documentary based around the 80th Galax Old Fiddlers’ convention

Billed as a love letter to American roots and the uplifting power of music, Fiddlin’ is a documentary based around the 80th Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention. Although mostly filmed in 2015, it took director Julie Simone, producer Vicki Vlasic and their crew a further three years to create a fascinating documentary, interspersed with archive footage and photographs, and interviews with many notable musicians both living and some sadly long gone. The film delves into the history of old-time music, how it was born in the Appalachians over 200 years ago with the arrival of European immigrants

and how their music combined with the African slaves’ rhythms. It mentions that bluegrass grew out of the old-time tradition in the 1950s, developed by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Flatfooting features prominently throughout the film and includes footage of all ages pounding the boards, from one very enthusiastic toddler to many a nimble senior. Added to all this is a soundtrack of wonderful music throughout.

It takes a great deal of experience to organise an event so large, but anyone who is lucky enough to have attended Galax knows that it runs seamlessly. The 6-day festival attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors who are there not only to join in and enjoy the music but also to watch all the contests which attract some of the best musicians in the genre – over 1400 registered in 2015. Of course the majority are from north America, but in this film our own Russell Hawkes is one of the interviewees and Andrew Henley (blink and you’ll miss him) can even be spotted backing up Russell on stage in the fiddle contest.

What is really noticeable about this film is the amazing number of extraordinary young American contestants who are making sure old-time thrives. They might only be 10, 11 or 12 years old, but these youngsters have phenomenal talent and enthusiasm. One 11-year-old was even judged to be the best player in the adult guitar contest, beating 249 other much more experienced players! Here I should give a little background to that amazing winner: called Presley Barker (despite his forename he doesn’t come from a musical family), his natural gift for playing the guitar started at a very early age and in just a handful of years he has developed into one of

the finest flat pickers in the Doc Watson style.Presley’s mentor and great admirer is master

luthier Wayne Henderson, who is interviewed several times during the film. Wayne describes his childhood growing up on a small farm in rural Virginia and how he learnt to pick on his neighbour’s guitar. Without the money to buy his own, Wayne decided to make one and he’s “bin tryin’ to make ’em better ever since”. The film takes us into his workshop and then into his vault where he has a wonderful collection of historic guitars, including some of his own make. His daughter Jayne who is also now a luthier was asked by Doc Watson to build one for him, but unfortunately Doc passed away just before it was finished. That guitar is now safely stored in Wayne’s vault. Doc was a great friend of Wayne’s and there is footage of the two of them talking and jamming together.

Many of the young players in the movie could well have been tutored on the Junior Appalachian Music program. The brainchild of Helen White, JAM started over 30 years ago as an after-school club and it now teaches and inspires thousands of children across many States. I know that Helen sadly passed away last year but JAM continues to go from strength to strength.

Other interviews feature some of the more mature bands competing at Galax. Jake Krack of the Bing Brothers Band was voted the best overall old-time fiddle performer and the New Ballards Bog Trotters were the best old-time band. The Crooked Road Ramblers, the Five Mile Mountain Band and the Whitetop Mountain Band all feature in the film, as does Barr’s Fiddle Shop in downtown Galax. Joe Wilson, author of A Guide to the Crooked Road, is

FILM Reviews

which Betse composed a melody – the reference to a classical music composition technique seems entirely appropriate in this context. The result is a swirling, evocative tune with hints of Eastern European dissonance in the banjo part. The closing track is also an original, a tune by Betse which shows the Brushy Creek String Band in full flight and which is the most modern-sounding cut on the CD. The song In This World is also an original by Betse but in this case sounds very much as if it could have been traditional.The other twelve tracks all take traditional material as their basis. In many cases the treatment is simple but well thought out. A good example is Arkansas Traveler which is a duet between Betse’s powerful, fluid fiddling and Clarke’s finger-style banjo on a lovely resonant fretless banjo. As they say in the excellent liner notes it is good to ‘remember to remember the standards’. At the other end of the scale is Requiem for Little Sadie in which the song is bracketed between a prelude and coda played as a string quartet in a freely improvised style. The idea of matching the classical string quartet with string band music makes a lot of sense, and here it works well to provide a requiem to poor Sadie who is dispatched in the second line of the song, for reasons unstated, and never heard from again. Less successful for me is the treatment of The Two Brothers, a dark tale of fratricide with magical overtones. Here the musical treatment is made to match the lyrics – wistful solo violin at the start moving to harsh banjo tones for the murder and then later a lighter, mystical tones for the section in which it is suggested that the sister will somehow restore the murdered brother to life. This is probably a personal prejudice but I think that one of the powerful elements of a traditional ballad is exactly that the melody doesn’t change, and so sets up a strong background against which the details of the tales can stand out. Matching the music to the words

in this way seems to me to be over-explanatory, more reminiscent of Schubert Lieder than of mountain music. However this is very much a personal view and in no way detracts from my enjoyment of this very fine CD. To end on an entirely positive note, the duo provide excellent liner notes online (https://www.betseandclarke.com/riverstillrise) which I entirely applaud – other old-time bands please copy! This CD is clearly a labour of love and I suspect not the last such enterprise from this very talented duo.

Steve WiseAvailable from: CD Baby

In Brief...Vera van Heeringen - Won’t Be Broken

This is good stuff. The album consists entirely of songs penned by Vera herself, and in addition to the core trio (Vera plus Dave Luke and Andy

Seward) features a number of guest musicians, including Vera’s duo partner, Jock Tyldesley as well as Dirk Powell. Lead track, Gods, is a strong modern country/folk number with overtones of recent Dave Rawlings recordings. It opens with some beautiful guitar picking against mandolin chops before the arrangement expands to include organ, piano and harmony vocals. In summary, this is a contemporary song, and it’s representative: the album is not an old-time endeavour, despite Vera’s credentials in the genre. Track 2, Dancing Shoes is, contrary to what you might suppose from the title, a wistful song with a crystalline lead vocal and, for me, one of the stand-out selections. Despite the clarity of both the singing and playing there is the feeling that it was created late on a woozy summer night, a testament to the skills of those involved in the recording. Production is by Andy Seward who has done an excellent job of creating a distinct atmosphere for each track, but has kept a cohesive sound and ensured that all the players’ performances have presence. Good songs continue to flow. The title track is a slow burner which takes a little from the Staples Singers and a little from Carole King. Running is set against bluesy piano, with subtle acoustic bass and guitar. Gather the Words is a fairly brisk waltz that begins with fiddle, takes in accordion and electric guitar, and nods towards a cajun feel without ever becoming parodic. The Louisiana influence extends into the last track, Blankets: more accordion, some shuffling drums and well-judged guitar licks see the listener dancing off into the night as the music fades away. Somewhere in the distance it surely must be playing still.

Dave MepstedAvailable from: veravanheeringen.com, Bandcamp


mentioned for his contribution to promoting much needed tourism in the area. Jon Lohman, Virginia State Folklorist, speaks about the value of the Convention to the economy of Galax and its many local luthiers.

My only criticism of the film is that no dates are given and seamless editing implies that some legendary players are still with us. I had to find out from the internet that the 80th Convention took place in 2015. The footage of Doc Watson must have been filmed before 2012, the year he died, and Bill Monroe passed away in 1996. It would also have been interesting to learn the dates of some of the old archive film clips and stills.

If you want to take yourself on a virtual trip to Galax, then I can highly recommend this documentary – it’s 1 hour 32 minutes of pure escapism, and a real visual and audio old-time treat. I downloaded it from Amazon Prime (£5.49 for 24 hours to rent or £9.99 to buy). Apart from a short trailer on YouTube, I haven’t been able to discover if the film is available elsewhere.

Judy Spindler

The crooked Tune The story of an old-time fiddler in the modern world

The Crooked Tune documentary follows fiddler Dave Bing over a period of many years as he talks about his life in old-time music. It leads from the backwoods of West Virginia to the Ship Inn in Gainsborough as he plays the traditional old tunes he learned from musicians long gone.

Dave Bing, a legendary fiddler, luthier, performer and teacher, tells of his interest in music which began at an early age. This was brought about by a chance meeting with veteran fiddler Sherman Hammons, his father’s trout fishing friend. The young Bing loved the tunes he heard Hammons playing and over many years he learnt them directly from the master. He felt it to be such a privilege to hang out with old-timers such as the Hammons family, Lester McCumbers and Franklin George with their unique repertoire of often weird and obscure tunes. Originally Bing had no plans to make music his life but that is how it turned out and now he is known and respected all over the old-time world as a preserver and promoter of this genre of music.

Alan Jabbour, founder of the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, recalls collecting tunes in the 1970s – a musical time-capsule which Bing has tapped into. Now in his turn, Bing is passing on his knowledge and inspiring the younger generation of north American bands such as The Old Crow Medicine Show.

The film features interviews with Kirk Judd, Alan Jabbour, Chance McCoy, Ben Townsend and Anna Roberts-Gevalt. Other scenes show Bing talking to and playing with Sherman Hammons and Lester McCumbers. But possibly of even more interest to FOAOTMAD members is the footage of Gainsborough. I have been unable to establish exactly which year it was – my sources suggest it was

probably 2001. Certain faces look a little younger, but the exuberance and enjoyment of a bunch of people crowded together in a small space at the Ship Inn is a joy to behold, as is further footage filmed at the Trinity Arts Centre. There is an interview with Keith Johnson, founder of FOAOTMAD and the Gainsborough festival, and another with Kate Lissauer who proudly shows off her brand new Dave Bing fiddle.

I have a couple of small criticisms of the film. Firstly I think it would have been helpful to know the dates of some of the footage including Gainsborough, as well as Bing’s meetings with Lester McCumbers and Sherman Hammons. Secondly I found the sound quality to be inconsistent: the interviewer’s questions are sometimes muffled, while the interviewees’ replies are loud and clear, as indeed is all the music – and there’s plenty of that throughout the film.

Overall this documentary is a timely reminder of what life was like before social distancing, when musicians and teachers like Dave Bing could visit our shores, when pub jamming and meeting up with like-minded folk were the norm. In the meantime, if you immerse yourself in this profile of Dave Bing, you can forget all about the pandemic and remember that better times will return, eventually.

The Crooked Tune, (1 hour 15 mins, a documentary by Charles Cohen, published by Eyesore Productions, released 2018) is available on Amazon Prime.

Judy Spindler

You Gave Me A SongA film about Alice Gerrard

I don’t know how many UK old-timers braved the unearthly hour back in April to watch a live stream plus Q&A screening from a Florida theatre of “You Gave Me A Song” (The Groove Productions;Director:KennyDalsheimer).Thisisafilm documentary about Alice Gerrard, which was conceived originally in 2017, funded through arts sponsorship and Crowdfunder, and released finally last year. You might recognise a few home names in the support credits. It was selected for numerous US film festival programmes to wide acclaim before audience screenings, sadly, were brought to a halt by the current crisis.

The producers’ own publicity states that the film “offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preserving traditional music. The film follows eighty-four year old Gerrard over several years, weaving together verité footage of living room rehearsals, recording sessions, songwriting, archival work, and performances with photos and rare field recordings. Much of the film is told in Alice’s voice and via interviews with musical collaborators and family members who share the story of Alice and others chasing that high lonesome sound”. It’s a good synopsis.

I was privileged to meet Alice and be taught by her at Kate Lissauer’s wonderful La Fuente de Musica residential workshops in Andalucia a few years ago. To say I am a fan is an understatement,

especially when listening to her more contemporary singing and playing, her own songs invariably based on experience, a person or place, or making political comment. Her knowledge of and contribution to the music we love in all its forms are boundless, so a look at how it all began and her own, not always easy, journeying through a music career lasting decades is fascinating.

The juxtaposition between archive film or still photos and present day footage, a camera following Alice at home digitising images or sorting through tapes, song notes and Old Time Herald editions in readiness for preservation in the Southern Folklife Collection held at the University of North Carolina, works well. It’s a no frills view of Alice at work and her gentle voice-over is all about reminiscences rather than scripted narration. Interviews with brother, children and close friends of the time add significant emotion to the facts around Alice’s early life, her first steps into music with her contemporaries at Antioch College, and the subsequent relationships which propelled her into a life of performing, recording and collecting, sometimes with painful consequences.

Her introduction to Hazel Dickens in the 60s led to a singing and playing partnership which bucked the trend of male dominance in bluegrass and early country music bands. The film dwells on how pivotal this relationship was for the genre, both because of the harmony and style of their voices, but also because they paved the way for all the talented female artists who were able to enter and influence it for decades to come. This was also a time for championing civil rights through their touring and songs, something which remains close to Alice’s heart today.

The story and archive footage continue after Alice’s split from Hazel. She returns to traditional old-time, meeting, collecting and playing with the elders of the time, Tommy Jarrell, Luther Davis and Ernest East to name a few. She recognised the need to retain the tunes and style for the next generation and clearly earned their respect as a serious, like minded musician. Her mission became one of providing accessibility, direction and a future for old-time music in its widest forms and she founded The Old Time Herald magazine in 1987 to this end.

This was a new element to Alice’s contribution and influence, as she works this time behind the scenes, but from here the film tends to rush through the later years. She says that she does not consider herself as a solo performer, and there is a wealth of collaborative performances and recordings to back this up, but blink and it could be missed: Tom, Brad and Alice; The Piedmont Melody Makers; KayJustice;HeraldAngels;BeverlySmith.That is notto say that she isn’t a solo force: four albums have been released from 1994 on, including the Grammy nominated Follow The Music in 2015.

What is clear though, from the closing moments of the film, is that she is now the revered elder, inspiring the next generation through teaching, performance and sheer character at festivals, concerts and camps. Interviews with some of the younger recipients of her energy and expertise would not have gone amiss, and the absence of a viewpoint from the likes of Tatiana Hargreaves and other present day musicians carrying forward the flag is a shame.

The film may serve a niche market, and its timelines are confusing at times, but it always held my interest and I find myself wondering what stayed on the cutting room floor to meet the constraint of an 80 minutes run time. There are some outtakes and other information on the film’s Facebook page. Hopefully there will be an opportunity for it to be seen here, through an arts or old-time festival perhaps. A Q&A session with Alice would be the icing on the cake. What say you organisers?!

Jane Lewis


Dates for your Diary 2020Information correct at time of going to press

July 3rd-6th - Windermere Weekend CANCELLEDOld Time Music & Dance camp YMCA Newby Bridge, Ulverston, LA12 8BD. E: [email protected]

July 9th-13th - Alsia Fest CANCELLEDSee further information opposite

August 7th-16th - FOAOTMAD Summer camp Croft Farm Waterpark, Bredons Hardwick, Tewkesbury, Glos GL20 7EE. www.foaotmad.org.ukSEE OPPOSITE

September 11th-13th - Sweet Sunny South CANCELLED

February 12th-15th 2021FOAOTMAD Gainsborough OT FestivalTo be confirmed – see notice on outside back cover. Full information will be announced as soon as possible in Old Time News and on the Mailout Blog

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Chairman Alan Pridgeon [email protected] Martin Seamark [email protected] Secretary Eve Morris [email protected] T: 01823 432863Secretary Sue Rooke [email protected] Organiser Andrew Cocks [email protected] Representative Clare Sheridan [email protected] Organiser Tim Rooke [email protected] Editor (Features & Reviews) Steve Wise [email protected] / [email protected] Deputy Editor/Magazine Designer Judy Spindler [email protected] Tim Mason [email protected] member:

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Summer Camp at Croft Farm – a growing possibilityAt the time of writing, the Government has mapped out some potential relaxations of lockdown. The time seemed right to contact Alex Newell at croft Farm to find out how lockdown had affected them and what their plans are for the future. She agreed to a telephone interview with Andrew cocks and they chatted on 23rd May.

How is everyone at Croft Farm?We’re all good here, all happy and healthy.

How have you been coping with lockdown?It’s been difficult for everyone of course. For us the timing was not good. We had already delayed opening the park following the floods in the early part of the year. We’d been open for one week when the lockdown started. We had to turn visitors away which was hard to do. A lot of our customers with caravans wanted to come to make sure their things were good for the lockdown. We spent a lot of time doing it for them and helping where we could.

Have you done anything different?Yes. We had a call from the council asking us if we could help accommodate some people in need. We opened some of our lodges to NHS front line staff who didn’t want to go home in case they passed on the virus. We also had families in need of help and some people who had become homeless at the time of the crisis. It was good to be able to do our bit to help.

For us, FOAOTMAD Spring Camp took place in our back gardens or on the internet. How was that weekend for you?Well, we were missing you of course. I think busy trying to interpret the emerging plans for relaxing lockdown.

When will you be opening up again?We’re hoping for the beginning of July but at this stage we can’t be sure. Certainly we’ll be open to take bookings on 4th July. Whatever happens, we’re going to offer as much flexibility as we can to help people plan and adapt with any changes. Who knows for sure what will happen through the rest of the year?

Will we be able to hold our FOAOTMAD Summer Camp on the planned dates of 7th – 16th August?We’re very positive but we can’t be 100%. What’s for sure is we’re holding your usual area exclusively for FOAOTMAD. The caveat though is it depends on any rules imposed by government at that time.

Do you yet know what social distancing will look like at Summer Camp?We’re currently working up our plans and the best thing is to check with us closer to the time. There is already a 3m distancing rule for pitches to do with fire risk so that’s nothing new. We’ll need to monitor our visitors to make sure everyone adheres to social distancing. You can use the marquee of course but if it rains, we can’t have 100 people huddled together in there. Hopefully by August, if all goes well, smaller groups getting together in open fresh air will be acceptable and safe.

Will our members need to bring extra stuff or behave differently?We will be asking camper vans owners to use their in-vehicle toilet and washing facilities to reduce traffic around the camp site facilities. We’ll be cleaning our own facilities 4 or 5 times a day but minimising the use is very helpful.

Will the restaurant/bar be open? The bar and café will be open for takeaways only.

Will there be restricted numbers?No. For our campers, we expect no restrictions, we have plenty of space.

Can we have our usual fenced off pitch, fire etc?Certainly you’ll have your usual area and we’ll fence you off like last year. You won’t be restricted in moving to where the fire is but a large gathering around the fire might be more difficult. We had talked about moving you nearer the centre of the site but under the circumstances, it’s better to use all the space available to us for distancing.

Can you honour the published prices?Yes. Make sure you say you’re with FOAOTMAD when you book up to get the discounts.

Thank you for your time Alex and for your support of FOAOTMAD.

So, a more positive conversation than we might have hoped for a few weeks ago. However, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about exactly what Summer Camp might look like. Your safety has to be the first priority. It seems unlikely that we will be able to arrange concerts in the bar, the camp fire, slow jams, group tuition or anything which would constitute a mass gathering. The campsite will hopefully be open to invite individual

households or maybe small groups depending on the rules at the time. Please make sure you are aware of the national guidelines and any local rules including those of Croft Farm and how they apply to any potential

time at the site and your journeys to get there and back. FOAOTMAD can’t be responsible for your safety or wellbeing and ultimately attendance would be at your own risk. However, if you need any more information to help you make your individual plans and decisions, email [email protected] or contact Croft Farm

Water Park directly (T: 01684 772321, E: [email protected], W: www.croftfarmwaterpark.com)The committee will keep you updated via the blog and website. We reserve the right to cancel the event if circumstances dictate. Either way, we will publish full details and decisions on 24th July, two weeks before

the planned start date of 7th August. Andrew Cocks, Events Organiser

Post Script. To the several artists and bands who responded to our call for tutors and performers at the camps, we are very grateful. Given the lockdown restrictions on public performances and gatherings, we’ve not been able to sign you up as

we’d hoped. It very much remains our aspiration to help promote you to our members at camp and other events as soon as we return to a more normal world.


Alex

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Gainsborough 2021As of now we are assuming that the festival will go ahead. When you see how many music festivals have been postponed during these troubled times, we were incredibly lucky to have ours before the start of the pandemic. Another couple of weeks and who knows what would have happened.The school has been booked as have all the other essentials, although it may be that the dates have to change to keep in line with the school’s half term holidays if the educational authorities see fit to make changes to the school’s calendar.I would normally be talking to certain artists from the USA about now, asking if they would be interested in coming to Gainsborough. I am pleased to say that subject to things being normal, or should I say the new normal, I have booked Allison De Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, and I have spoken to Howard Rains and Tricia Spencer. Only time will tell if these bookings will be confirmed.It may be that the festival goes ahead without any visitors from across the pond. This would not be the end of the world for old-time music as we have an enormous number of talented musicians in the UK. Things are getting better but the future for festivals is still uncertain. Social distancing does not work when you have over two hundred and fifty people confined to a reasonably small area over a weekend. We can only hope that the situation will improve and that we can go ahead with the 27th Gainsborough Festival.

Tim Rooke, Festival Organiser

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OLD TIME NEWS€¦ · coda played as a string quartet in a freely improvised style. The idea of matching the classical string quartet with string band music makes a lot of sense,