Tunes from Charlie "Possum" Walden

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Press the arrows to listen or right-click the blue title to download and save on your computer.

Shenandoah Valley Waltz
“First heard this from Mr. Virgil Smith of Montgomery City, MO. He learned if from Vee Latty, a renowned fiddler from Fulton, MO, in Callaway County. Latty is what I call one of “The Ancients”, in other words a fiddler who taught the old timers I learned from. This waltz is also a popular Blue Grass song.”


Fever in the South
“This is another Latty tune that I learned from a home recording obtained from Latty’s son, Wayne.”

Vee Latty’s recording of Fever in the South


Quadrille in G
“One of many untitled 6/8 time pieces from the Missouri Valley Region. I learned this from Dwight Lamb and he likely got it from Bob Walters.”

Sunday February 20 at 6:30 pm
Old-time fiddling, Missouri style, in the back room of the Atlantic Bar & Grill (5062 N. Lincoln)

Click here to register.

Tunes from Mary Allsopp

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Mary AllsoppMary Allsopp is the long-time leader of Chicago Spelmanslag (Swedish musicians club) with an extensive repertoire of Scandinavian tunes and a deep sensitivity to the distinctive rhythms of old-time Nordic dancing. And she’s a great teacher.
Along with Tim Anderson on guitar, Mary will play a demonstration set in the back room of the Atlantic Bar & Grill (5062 N. Lincoln) on Sunday, January 16 at 6:30. Some of Tim and Mary’s friends will be along to demonstrate the nyckleharpa (keyed fiddle) and traditional Swedish couple dances. The concert will be followed by a jam session with some teaching time thrown in. This meeting is free.
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Here’s a selection of tunes to introduce to the marvelous world of Swedish fiddle music.
Press the arrows to listen or right-click the blue title to download and save on your computer.

A walking tune:
Gärdebylåten

Gärdebylåten slow


A hambo (a newer dance in 3/4):
Hambo efter Lasse i Svarven

hambo slow


A polska (an older dance in 3/4):
Polska from Ramsala

polska slow


A schottische:
Hast Schottis

schottische slow


A fun tune:
Hamburger

Hamburger slow

Fiddlers for Winter Nights

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The Chicago Chapter of the Fiddle Club of the World will meet every third Sunday of the month at 6:30 pm at the Atlantic Bar & Grill, 5062 Lincoln

The January 16 meeting is on us. Come on out and try something new.
Dues for the February meeting are $15. You can register for both by clicking here.

Jan. 16: Mary Allsopp with Tim Anderson, Swedish
Mary and Tim delight in sharing the music of Sweden.  These expressive tunes carry overtones of Baroque and Irish music and have a heart of their own.

Mary Allsopp
Mary Allsopp started playing Scandinavian tunes following a trip to Norway, and the music and associated dances quickly became a passion. She’s been performing for over 20 years and and passing the music on in the aural tradition to fiddlers of all ages for nearly that long.  She’s played with several Chicago-based groups, including Chicago Spelmanslag, The South Side Swedes and Pickled Herring.

Tim Anderson

 

 

Tim Anderson became interested in playing Swedish folk music after buying a tin whistle at A Different Strummer in 1992, and finding a CD of Swedish folk-rock. He realized that the tunes on the CD could be played on the whistle, and then thought to try it on guitar. It worked! Tim has played with Chicago Spelmanslag since 2003. He enjoys finding new (and old) artists, tunes and instruments in the genre. Most of the time he plays a guitar tuned to ADADAD.
 
Mary and Tim are leading members of Chicago Spelmanslag.

Click here for some tunes from Mary Allsopp.

Feb. 20: Patt & Possum, Missouri hoedowns & hokum
Charlie Walden aka Possum
Charlie Walden began playing fiddle at age 11 when inspired by players in a fiddler’s contest at the Boone County Fair in his native Missouri. With the generous help and encouragement of older master fiddlers he went on to be recognized as one the best Missouri old-time fiddlers of his day. He has won dozens of local fiddle contests as well as major championships in Missouri, Illinois and West Virginia, and has taught fiddle and guitar to dozens of aspiring players. Intent on preserving and passing on the unique Missouri style and repertoire, Charlie organized the Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp in Bethel, Missouri, and directed camp operations and funding for a decade. He is currently a staff instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music teaching Western Swing Instrumentals.

Click here for some tunes from Charlie Walden.

Fiddle Club Jam Session

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Sunday, December 12, 6:30p
Atlantic Bar & Gallery (5062 N. Lincoln)

We’ll be in the front of the bar this month. (The movies of Quebecois fiddling promised earlier are postponed to a later meeting.) Still, there will be tunes aplenty.

Here’s an abridged list of Fiddle Club tunes that have been and should be played. Even if you don’t know any of these tunes, come join us anyway. We’ll work them into shape gradually. Plus, we always play a lot of favorites and standards.

Chopique Two-Step – Will & Holly Whedbee – May ’08
Dad’s Reel – Pete Sutherland – October ’09
Who’ll Cut the Britches – Genevieve & Smith Koester – April ’10
Fire on the Mountain – Matt Brown – May ’10
Sugar in the Gourd – Paul Brown (Mostly Mountain Boys) – June ’10
Daylight in the Morning – Jim & Kim Lansford – July ’10
Kerry Slides (Irish) – Paddy Jones – March ’08
Gone for His Tea (Irish) – Liz Knowles – February ’10
Viktor’s vals (Finnish) – Kukka Lehto (Polka Chicks) – June ’10
Koputus polkka from Arto Järvelä’s month long residency in 2009.
She Oughta Been a Lady – Vesta Johnson – October ’10
Buckley Barndance – Kenny Stone – November ’10

A longer list of the Fiddle Club’s repertory can be found here.

Come check out the Atlantic. It sports a comfy seating area up front and a fabulous back room. (Also, good beer and food menus.) The owner and manager like having us there. With a good showing, we’ll be able to consistently reserve the back room.

Coming up in 2011
January 16: Mary Allsopp from Chicago Spelmanslag (Swedish)
February 20: Patt & Possum, aka Charlie Walden & Patt Plunkett (hoedowns & hokum)

Plus, a new way to support the Fiddle Club through several dues options will be announced in this space very soon.

Kenny Stone: Bluegrass Fiddler

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Kenny Stone
Sunday, November 21, 5:30 pm
Atlantic Bar & Grill (5062 N. Lincoln)
Click here to register. Dues for this meeting are $15.

Kenny StoneKenny Stone is veteran bluegrass fiddler, with a performing career that started when he was nine. He released his first album in 1989, at the age of nineteen, and followed that up with series of recordings and tours with a variety of bands, including his own, the Kenny Stone Unit and Midwest Wind. Family life and work has taken him off the road. But he continues to perform with the Chicago Bluegrass Band and to teach select students at his home in Dyer, Indiana.

The Fiddle Club of the World is pleased to present Kenny Stone to a new audience of fiddlers. He’s looking forward to playing through a potpourri of standard old-time and bluegrass tunes. He’s also offered us several of his own originals.

Buckley Barndance


Grangers Farewell


Beginning January 1, it will be possible to pay yearly dues and be able to enjoy all Fiddle Club of the World events at a significantly reduced rate. Also, enrolling in a “Fiddleship” allows you to support regular presentations of traditional fiddle music.

Upcoming Fiddle Club of the World meetings:
Dec. 12 – jam session and film viewing
Jan. 16 – Mary Allsopp of Chicago Spelmanslag (Swedish musicians club)
Feb. 20 – Charlie “Possum” Walden

Paul Tyler, convener
Chicago Chapter

Vesta Johnson featured guest for October

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The Fiddle Club of the World will try out a new meeting space on Sunday, October 24 at 6:30 pm when we gather in the back room of the Atlantic Bar & Grill, 5062 N. Lincoln Avenue. There’s a wooden floor and ample space to run a few squares in a square dance. What a great coincidence that our featured guest for October is Vesta Johnson, who in her 80 plus years has played for hundreds of dances in her home state of Missouri.

Vesta Johnson

Vesta played her first dance at age 9 in Linn County, Missouri. She moved to the St. Louis area to raise her family, and in the 1960s, after her kids were grown, she started playing again for contests, dances and fiddle socials. A lot of younger players give credit to Vesta’s patient support and tutelage. One of those younger players, her grandson Steve Hall, will accompany her in Chicago.

Vesta appeared on two seminal anthologies of Missiouri fiddle music, I’m Old But I’m Awfully Tough (from the early 1970s) and Now That’s a Good Tune (from 1989). In the ’90s, she recorded two albums for the Marimac label of Crown Point, Indiana, Down Home Rag and Blue Flame. At a recent appearance at the University of Chicago Folk Festival, she was able to hawk two CDs produced by her grandson, Steve Hall.

Here are some samples of her playing over the years . . .

She Oughta Been a Lady


Old Parnell


Hog House Rag


Click here to register. Dues for this meeting are $15.

Beginning January 1, it will be possible to pay yearly dues and be able to enjoy all Fiddle Club of the World events at a significantly reduced rate. Also, enrolling in a “Fiddleship” allows you to support regular presentations of traditional fiddle music.

Upcoming Fiddle Club of the World meetings:
Nov. 21 – Kenny Stone is the featured guest (meeting to start at 5:30)
Dec. 12 – jam session
Jan. 16 – featured guest to be announced soon
Feb. 20 – featured guest to be announced soon

Paul Tyler, convener
Chicago Chapter

Fiddle Club session this Sunday

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Sept. 19 at 6:30 at the Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen).
We’re going to play tunes. Any tunes you want. I plan to start some from this list.

This session is open to all fiddlers, players of kindred instruments, and appreciative listeners. No dues to pay for this meeting. No need to register.

Looking ahead, our next three meetings will be held in the back room at the Atlantic Bar & Grill (5062 N Lincoln Ave). The meeting time will be 6:30 on a Sunday evening. The dates are October 24, November 21 and December 12.

Vesta Johnson, a fine Missouri fiddler, along with her grandson Steve Hall, will be our featured guest. There’s a wood floor at the Atlantic. We might dance a few old-time Missouri squares. That will make Vesta feel at home.

Come join us.

Paul Tyler, convener

New Season, First Meeting

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Sunday, Sept. 19, 6:30p, at the Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen)

Starting this season, Fiddle Club is going to a (more or less) regular meeting schedule. We’ll get together on the third Sunday of each month, unless there’s a good reason to change to another week or another day. Looking at the Fall calendar, meetings will be held on Sept. 19, Oct. 24, Nov. 21 and Dec. 12.

Also, some meetings will be just for playing together, such as the meeting on Sept. 19. We’ve amassed quite a few great tunes from our featured guests. These tunes need to be played. So that’s what we’ll do on Sept. 19. Below are two sets of tunes worth working on. The first list is mostly old-time. The second list is more global. You can find recordings of all of these, including some at a slower tempo, on earlier posts. Or you can go to this list (just click), compiled by a loyal Fiddle Club member, with links to the 100+ tunes posted on this blog in the last couple of years.

I’m looking forward to playing these tunes with y’all in the coming months.
Paul Tyler, convener

Old-Time &c
Mississippi Palisades – Chirps Smith – April ’08
Chopique Two-Step – Will & Holly Whedbee – May ’08
Granny – Alan Jabbour – October ’08
Brushy Run – Dan Gellert – March ’09
Dad’s Reel – Pete Sutherland – October ’09
D’uo Viens – Dennis Stroughmatt – March ’10
Who’ll Cut the Britches – Genevieve & Smith Koester – April ’10
Fire on the Mountain – Matt Brown – May ’10
Sugar in the Gourd – Paul Brown (Mostly Mountain Boys) – June ’10
Daylight in the Morning – Jim & Kim Lansford – July ’10

Global &c
Kerry Slides (Irish) – Paddy Jones – March ’08
El Caballito (Mexican) – Felipe Valle – July ’08
Steffasgard (Rorospols) (Norwegian) – Karen Solgard – November ’08
Mäläskän kuoleman polska (Finnish) – Arto Järvelä – September ’09
Gone for His Tea (Irish) – Liz Knowles – February ’10
Der Einfache (Austrian) – Rudi Pietsch – June ’10
Viktor’s vals (Finnish) – Kukka Lehto (Polka Chicks) – June ’10
plus we have to add . . .
Koputus polkka from Arto Järvelä’s month long residency in 2009.

Midwest Fiddle Champs for 2010, part 2

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Our 8th annual contest was held back in July. Part 1 of this post highlighted the 4 winning bands in the Open Division contest held on the 8th in Giddings Plaza. Part 2 will show videos shot on July 10th from the stage as four bands competed in the Invitational Division at the Chicago Folk & Roots Festival.

While the judges consulted on the final order, we had performances by 1st place winner’s in the Open Division — the Rachel Baiman Band — and the Youth Division — Maddy & the Hillions

In reverse order, here are the top 4 prize winners in the Invitational Division.

4th Place – Moravska Cimbalovka (Moravian Cymbalom Band), led by Andrew Tokarz
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ze2fmGvIcE]
Their first tune was a traditional Moravian folk song.

3th Place – Paulina Hollers, Elizabeth Lamberti & Jim Becker & Kristen Bern, fiddles, &amp with Lea Tschilds on guitar & Clayton Brown on bass. They brought along the Chicago Prairie Cloggers, led by Rebecca Unger.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xZQkrKYaAk]
They followed up with “Back-Step Cindy.”

2nd Place – Stil Hua, Kristen Bern on fiddle, with Kevin Carey on flute, Siobhan Wojcik on bouzouki & Andrew Serb on bodhran. Rory Ward was their dancer.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBva4HWz1y8]
Their second tune was a medley of an air and a reel.

1st Place – Cajun Vagabonds, Dorian Gehring-fiddle with Stewart Gehring-guitar, Eli Leki-Albano-bass & Monica Vachon-triangle. They brought two dancing couples from the Chicago Associate Chapter of the Cajun French Music Association.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HZgnmt2JKE]
Their second tune was “Lacassine Special”, a two-step. The dancers really got it going.
[audio:https://drdosido.net/fiddleclub/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Lacassine-Special.mp3]

Midwest Fiddle Champs for 2010, part 1

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Our 8th annual contest was held back in July, with the Open Division on Thursday the 8th in Giddings Plaza in Lincoln Square and the Invitational Division on the main stage on the 10th at the Chicago Folk & Roots Festival. The Open Division attracted 12 fiddlers with their bands, including . . .
Kolleen Blume with Walter’s Dream
Bill Bodle with the Wild Onion String Band
Caroline Fernald with the Bell Flowers
Claire Halpin with the CH4
Ted Johnson & Elise Dalleska
Lynn Malnekoff with Innisfree
Chris Marshall & friends
Miles Mibeck with Siobhan Wojcik & Megan McKeon
Kit Paulson with James Kreigsmann & David Stokman

The evening also featured performances by the three top prize winners at the Youth Division competition held in June:
3rd Place – Ethan Matlin with Last Minute Deal
2nd Place – Abigail Burrus & Sean Mythen with Sarah Mythen
1st Place – Maddy & the Hillions, Max & Anna Hill, fiddles & Maddy Tyler, guitar

In reverse order, here are the top 4 prize winners in the Open Division.

4th Place – Twin Sisters, that is Debi Lewis on fiddle with Deborah Fausch on banjo
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlQJUJRbMDw]
They started off with “Oak Ridge Stomp.”

3th Place – Chirish, Maggie Danaher & Kristen Bern, fiddles, & Andrew Serb, guitar
(It was too dark to film in the plaza when this group played, so all we have is an audio recording.)
[audio:https://drdosido.net/fiddleclub/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Gentle-Maiden-Tommy-Peoples-Reel.mp3]
They played a medley of “The Gentle Maiden” and “Tommy People’s Reel.”

2nd Place – Po’ River Boys, Dan Gillespie on fiddle, with Jeff Yonkis on fiddle & washtub bass & Evan Collins on banjo
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRAUGxWLdng]
Their first tune was “Black-Eyed Susie.” Later, in a playoff, they played “Gospel Plow.”

1st Place – Second String, Rachel Baiman & Eva Walsh, fiddles with Greg Reish on guitar and Ethan Philion on bass
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy7daXyIp_Q]
They started with “Oh My Little Darling,” and performed “Red Rocking Chair” for the playoff.

Part 2 will feature videos of the four bands that competed in the Invitational Division at Folk & Roots.