In another thread I posted a topic, to busk or to not busk.
I was asked to give an update of how it went.
I recruited a friend to be with me for support.
We practiced like crazy to prepare for it. I had most of the music memorized. Which is a great plus for me!!!
Kathy and I played an asortment of tunes some Itrad and some fiddle tunes on our Mountain Dulcimers and whistles. We switched off playing whistles. We also sang a few songs. I sang harmony and Kathy melody.
Kathy has a lovely soprano voice. So I was content with my alto harmonization.
The beauty of it is when we got to Nelsonville we vistited the shop keeper at Busy Bobbins craft shop. Basically said hello and we are here. Now what? He was such a great host. He asked us to play in his shop which use to be an old theater with hard wood floors. The accoustics were awesome! This craft shop is a busy hopping place on these friday evenings. Folks in and out and everywhere.
The shop keep encouraged us to seed the case.. put a buck in and we ended up making enough money to pay for our meal. We ate hamburgers at sonics. A quaint drive in restaurant. The waitress did not serve us on roller skates yet it was like going back in time to my youth. So Cool…
The shop keep also gave Kathy and I handmade earrings as a gift for entertaining the shoppers. Lovely.
Out favorite tunes we played were:
Tam Lin, Dagget’s Revenge, and the killer fiddle set that Kathy started at break neck speed. White Creek Pass, Sugar Hill and Grey Cat. Felt like my pick was gonna fly right out of my hand.
All and all it was a great time. And lesson learned… memorize more tunes. And dont try to sing a song you just learned the day before.
Congratulations Laura. It sounds like you had an exciting time. It sounds like a great place for busking too. Is Grey Cat the same as Grey Cat on a Tennessee Farm? Did you sing Sugar Hill. I like the words.
If you want to get your eye knocked out,
If you want to get your fill,
If you want to get your head cut off,
Climb ol’ Sugar Hill.
I’m gettin’ lonseome for my gal,
I want a drink of rye,
I’m gonna climb ol Sugar Hill
Or know the reason why.
Get your banjo off the wall,
Grab your fiddle, Bill,
Hitch the horses to the sleigh,
We’re goin up Sugar Hill.
Repeat 1
I’m adding the other verses here since the first one was already here. There are no words to the chorus. They way they do it is sing a versy, play the A part one more time, play the B part twice and so on. They play the tune through several times without any words. This version comes from a tape of Dan Gellert and Shoofly on Marimac. Pretty hard core old time music.
ooo ooo! I did not know there were words to Sugar Hill.
Is there more to the song than what you wrote? Please tell me more!
I might add. The overton low D sounded just lovely in the old theater.
To add another fav. The Butterfly I played the low D, wanted to go right into The Ashplant as a set, however, I chickened out. Still a wee bit too much of a tune for me to play low d comfortably publically. The rolls are a killer with a low d. At least with reels.
Here is a link to Nelsonville for folks who may be interested.
It is a quaint little college town. About a 30 to 45 minute drive from where I live. Depending on how fast ya drive
