Just curious. I got the Chieftains “Down the Old Plank Road” CD for Christmas and LOVE it. Was anyone else impressed? Living in Indiana it is a lot easier to find Bluegrass players to play along with than an Irish group. Has anyone else found this a nice substitute?
I don’t care for what I’ve heard of the new Chieftains CD, but that might just be because it doesn’t sound like I expect it to.
I’ve played a good bit of bluegrass around here. It works quite well once you get the style down. A favorite is “Amazing Grace” on mando, guitar, lap dulcimer, bass, and whistle.
I’ve also been amazed at how well whistle, shuttle pipes, and harmonica blend. You never know until you try.
Tom “Why Don’t My Papers Ever Get Graded?” Wilson
I listened to it the other day in the bookstore, and I have to say it was awesome! I really liked that they could put a whistle in bluegrass music–but I like bluegrass. I would really like to get this cd sometime.
Robin
P.S., I thought “Shenandoah” was just gorgeous!
Robin
I don’t think there’s any genre of instrumental music which can’t be improved upon with the addition of whistle.
Yeah, Walden, I’ve been getting into opera and death metal lately… 
I bought the CD myself, and my Fiance and I have different opinions about it… I kinda like it, but I personally really like bluegrass as well as IrTrad music. That said, I still only really enjoy about 1/2 the tracks on it. I think the other half are just sort of a wierd blend that doesn’t quite appeal to either audience, for the most part. But that’s just my guess and thoughts.
- tink
I love just about everything on “Old Plank Road.” It’s worth the price of purchase just for the finale, which goes on for ages. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during that recording session. Some fairly cool bodhran playing, too, throughout the CD. Last I looked, all of the tracks were available for a listen online at the Chieftains’ Web site, http://www.irish.com.
If you like how whistle sounded on this CD, check out the Dixie Chicks latest, “Home.” There’s a track called “More Love,” featuring whistle and uillean pipes.
I’m of the opinion that you could probably bring whistle into most kinds of music. I would draw the line at Tuvan throat singing, though.
I think it blends very well; I was able to join a Bluegrass session this past summer during the Bluegrass Festival in the next town, and the performers had no problem with my being a whistle player. 
They even asked me to play a few tunes for them and then they joined in. The first mandolin/guitar player there grinned when he found out I was an Irish musician, then promptly started playing The Swallow-Tail on this mandolin. That was fun!
THis is news to me. I didnt know you could even play bluegrass on a whistle..I am going to have to give this cd a listen..
Here’s what you can play on the whistle:
any European trad
American folk
Bluegrass
Blues
Country/Western
Rock and Roll
Gospel
Tex-Mex/Tejano
Classical
Cajun/Zydeco
Kwela
Gypsy
Native American
Asian
. . . . . . .
The list goes on and on!
On 2003-01-03 16:54, C4 wrote:
THis is news to me. I didnt know you could even play bluegrass on a whistle..I am going to have to give this cd a listen..
Many of the tunes that bluegrass musicians play either come directly from or are derived from the music of Celtic immigrants. I had a tape of Paul Warren once saying “we’re gonna play an ol’ tune called Ol’ Leather Brithces”. This tune is Lord McDonald’s Reel, a Scottish tune. However, these tunes were in the American tradition before there was any such thing as bluegrass since bluegrass is a relatively recent arrival on the string band scene. Bluegrass, as a genre, is not particularly tune oriented, hoever. Lots of bluegrass musicians that I have run into know about five tunes. Most of it is vocal music so that you will find a heavier concentration of those Celtic tunes in American old time music.
Steve
On 2003-01-03 11:07, Another Whistler wrote:
Just curious. I got the Chieftains “Down the Old Plank Road” CD for Christmas and LOVE it. Was anyone else impressed? Living in Indiana it is a lot easier to find Bluegrass players to play along with than an Irish group. Has anyone else found this a nice substitute?
It can work on old country songs, like “The Tennessee Waltz”, but really, bluegrass is music for string instruments.
The novelty would wear off pretty fast for bluegrassers, if they took to it at all, and irish players are kind of conservative, too.
Now that we’re onto bluegrass, does anybody know any bluegrass sheet music databases that would suit the whistle?
Whoever wanted to be a fly on the wall… they have a “Making of..” video on their site. It’s pretty cool.
Erik
p.s. it’s in the Gallery.
[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2003-01-03 21:00 ]
On 2003-01-03 12:17, WyoBadger wrote:
Yeah, Walden, I’ve been getting into opera and death metal lately… >
You must be referring to that Mozart opera, The Magic Whistle. 
Go for it, I say! Playing
bluegrass on the whistle
works fine.
We have a great rendition
of Beethoven’s 9th–whistle,
guitar, banjo, and voice.
Bluegrass is okay until they start singing…
Whistles are a fabulous Bluegrass instrument, it was all they’d let me play for a long, long time! You just play the fiddle parts, just like Irish Trad.
Waiting for the Mothership…
http://www.notesfromthebadlands.com
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2003-01-03 23:08 ]
A lot of the Old Time tunes are also scots/Irish based. Case in point-we just rented a movie entitled “The Songcatcher” which was loosely based on early 20th century tune collecting in Appalachia. While the plot was kinda off contrived, it was very enjoyable from a musical point of view…both ballad wise and tune wise. One scene featured an Old Time band playing at a barn dance and one of the tunes played was the Old Time version of Lord MacDonald’s Reel.