After all the excitement of the Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival last weekend, it all boiled down to a few modal tunes I got to share with Matt Evans at the old time jam last Monday. After a weekend of wailing away on my dulcimer, we quieted down with “Texas” and “Falls of Richmond” all slow and groovy, and Matt pulled out this one, “White Face Reel”. Quiet moments like these are rare at our session. The voice you hear at the end is Shelley, my dulcimer friend from Chicago, one of half a dozen guests who stuck around for a free day after the festival was over. Yes, there will be some dulcimer fest videos soon…. I was too busy to capture any of it myself, but Philip was on the scene working his magic. Now he just needs to work his editing magic and get those puppies uploaded! In due time… In the meantime, Fred, enjoy some fine banjo playing from my buddy Matt.
Matt Evans, White Face Reel, Market Street Tavern, June 23, 2008:
Cool tune! And nicely played. I looked the tune up on Rhapsody and found that a group called the Atomic City Rhythm Rascals recorded two versions of it. One version on their recording is solo banjo just like your recording of Matt. Its fun to compare it to Matt’s version (they are quite similar). The other version features banjo, fiddle, and hammered dulcimer. How appropriate! They do a really nice job with it – wonderfully modal with interesting twists and turns. You’ll need to hear it one of these days. Another tune for the “gotta learn” list.
Thanks for posting the video, Christie. That was a fun session that led up to some memorable tunes.
I actually learned to the tune from the fiddle player for the now defunct Atomic City Rhythm Rascals, Tim Worman. Tim was my teacher, and a multi-instrumentalist who plays the solo banjo version on the cd release. I’m happy to hear it sounds similar; Tim’s an amazing player, so I take that as a great compliment. I’ve got banjo tablature, Fred (or anyone else); if you’d like to get in touch with me, I’d be happy to get it to you.
Hey Matt – I’d love to see the banjo tab for White Face Reel. Its a cool tune. Feel free to contact me via e-mail: fred.siewers@wku.edu. Many thanks!
any chance of getting banjo tab for Whiteface?
it was a big hit at Mt Airy this year
thanks
den
That’s great to hear, thanks for passing that along. I’ve got it tabbed out, and am happy to share. I’ll try to see about posting it, or a link, on http://www.mmfolk.com. Did people seem to be playing the version from this video?
–Matt