Nick Blanton’s Whompy Thing

After a delicious and hilariously fun dinner in Washington D.C., Valerie and I drove out to Shepherdstown, West Virginia to spend the night with Nick and Joanie Blanton. Shepherdstown is my own personal dulcimer mecca, but that’s probably a story for another time. Let’s just say I was bound to get something juicy for my music blog at the Blanton’s… Music seeps through their pores. (and it doesn’t hurt that they have lots of unusual instruments around the house!)

Here’s a quick video of Nick playing his tambour de Béarn, and for more information on that instrument, you might like to check out this handy description contributed by Rick Davis: http://www.cutedogmusic.com/tambour_de_bearn_def.html

Nick Blanton playing tabor pipe and tambour de Béarn, August 17, 2008, Shepherdstown, WV:

More Irish Music on 18th St.

I’m so lucky to have friends like these!!

Short notice session, Rick Davis’s house, Chattanooga, TN, August 12, 2008:

Casey Phillips on tenor banjo, Ken Doyle on flute, and Rick Davis rockin’ the bodhran.

A Waiting Waltz

Waltzes happen when I’m waiting.  A waltz a nice way to while away a wait.  A waltz will whittle the wait down to a wisp, whisk it away, and before you know it what you’ve been waiting for has arrived.

I happened to have a wee bit of a wait last week and started writing this waltz in a key I’ve never used before (or at least not recently).  The B-part is still undecided.  Any suggestions?  I don’t feel so personally attached to this one for some reason… So I’d be glad to toss it up for public collaboration!  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rewrite the B-part of this waltz…and feel free to touch up the A-part as much as you see fit.