vrteach.org

After hearing this posted a while back at the Banjo Hangout I've been wanted to learn it. I finally worked it out a few days ago, so here is "Green Corn" from Phil. Rice's 1859 method. I'm playing on a fretless tackhead I made earlier this year which is tuned to dGDF#A and strung with nylagut strings.

I learned this from Dan Gellerts CD Waiting on the Break of Day, but he plays it in the minstrel low-base tuning. I couldn't get it to sound like I wanted on the tackhead, so I'm on the bicentenial, at modern pitch.

I recorded this on my front porch. The squeeking sound you hear in the background are some birds having a squabble over the feeder.

This has always been one of my favorites. When I was in grade school, and even younger, it seemed that some version of The Darby Ram was almost as common as John Henry. I guess mine is some sort of mixture of versions I heard way back when, and also hearing "Didn't He Ramble" at some time.

A little effort in multi tracking with my new MR-8mkII. I recorded with the WL-250 on the left, and then joined in with the Bicentennial on the right.

This and another were recorded my first evening with the Foster MR-8mkII digital recorder. This one is recorded with an MXL 991 microphone.

This and another were recorded my first evening with the Foster MR-8mkII digital recorder. This one is recorded with the internal microphone.

This is on my bicentenial banjo after doing some renovation which vastly improved the playability. I also had just this day strung it up for the first time with Nylagut strings. Boy are they nice.

For years I've played this tune as part of a medly in D (or C), usually consisting of some combination of "Rock the Cradle Joe", "West Fork Girls", this tune, "Avalon Quickstep", and "Ragtime Annie". With the help of the banjo hangout crowd I recovered the name.

I learned Avalon Quickstep in the early 1980s, partially from a contra dance record, partially from an LP by the group "Wry Straw" and mostly from Lyle K. with whom I would play it when ever possible during the summers of 1980-1983 (if I remember my dates correctly).