Volume 53 – Issue 2 www.huntsvillefolk.org Spring/Summer 2019 The second quarter HTMA Membership meetings will be held at 1:30-4:30: April 14th (Moved up due to Easter) May 19th June 16th Please check the HTMA website to verify meeting locations, as they may vary HTMA President’s Notes HTMA Coffeehouses are scheduled for March 2019 7:00 at Burritt Museum’s Old Church. Dear Friends, Tuesday April 23rd As a non-profit organization, our purpose and Jason Bailey Band objective is to preserve and perpetuate Tuesday May 28th traditional music, instruments, and styles of rendition. This includes, but is not necessarily Harmony Sound Pickers limited to, what is commonly referred to as Tuesday June 25th folk, traditional, and old-time music. We emphasize live performance of music (not- Milltowne recorded or assisted by recordings) using CONTENTS natural, acoustic instruments and unaltered Page 1 – President’s Notes human voices. We strive to provide wholesome Page 2 – Upcoming Events and informative family entertainment in each Page 3 – April 23rd Coffeehouse and every event we sponsor or participate in. Page 4 – May 28th Coffeehouse We have a year of diverse and both regionally Page 5 – June 25 Coffeehouse and nationally respected performers booked into the Coffeehouse. Monthly Coffeehouses Page 5 – Whoever Was Maud Irving? are the 4th Tuesday of the month, opening Page 6 – A Remembrance of Dan Charles with a performance by HTMA members, Page 11 – New Verse and Chorus for “Vacant followed by the headliner act. Venue location Chair” is the Old Church at Burritt on the Mountain. Page 12 –Easy 2-Chord Songs for Mandolin Page 13 – Upcoming Coffeehouse Openers Page 14 - Why Are There So Many Banjo Jokes? (Continued on Page 3) Page 17 - Classifieds Page | 1 Schedule of Upcoming Events HTMA Executive Board Please see following pages for more details on President - upcoming meeting, coffeehouse, and retirement home gig dates. LYNNE EDMONDSON [email protected] The second quarter HTMA Membership Vice President & Public Service Chairman meetings will be held at 1:30-4:30: JIM ENGLAND 256-852-5740 [email protected] th April 14 Main Huntsville Library (One week early to avoid Secretary/Treasurer PAT LONG conflicts with Easter) [email protected] 256-539-7211 May 19th Main Huntsville Library June 16th LOCATION TBD Publicity Chairman BOB HICKS (Check the website for the latest meeting locations) 256-683-9807 [email protected] Second Quarter Coffeehouses will be at the Burritt Museum Old Church, 7:00-9:00 Performance Chairwoman KAREN NEWSUM Tuesday April 23th [email protected] Operations Chairmen th Tuesday May 28 GEORGE WILLIAMS [email protected] LARRY HALTERMAN (co-chair) Tuesday June 25th [email protected] Webmaster/ Please contact Jim England if you would like to CHRIS KIDD be notified of upcoming retirement home gigs. [email protected] Acting Newsletter Editor Jerry LeCroy (Position open!) The leadership of HTMA invites YOU to be an active part of our great organization, whether you play an instrument, or want to share in any other way, we welcome you and thank you for your support! For more information about HTMA or current events, you can visit our website at www.huntsvillefolk.org 1 Wade Mountain Wanderers with Wayne Taylor at last September Gazebo You can join up or renew membership using PayPal concert at Photo courtesy J. LeCroy) http://www.huntsvillefolk.org/paypal.htm Page | 2 [President’s Notes, Continued from Page 1] Another fun aspect of HTMA is we provide several opportunities for you to rehearse and even perform with other musicians. Once a month on 3rd Sunday, we have an HTMA Monthly Meeting- Jam: usually at Huntsville Public Library. Retirement Home Performances are scheduled once a week, rotating between 3 different locations. The first Wednesday of each month, you have an opportunity to participate in a Traditional & Folk Acoustic Jam onstage at the Lone Goose Saloon. 3 Jason Bailey For more specifics on these and other (photo courtesy Jason Bailey) activities go to the newsletter, the website h www.huntsvillefolk.org and/or become a The April 23 HTMA Coffeehouse will member and get on the email list. feature Jason Bailey Song…is time (C. Rovelli, The Order of HTMA is very pleased to to present The Time, pg 212). Jason Bailey Band. The band performs a Lynne Edmondson wide variety of musical styles—all with the common ground of American roots music. Bluegrass and Jazz are strong influences in the JBB in addition to their musical predecessors: Blues, Celtic and Classical. Leading the band on mandolin, Jason Bailey brings his original compositions of jazz- celto-grass to the forefront while also presenting re-arranged versions of both modern pop/rock covers and traditional American roots standards. Bailey has 2 James Smith at the January 2012 HTMA Coffeehouse (Photo courtesy J. LeCroy) Page | 3 currently released five albums featuring his original music which have been featured in Music Hall), and online magazines (mandolincafe.com). 7 Orrin Star playing at an HTMA house concert in 2011. Orrin passed away November 29, 2017. (photo courtesy J. LeCroy) 4 Former HTMA Treasurer Jim Holland with Jim Wood at a 2011 coffeehouse (photo courtesy J. LeCroy) Our May 28th HTMA Coffeehouse will feature Harmony Sound Pickers Bill Gravitt opened the Harmony Sound Music Store in 2003. Over the years, Bill has provided a venue for local musicians to gather and play on a weekly basis. Harmony Sound Pickers is 5 Jim and Inge Woods with their band at the same coffeehouse a group of those musicians, and its (photo courtesy J. LeCroy) members perform regularly throughout the local community. Their music appeals to a variety of listeners and spans many styles, from Bob Wills to Hank Williams to Bob Dylan. The band’s members include Sylvia Dean (vocals and fiddle), Johnny Lee (guitar), John Keller (guitar), Mike Perry (vocals and guitar), John Barran (vocals and mandolin) and Rick Holcomb (vocals and bass and whatever else he wants to 6 Curtis & Loretta playing a 2015 Coffeehouse play) (Photo courtesy B. Cassels) Page | 4 Our June 25th HTMA performance without fiddler Danny Charles, who was principally Coffeehouse will feature responsible for hooking up the band with HTMA events. Milltowne Whoever was Maud Irving? by Eric M Bram Maud Irving is the name usually given as the author of the lyrics to the 19th century ballad I'll Twine ’Mid the Ringlets, originally published by Joseph Philbrick Webster but most famously 8 Milltowne playing an HTMA Coffeehouse in 2017. Greg Staggs, Dan Charles, Charelle Hudgins, and Keating Johns. recorded in 1928 by the Carter family as (photo courtesy J. LeCroy) the familiar folksong Wildwood Flower. Milltowne is an Americana band that For many decades, country music lovers acoustically blends the musical genres have wondered who she was, this of folk, bluegrass, gospel, rock, blues, “wildwood flower” who penned the and country. poignant words to this haunting song. Their varied influences include Bill No one has been able find a published Monroe, The Grateful Dead, Union copy of the original poem by Maud Station, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and so Irving to which composer J.P. Webster is many more. Milltowne’s interpretation said to have put the music for I'll Twine of traditional songs, classics, and ’Mid the Ringlets, and until now there original music create a timeless sound didn't seem to be any information that appeals to listeners of all ages and available at all about Maud Irving the musical backgrounds. person. Was that even the lyricist's real name, or was the name “Maud Irving” a Milltowne has been an active HTMA pseudonym? supporter for over five years, playing in HTMA fundraisers, coffeehouses Eric Bram has extensively researched performances, and Gazebo concerts. the history and possible origination of the Wildwood Flower song. To see the Long time Milltowne members are lead remarkable history and connections vocalist Charelle Hudgins, Greg Staggs behind this tune, please visit: on mandolin and banjo, Keating Johns http://www.ergo- on guitar, and Nick Walker on bass. sum.net/music/MaudIrving.html This will be Milltowne’s first HTMA Page | 5 2006 as I became increasingly interested in playing traditional music, and became familiar with HTMA. After Marylee and I moved to Huntsville and I fully retired, for some reason I was drawn to wanting to play traditional music. I joined HTMA in late 2005, and by 2006, I had heard Dan Charles’ beautiful fiddling at many meetings. That, plus my desire to learn to play Ashokan Farewell, influenced me to take up the fiddle, though I had never touched one. So I ordered myself a fiddle online and started attending: 9 Dan Charles, June 15, 1950- March 12, 12019 • HTMA meetings -- sitting in back (photo courtesy J. LeCroy) listening and writing down the names of Thank You, Dan songs played. E.g., at the November 2006 HTMA meeting jam, I noted that By Bill Cassels Dan played Year of Jubilo, Maiden’s This is a small personal tribute to Dan Prayer, and St Anne’s Reel, Charles, an incredibly gifted and • Pre-meeting workshops (the April talented musician, who delighted in 2006 workshop by Vice President Jim sharing his extraordinary talent and Holland was just what I needed – “String interest with others. Instrument Adjustments for Dummies”), Dan had many facets other than music. • HTMA Coffeehouses -- my first He lived an interesting life, helped many Coffeehouse, in April 2006, featured people in many ways, and had an Sandy River Ramblers (Don Evans, Pat encyclopedic knowledge of many things Long, Paul Turner, Howard Bozeman). including old movies, John Wayne, And NASCAR racing, the Civil War, and the Dillards on the Andy Griffith Show.