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I’ve talked before that the division between bluegrass and old time music is more an artifact of history than a clear categorical distinction.

You could say that bluegrass was really just an effort to package traditional southern folk music in a format that optimized the listening experience.

And today’s tune, “written” by Earl Scruggs, is a nice example of that sort of packaging, in this case for a traditional solo banjo tune.

Some of you may hear a resemblance between it and “Sugar Baby/Red Rocking Chair,” and my hunch is that’s not a coincidence. The melodic similarities and “alternate” banjo tuning sure feels like Earl is giving a nod to his banjo roots, with some harmonic and structural modifications to fit the evolving bluegrass sensibility (interesting as well to speculate on his decision to name it after the capital of commercial country music).

Speaking of the alternate tuning, don’t let that deter you. I think you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised at how nice it sounds, and how easily this tune slips under the fingers.

(NOTE: For those considering acquiring a Brainjo banjo, the banjo played in this video is a “Hobart” model. Click here if you’d like to learn more, or claim one in the next batch.

(NOTE: The Tab-Walkthrough Workshop for this tune will be held on June 18. Click here to learn more about and view a sample of the tab walk-through videos. Click here to learn more, and see the full schedule.)

Notes on the Tab

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my video lesson on the subject.

For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.

[RELATED: Level 2 arrangements and video demos for the Tune (and Song!) of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course. Learn more about it here.

Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault

Click on the button below to get the PDF download for this tab delivered to you, and get 2 new tunes and tabs sent to you every week!

Click Here To Get The Tab

“Most people down here just like to hear the bluegrass and stuff like that now, but I like the old-timey tunes because it seems like they got a lonesomer sound.”

– Buddy Thomas 

This week’s tune entered the old time canon by way of fiddler Buddy Thomas. According to his story, a man with a “chin that looked like a briar” came through town playing this tune on his fiddle. 

While the history of this tune is simple and straightforward, Thomas’s is anything but.

Born in Kentucky in abject poverty (“so poor that even the poor folks said we were poor”), sick for most of his childhood with limited medical care, and passing away far too soon at the age of 39, his story is equal parts heartbreak and inspiration.

Heartbreaking on account of hardships no one should have to endure.

Inspiring in that, in spite of those unforgiving conditions, he not only felt compelled to make music, but to master the fiddle as well (you can hear his virtuosity for yourself on his solo album, “Kitty Puss.”).

Rather than me telling you more of his story, I highly recommend reading this short autobiographical piece. You’ll get a much richer account with Buddy’s own words.

I think there’s something we can all learn from his story.

I know from personal experience there are times when I feel less like making music.

I also know that those are the times where I most need to make it.

(NOTE: For those considering acquiring a Brainjo banjo, the banjo played in this video is a “Hobart” model. Click here if you’d like to learn more, or claim one in the next batch.

(NOTE: The Tab-Walkthrough Workshop for this tune will be held on June 18. Click here to learn more about and view a sample of the tab walk-through videos. Click here to learn more, and see the full schedule.)

Notes on the Tab

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my video lesson on the subject.

For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.

[RELATED: Level 2 arrangements and video demos for the Tune (and Song!) of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course. Learn more about it here.

Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault

Click on the button below to get the PDF download for this tab delivered to you, and get 2 new tunes and tabs sent to you every week!

Click Here To Get The Tab

“Groundhogs are not only edible, they’re tender and delicious if properly cleaned and prepared. They live on a completely vegetarian diet, and carry no life threatening diseases for humans. Groundhogs are similar to rabbit in taste, and most recipes for groundhog have you prepare them in the same manner.”

The above quote is taken from an article on “How To Clean And Skin A Groundhog” on the website Practical Self Reliance.

It’s regrettable that most modern day fans of old time music haven’t tasted the full array of small-to-medium sized members of the rodentia family that so many of our beloved tunes pay homage to.

And by the sound of the aforementioned description, it seems we’re missing out (in fact, we’ve already sung its praises in a prior Song of the Week).

Well, our protagonists in today’s Tune of the Week installment didn’t miss out. Why the event was deemed significant enough to be memorialized in song we may never know, as the story of the title’s origins appears to have died with its creator. 

Fortunately, the tune itself has endured! In fact, it has endured in more than one form.

(REMINDER: You can now listen to the Tune of the Week tunes on the go, on your smartphone, on the Clawhammer Banjo Jam podcast. Click here to learn how to subscribe – it’s free!)

There’s a two part version in the key of C, which traces its roots to Kentucky. 

And there’s a three part version in the key of D, which traces its origins to fiddler Ed Haley of West Virginia, and is the rendition you hear today.

(NOTE: For those considering acquiring a Brainjo banjo, the banjo played in this video is a “Hobart” model. Click here if you’d like to learn more, or claim one in the next batch (there’s still a spot left in the batch shipping June 2019!)

(NOTE: The Tab-Walkthrough Workshop for this tune will be held on May 27. Click here to learn more about and view a sample of the tab walk-through videos. Click here to learn more, and see the full schedule.)

Notes on the Tab

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my video lesson on the subject.

For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.

[RELATED: Level 2 arrangements and video demos for the Tune (and Song!) of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course. Learn more about it here.

Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault