Boys, Them Buzzards Are Flying

a tune for our times

Yo, fiddlegeek!

How you doing??

I’ve been busy with album-finishing and album-release-planning, so have slacked a bit on the fiddle front. HOWEVER, I’m happy to tell you that the upcoming KKRG duo album includes THREE WHOLE FIDDLE TUNES-!! Two trad and one we made up. Nothing flashy, but we think they’re fun. Mostly I think you gotta hear them just for Kieran’s wonderfully inventive guitar playing. (He keeps insisting he has no idea how to accompany old-time fiddle tunes, then he just keeps on slaying ‘em.)

The album (it’s called Volume 4) is officially out on April 11, but preorders will go out early. Just sayin.

You can also “presave” it on Spotify.

TUNE NEWS

Since I last wrote, new additions to the video archive (all by request) are “Boys, Them Buzzards Are Flying” (a Garry Harrison original, AEAE tuning), “Lost Girl” from Marion Reece (GDAE), “Hickory Jack” (from Luther Strong, AEAE [edit: see comment section for more about that]), and Uncle Am Stuart’s version of “Cumberland Gap” (GDAE).

I’m happy to have added one of Garry Harrison’s tunes to the video pile. He was an immensely special character who left us far too soon. The first time I can recall being around him was sometime in the early ‘90s, when he materialized in the wee hours of the night at the Indiana Fiddler’s Gathering (aka “Battleground”). The news began to ripple through the campground: “Garry Harrison is here!” For several years that was his mode—arriving at Battleground under cover of darkness, and slipping out before sunrise. At some point he began sticking around longer and could be observed in daylight hours as well. But despite being around him over the years (and even getting to play with him a bit) he always retained an air of mystery to me, in the best possible way. His brilliant daughter Genevieve carries on her family’s musical traditions, sharing the cool tunes her dad collected as well as his amazing originals.

IN PERSON MUSICAL HAPPENINGS (aka “gigs”)

Will I see you at one of these shows?

• March 28: The Focal Point / St. Louis, MO

• March 30: Fitzgerald’s / Berwyn, IL

• May 8: Natalie’s Grandview / Columbus, OH

• May 9: The G.A.R. Hall / Peninsula, OH [ticket link coming soon!]

• May 18: Mountain Stage / Charleston, WV

OTHER

Shoutout to making the effort to play a few tunes with friends, even when everyone is busy. It’s always worth it. Here’s a snippet of some jamming I got to enjoy on Wednesday afternoon. I mean, c’mon… babies, dogs, mellow tunes—what’s not to love? I’m aware of how stupidly lucky I am to live in a community where there are so many musicians around to spark spontaneous sessions, but most folks can find ways to foster community with some nearby musical pals. DO IT!

Another fun outing I had this week was to go see the new film Becoming Led Zeppelin. I totally recommend experiencing it in the theater. It’s simply a fantastic music documentary—but there’s also a fiddlegeek connection: John Paul Jones produced the last Uncle Earl album, and in the course of that work got pretty geeked out about old-time fiddle!

And, speaking of Uncle Earl… we had a li’l reunion to be a part of this John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project album, which is out now.

And, speaking of John Hartford — here’s a snapshot of my dad (Dan) playing with John Hartford, Brad Leftwich, and Linda Higginbotham. I think this might’ve been at the aforementioned festival in Battleground, Indiana. (Probably in the mid ‘90s.)

[photo credit: me]

ONWARD

I hope you, too, can find friends to jam with and ways to keep music and creativity cooking in your life. Strange days call for lots of art!

Keep in touch —

xo rayna