Notes on the Tunes

3 play 4 5
previous track play sample next track tracklist

Kerry Blech learned this in a round about way from a recording of old time Texas fiddler Claude Parker (1899-1980) of Bexar Co. (the Alamo) To Kerry’s ear it sounds like “Hanning’s Farewell” as transcribed by Marion Thede in The Fiddle Book. She learned it from West Texas fiddler John Crooks about 1900. (Hart & Blech Build Me A Boat, 2001) The first American settlers arrived in the Texas territory in the early 1830’s, bringing with them, among other things, their fiddle traditions.

Chris’ fiddle FCGD on 1899 fiddle made by H.P. Smith of Harrisburg, PA; the fiddle has its own reverb