1. Shelby 10 Years Old

My grandmother (Alicejean Smith) was the driving force in me playing the fiddle. She played piano and had played for many a dance in her time. She had 5 great uncles that were fiddlers and she had decided it was time we had another fiddler in the family. I got my first fiddle for my 5th birthday. After I started taking lessons with Elenore Engler at age 8, my grandmother and I started playing some shows. This is from a R.E.A.C.T. Bluegrass show in 1970 in Evergreen, Ohio. My grandmother is playing piano and we had the Blue Mountain Boys picking with us. You can hear my Dad give one of his signature “ yahoos” in this.

2. Old Joe Clark

Here is the same tune 40 years later. This is the most bluegrass styled cut you’ll hear on this project.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – lead mandolin and lead guitar.

Jimmie Henley – banjo.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

3. Angeline The Baker

The treatment of this tune is much more old timey. The fiddle is in a “D” tuning - DADA. This tune has the tribe of Appalachian mandolins on it.

Shelby – fiddle, mandola, mandolin, guitar, DADGAD guitar, mando-cello.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

4. Turkey In The Straw

I would call Turkey in the Straw a “core” tune. A “core” tune is one that is played by all styles of fiddlers: Old Timey, Bluegrass, Country, Western Swing, Texas Style, Cajun, etc. It’s not every day you hear a bass player take a solo on a tune like this.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

5. Back Up And Push

I would have to attribute my learning of this tune to Buck Ryan. He was a great fiddler and a kind man that inspired me a lot. I would hang around him at shows when I was a kid. They were preparing for a show and were going to play “hand me down my walking cane”. Buck had me rosin up Ed Farris’ cane and bring it out to him in the show and he played his fiddle with a cane for a bow! This is the fiddle tune I chose to play in the Roy Clark fiddle medley we loving referred to as “fiddle hell”.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

6. Arkansas Traveler

Here is another classic “core” tune and one of my favorites.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

7. Black Mountain Rag

If you read the book “Masters of Southern Fiddling” you’ll learn that this tune isn’t as old as a lot of the others. My grandmother took me to Bill Gage‘s house when I was around 13. He had moved to Ohio from Arkansas and knew the tuning and how to play this infamous tune. This is the classic A cross tuning of C#AEA. Bill spent a hour with me and I went home and listened to recordings and learned the tune.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – lead mandolin.

Jimmie Henley – banjo.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

8. Fishers Hornpipe

Here is a tune that tells you of it’s origins by it title. Yes it comes from the Emerald Isles. Hornpipes play a big role in American fiddle tunes. This is a great one.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin and guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

9. Leather Britches

Leather Britches is a tune that speaks Old Time fiddling to me. The treatment here is a G tuning – DGDG. It makes it sound like it would have been played in the mountains a hundred or more years ago.

Shelby – fiddle, mandolin, mandola and guitar.

Rick Bentley – banjo.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

10. Whiskey Before Breakfast

This is one of my favorite tunes. It’s just fun to play. This has a “Bach from Deep Gap” treatment (instruments weaving a counter-point). First you’ll hear a bass solo with the bow and then it turns in a counterpoint from the mountains!

Shelby – fiddle, lead mandola and lead guitar in the counterpoint, rhythm mandolin and guitar.

Isaac Eicher – lead mandolin, lead mandola and lead guitar.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

11. Tennessee Wagoner

Here’s a tune that I learned on one of my trips to east Tennessee when I was a teenager from Frazier Moss. I love the sound of fiddle tunes in C and this is a great one.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

12. Carroll County Blues

I learned this tune for Lloyd Forrest when I was a kid. Ohio was a great place for fiddling because there are so many fiddlers to listen and learn from. I “Jimmie Rodgered” the timing a bit from the old days. It’s a cool tune.

Shelby – fiddle, mandolin and guitar.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

13. Liberty

Here’s another core tune played from New England to California and from the Appalachian Mountains to points west of the Mississippi.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

14. Goodbye Liza Jane

Here is a tune that Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys are known for. This treat has an extended melody with more of a modern Bluegrass treatment.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

15. Billy In The Lowground

This is another core tune that crosses many fiddle styles and goes way back there. Kenny Baker calls this tune Billy in the Lowlands.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

16. St. Annes Reel

St. Annes Reel is a French Canadian tune that has made it way south in to the American fiddle repertoire. It’s another opportunity to give a tune the “Bach” treatment. Great tune and fun to play.

Shelby – fiddle, lead mandola and lead guitar in the counterpoint, rhythm mandolin and guitar.

Isaac Eicher – lead mandolin, lead mandola and lead guitar.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

17. Garfields Blackberry Blossom

Here’s a tune that dates back to the Civil War and General Garfield. They said that he would whistle this tune while riding his horse. I would venture to guest that one of the soldiers with a fiddle wanted to make him happy and started playing his melody. Rickie B. tears up the banjo on this one.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin and guitar.

Rick Bentley – banjo.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

18. Bill Cheatum

This is tune that crosses many styles. This is somewhat Bluegrass with a Texas Style attitude.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

19. Ragtime Annie

I have played this tune thousands of times for many a square dance. I love the shuffle in the 1st part.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

20. Twinkle Little Star

When I was in my younger years looking for fiddle tunes, I discover this tune on a 78 that my grandmother had by Tommy Jackson. I listened to that record over and over until I learned it.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

21 Peacock Rag

Here’s another tune that I learned on one of my trips to east Tennessee.

Shelby – fiddle, mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Rick Bentley – banjo.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

22. Dusty Miller

Dusty Miller is a core tune. I owe my version of this to Bobby Osborne and Tim Crouch.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

23. Soldiers Joy

This is one of the most popular core tunes out there. It goes back to Civil War and beyond and is still a great tune with a wonderful melody.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar, “chunk” guitar, mandola, mando-cello.

Isaac Eicher – guitar and mandola.

Rick Bentley - banjo.

24. Sally Goodin'

It’s the “mother” of all fiddle tunes. There is not much you can say about this tune other than its been played and record more times than we can count.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – lead mandolin.

Jimmie Henley – banjo.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

25. Little Betty Brown

This is a tune that my friend Curly Lewis taught me. Popular in the Western Swing world, it is a delightful tune that has a happiness about it. Thanks Curley, one of my heroes!

Shelby – fiddle, mandolin, mandola and guitar.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

26. Temperance Reel

Temperance harks back to roots of American fiddling. We had an opportunity to inter-weave the mandolin and fiddle together.

Shelby – fiddle, rhythm mandolin, guitar and “chunk” guitar.

Isaac Eicher – mandolin.

Nathan Eicher – bass.

 

My thanks to all the fellows that picked on my project. They are so talented and I’m greatful to have them as friends. My many fiddle heros: Kenny Baker, Buck Ryan, Chubby Wise, Paul Warren, Curley Ray Cline, Byron Berline, Dick Barrett, Johnny Gimble, Curley Lewis, Keith Coleman, Louis Teirney, Joe Holly, Dale Potter, Stephane Grappelli, Stuff Smith, Joe Venuti, Buddy Spicher, Stuart Duncan, Aubrey Haynie, Andy Leftwich, Mark O’Connor and many more.

Recorded at Studio 11 West, Sand Springs, OK.

Produced, engineered and recorded by Shelby Eicher.

AKG 414 B-ULS was used for fiddle and banjo and a Neuman KM 85 was used for guitars, mandolins, mandola, mandocello and guitars.

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Old Time Fiddling

Compilation of songs I have played since I was a kid. As a matter of fact, the first cut "Shelby 10 Years Old" is a recording from a Bluegrass show in 1970.