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Various Artists - Playing Shady Grove: 2009 Crisfield Folk Musicians Retreat
Canada Goose 009 Release Date: September 2009 Genre: On Site Recording Physical Release Planned |
Tucked neatly away in the Del Mar Peninsula on the edge of Cristfield, Maryland, the third annual Folk Musicians Retreat started on April 23rd 2009 and ended the 26th. The gathering included people from all around the country as well as some from other parts of the world. Magic shows, dart gun demonstrations, and a crab feast was had, but the purpose of the event was to foster a community of sharing and learning centered around folk music with a heavy nod to a particular style of banjo playing. It’s called frailing, or claw hammer depending on who you talk to, and it’s a specific method to pick the banjo. The organizers of the event Patrick and Patrick Jr. Costello have in some regard been responsible for a resurgence of the technique due to their books and online video series explaining and demonstrating the method.
The retreat informally structured let the guests teach other guests what they knew, much like the way folk music was taught yesteryear. The interesting thing being almost all of the attendees at the event met through the internet, which adds an unusual twist to the way folk music is being disseminated in this day and age. On one occasion I heard someone explain that the weekend reminded them that the world is not such an awful place, people can gather and learn together and live in harmony so to speak (not that that was always the case, harmony is sometimes sacrificed during the learning process.)
During the retreat, it was said by several people attending that they felt naked without their banjo attached to them during the weekend. And so if you were to stumble on the group like a group of women kayakers also camping in the area did, you would have witnesses a rather unusual but inspiring scene, and as such they they were invited in a are featured here with our resident banjo maker about cat gut strings.
Banjos were of course not the only thing at the event, guitars, dulcimers, fiddles, and even the bones made an appearance, many of them also had guest led classes on the instrument. Some of the songs are from those classes like the one with Chris on banjo and Patrick paying the bones. Each night concluded with a jam around the campfire, which grew to include more people as the participants learned more and were able to join in as the weekend progressed.
This recording is a collection of some of the different things that you could have heard during that retreat, it is an on-site recording including snippets of some of the classes, the sound of people learning how to play, and people showcasing songs that are dear to them. Enjoy.
Track listing:
1. Various Artists - Walking Intro (1:30)
2. Various Artists - Fred Teaching (1:31)
3. Various Artists - Chris and Patrick - Banjo and Bones (1:14)
4. Various Artists - Clothes (0:15)
5. Various Artists - Shawn’s Cripple Creek (4:14)
6. Various Artists - Fred From Baltimore - Mountain Dew (4:27)
7. Various Artists - Patrick - In my Means (2:14)
8. Various Artists - Chris Via’s fiddle tune (2:52)
9. Various Artists - World Goes Round (2:16)
10. Various Artists - Playing Shady Grove (1:32)
11. Various Artists - Talkin Catgut (0:52)
12. Various Artists - Short Bones jam (0:15)
13. Various Artists - Fred From Baltimore - I Washed My Face in The Morning Dew (1:37)
14. Various Artists - Barry and Billy - Amazing Grace (1:09)
15. Various Artists - Circle Jam (4:02)
If you were at the event and have pictures you want to share as a gallery will is planned to be posted send your pictures to canadagooserecrods@gmail.com
This recording is licensed under creative commons attribution. Front cover image by Paul Sobczak.
