The continuing adventures of a post modern neo-traditional oldtime family string band
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Homegrown String Band on Fios 1 News TV
On October 23, 2011, The Homegrown String Band performed in the auditorium of the Commack Public Library. The show was covered by Fios News video journalist Eric Alfredo. To view the five minute interview/concert footage as it appeared on Fios "Push Pause" on December 5, 2011, click on the link below or on the screen shot to the right. I wasn't able to embed the video, so you will be taken to the Fios 1 News website.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Ramblin Rooster Rick
I was ramblin' through some old Mp3 files on my computer and found this solo banjo piece from our first CD Blind Dog Thumpin' on the Porch (2000). It's called Ramblin' Hobo. I learned it from the playing of Doc Watson and his father-in-law Gaither Carlton. This "little ditty" is a cool tune in an odd F tuning (fCFCD). It's easy to get into this tuning from double C, just drop the two G strings down to F.
Ramblin' Hobo, to me, personifies the unique (and sometimes strange) percussive, melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic qualities of old time banjo. Playing the banjo can be a grand adventure in self expression and artistic freedom. This song lends itself perfectly to the type of individual interpretation that makes playing the banjo so much fun. It's like a puzzle whose pieces can be rearranged to form different pictures. . . There I go ramblin' again.
Ramblin' Hobo, to me, personifies the unique (and sometimes strange) percussive, melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic qualities of old time banjo. Playing the banjo can be a grand adventure in self expression and artistic freedom. This song lends itself perfectly to the type of individual interpretation that makes playing the banjo so much fun. It's like a puzzle whose pieces can be rearranged to form different pictures. . . There I go ramblin' again.
Labels:
Banjo,
banjo lessons on Long Island,
Doc Watson,
Gaither Carlton,
old time banjo,
Ramblin Hobo,
Rambling Hobo,
Rooster Rick,
The Banjo Lesson
Sunday, November 20, 2011
A Thanksgiving Prayer - Thank You Song
We had a great time playing out in Montauk last night. I'd like to thank everyone for coming out to see us and we sure hope to see y'all again real soon.
Here's a little Thanksgiving prayer I wrote sometime around 1990. This was a totally unrehearsed moment captured on "tape" by Larry Moser. We included it in our 2004 CD release "Rock Hollow."
Here's a little Thanksgiving prayer I wrote sometime around 1990. This was a totally unrehearsed moment captured on "tape" by Larry Moser. We included it in our 2004 CD release "Rock Hollow."
Happy Thanksgiving from The Homegrown String Band!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The End is Near!
The Montauk Library is located on Montauk Hwy. (Route 27) just east of the village of Montauk, on the north side of the highway, as indicated on the map below. 631-668-3377
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Pretty Polly
Here's a creepy murder ballad I played the day before Halloween at The Bayport-Blue Point Library in Bayport, NY. Before I sang the song I told the tale of Willy, The Cruel Ship's Carpenter, and the ghost of Pretty Polly who's undead spirit sought justice for herself and her unborn child. Freddy Krueger had nothin' on this murderous 18th century villain.
Our next show is 3:00 pm Sunday November 6, 2011 at The Newburgh Free Library
Newburgh Free Library
124 Grand Street
124 Grand Street
Newburgh, NY 12550
845-563-3601
845-563-3601
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sonny Terry Forever!
Country blues harmonica legend Sonny Terry would have been 100 years old today. Sonny Terry (Terrell Saunders) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on October 24, 1911. His early musical training consisted of listening to his father play hoedowns and square dance tunes on the harmonica. Though he played in various string bands around the Shelby, NC area, Sonny had no intention of becoming a professional musician until two separate accidents, at the ages of eleven and sixteen, left him virtually blind in both eyes. Farming was no longer an option. After losing his sight, Terry took to the streets and medicine show circuit where his skilled harmonica playing drew large crowds. Sonny developed a strong rhythmic style that included lots of chugs, whoops, wails, and hollers. He used his hands, harmonica, and voice to create trademark sound effects, from baying hounds to lonesome whistles and driving locomotives. When Sonny was about eighteen years old he got his first taste of the blues and taught himself how to play his harmonica in the cross harp blues style. Sometime in 1937, while out busking on the streets, Terry met his future musical partner – guitarist Blind Boy Fuller. The pair formed a strong musical bond and played together for the next four years, until Fuller passed away in February of 1941 at the unripe not old age of thirty three years. Soon after Fuller's death guitarist Brownie McGhee was asked to accompany Terry on a trip to Washington DC, and so the seminal acoustic blues harmonica/guitar duo of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee was formed. The pair moved to New York in 1942 and became hugely successful in the New York City folk and blues scene of the 40s and 50s. Sonny's solo playing had already been a big hit in New York since he performed in John Hammond's famous "Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938. In the 1940s, Terry's unique style landed him a part in the Broadway play "Finian's Rainbow", the show ran for five years. In the next decade Terry and McGhee appeared as a duo on Broadway in a three year run of Tennessee Williams "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
By the time I saw Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee perform together in the 1970s, they were still making great music together, but a rift that had been developing for some time was beginning to take its toll on the dynamic duo. They often argued offstage and by the 1980s they were no longer performing as a duo. Sonny spent his later years living on Long Island and passed away in Mineola, NY, on March 11, 1986. Thankfully, he left behind hundreds of recordings in the pre-blues and early Piedmont blues harmonica styles, as well as a legion of young players, including Phil Wiggins and our good friend Ken "The Rocket" Korb, who have been inspired to carry on the country blues harmonica tradition. Terrell Saunders was a true giant in the history of American music.
Sonny Terry CD: The Folkways Years, 1944-1963
Sonny Terry DVD: Whoopin' The Blues 1958-1974
Little Toby and the Rocket 2011 Reunion on The Long Island Blues Warehouse Show
John Cephas and Phil Wiggins perform at the White House July 1999
Labels:
Blind Boy Fuller,
blues harmonica,
Brownie McGhee,
Country Blues,
John Cephas,
Ken Korb,
Ken the Rocket Korb,
Phil Wiggins,
Piedmont Blues,
pre-blues,
Sonny Terry,
Terrell Saunders,
Toby Walker
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Song Sprouts Artist of the Day
On Friday, October 14th, 2011, The Homegrown String Band will be the Featured Artist of the Day on the independent music site SongSprouts.com. Song Sprouts is a very cool site where music fans can listen and download music that has been posted free of charge by 915 independent artists. If you go to our fan page you can listen to three songs (Praying for Spring, Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, and A minor Catastrophe) from our Ragged but Right CD. If you create a fan account you can download Mp3s of the three songs absolutely FREE! Song Sprouts is a great way to discover new music. Check out the music posted by The Homegrown String Band and about 914 other independent bands and solo artists.
Our local Long Island fans can also get some free live music this weekend as the full band will be doing a free show as part of the West Hempstead Library's Sunday at Two Series. You probably guessed that the show is on Sunday at 2pm. If you did, you would be correct!
West Hempstead Public Library
500 Hempstead Ave
West Hempstead, NY 11552
2:00 pm
Sunday October 16th, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Garlic Time!
It's harvest season in New York! Over the past couple weeks we have played the Tomatoes and Tunes Festival in East Meridith, NY, and the Apple Festival in Setauket, NY. This weekend The Homegrown String Band returns to the world famous Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties, NY. The HVGF is the biggest food festival on the east coast. Besides great food, fresh produce, cooking demonstrations, and lectures there will also be hundreds of craft vendors and 5 stages featuring 10 musical acts. We will be sharing the East Marketplace stage with the Barefoot Boys, a great traditional duo from the Catskill region. Also appearing will be: The Mojo Myles Band, Annie and the Hedonists, Captain Squeeze & the Zydeco Moshers, Mark Rust, One World Puppetry, and The Arm of the Sea Theater. Garlic growers and garlic lovers from around the country make the annual pilgrimage to Saugerties to sample the gourmet cuisine and to stock up on fresh organically grown garlic from around the region. Come join us in this festival that celebrates the wonders of "The Stinking Rose."
Sunday, August 7, 2011
What's a Connetquot?
On Wednesday, August 10, 2011, at 7:00 pm the Homegrown String Band will be presenting a free concert at the Connetquot Library in Bohemia, NY. The word Connetquot means "Great River" in the language of the Secatog (Secatogue) people. The Secatogs were a Delaware-Algonkian community that lived on the south shore of Long Island, from Copiague to Bayshore. They were one of thirteen "tribes," identified by Suffolk County Historian Paul Bailey in his 1959 pamphlet "The Thirteen Tribes of Long Island," living on the island when European settlers arrived in 1635.
Connetquot Public Library
760 Ocean Ave
Bohemia, NY 11716
(631) 567-5079
Bohemia, NY 11716
(631) 567-5079
Labels:
Connetquot,
Connetquot Library,
Homegrown String Band,
Long Island,
Paul Bailey,
Thirteen Tribes of Long Island
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Old and New
The Homegrown String Band has always been about blending the old with the new. For the last 15 years we have been performing a mix of original songs along with original arrangements of traditional American music. Throughout our performing career the unique approach we take, to what is essentially traditional music, has gone in and out of fashion. Our music has alternately been embraced and shunned by the gate keepers of various musical genres. We try to remain true to tradition, not being influenced by musical fads and fashions, while also being open to change and evolution. American music is all about cross pollination and the exchange of ideas. The Carter Family, Charlie Poole, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and Jerry Garcia were all people who added their own ideas to the canon of traditional American music. Some people may choose to latch on to the music of an individual, a musical genre, or a particular stylistic era, believing that a particular style and or instrumentation are the ultimate and final word handed down by the musical gods; we believe in continuing revelation.
Photo by Steve Gravano
Labels:
Carter Family,
Homegrown String Band,
Jerry Garcia
Monday, July 25, 2011
Aptucxet Trading Post
On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, at 7:00 pm the Homegrown String Band will be presenting a free outdoor concert at the Jonathon Bourne Public Library in the historic town of Bourne, Massachusetts. Though the town wasn't officially incorporated until 1884 the area had been an important gathering place for centuries before. In 1627 the Pilgrims established the Aptucxet trading post on a site known as Manamet, "trail of burden carriers," by the native peoples. Today the town situated on Buzzards Bay is known as the gateway to Cape Cod.
On Thursday, July 28, at 7:00 pm the band will be playing a free indoor show at the Oliver Wolcott Library in Litchfield, Connecticut. The OWL is named in honor of Declaration of Independence signer Oliver Wolcott, a brigadier general of the Connecticut Militia during the American Revolution, and former governor of Connecticut.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Charlie Poole by Tracy Bigelow Grisman
A few years ago we (The Homegrown String Band) were playing at a bluegrass festival headlined by David Grisman. I found a beautiful water color like print of a famous photo of the Carter Family at his merchandise table. I couldn't resist. I bought the print, framed it, and hung it up in my music room right next to an 8X10 photo of Tommy Jarrell and Fred Cockerham given to me by the late Ray Alden. The painting was made by Tracy Bigelow Grisman; a talented artist and musician from Petaluma, California . She has a web site, called OldtimeyArt.com, where you can see and purchase her beautiful prints of old-time country and jazz musicians.
Last week I was rummaging through eBay, looking for banjo ephemera, and I came across an auction for an 11X14 print of Charlie Poole done by Tracy. I won the auction and Charlie is now hanging with the Carters in my music room. I hope the Carters don't mind hanging out with this hard drinking rounder from North Carolina; Maybelle put up with Johnny Cash so I guess she'll be OK with Charlie. While the Carter Family advertised their shows as wholesome and "morally good;" Charlie Poole was at the other end of the spectrum. This hard drinking millworker made his own whiskey and played with his band, the North Carolina Ramblers, at speakeasies, mining towns, and lumber camps around the Piedmont area. Like the Carters, Charlie was an innovator, blending traditional mountain music with the popular music of the day. His three finger banjo picking was a precursor to the bluegrass banjo style made popular by Earl Scruggs. The music of Carter Family and the North Carolina Ramblers laid the foundation for the bluegrass bands of the 1940s and 1950s—and the Homegrown String Band.
Charlie Poole Music
You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music
Carter Family Music
The Carter Family: 1927-1934
Read about the musical contributions of Charlie Poole and other Piedmont textile workers to the development of American roots music.
Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South
Charlie Poole Music
You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music
Carter Family Music
The Carter Family: 1927-1934
Read about the musical contributions of Charlie Poole and other Piedmont textile workers to the development of American roots music.
Linthead Stomp: The Creation of Country Music in the Piedmont South
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Lewes Delaware
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Bradley Kincaid
Today would have been Bradley Kincaid's 116th birthday. Born on July 13, 1895, in Garrad County Kentucky, the boy who learned how to play guitar on an instrument acquired in trade for a foxhound would eventually become known around the world as "The Kentucky Mountain Boy." In 1926, Kincaid made his first appearance on the WLS National Barn Dance radio program in Chicago. Originally booked by the station, which was owned by Sears Roebuck (the "World's Largest Store"), as part of a college vocal quartet, Kincaid was soon given his own time slot to sing his repertoire of Kentucky folksongs and ballads. He stayed at WLS for four years before moving on to other radio stations around the northeast. Kincaid published a popular song book called Favorite Mountain Ballads and Old Time Songs, which he promoted and sold on air. He also recorded 95 songs, including the first commercial recording (2/27/28) of Child Ballad #84 – Barbara Allen.
Barbara Allen by Bradley Kincaid
Barbara Allen by Bradley Kincaid
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Pickin on a Park Bench
I guess pickin' in the park is the modern urban/suburban version of front porch pickin'; an opportunity to get out, get some fresh air, and share your music with your neighbors. One of my fondest memories of growing up on Long Island was our Sunday summer excursions into NYC during the mid to late 1960s. My dad would load the family up in the station wagon for an hour long drive into Manhattan. Once we got into "The City" we would head down to Greenwich Village, wander around the shops and art galleries, and listen to the city folk playing blues, jazz, and folk music in Washington Square. The day would usually end with dinner at Jimmy's, our favorite Chinatown eatery.
In this video I'm playing the classic American folk ballad "Wild Bill Jones" in clawhammer style on my Wildwood five string open back banjo. I guess "Wild Bill Jones" falls into that ever popular murder ballad category I mentioned in a previous post. A version of the song, as sung by Viney Norton of Big Laurel, North Carolina, was collected by Cecil Sharp in August of 1916. The first commercial recording was made in New York City on April 24, 1924, by Eva Davis, accompanying herself on the five string banjo, of course.
Labels:
Cecil Sharp,
clawhammer banjo,
Greenwich Village,
Long Island banjo,
open back banjo,
Rooster Rick Jackofsky,
Viney Norton,
Washington Square,
Wild Bill Jones,
Wildwood banjo
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Concert Review and Flatfoot Dance Video
Here's a video and some excerpts from a newspaper article reviewing a show we did a couple weeks ago at the Pearl River Library.
The Sound of ("American Roots") Music Comes to Pearl River
The Homegrown String Band performed to a full room on Sunday at the Pearl River Public Library . . . From the very start, Rick “Rooster” Jackofsky held the crowd’s attention with his natural storytelling ability and encyclopedic knowledge of the history of American roots music. Georgianne, Erica and Annalee had the crowd clapping along to their down-home style of Appalachian clog and buck dancing . . . “What a fantastic show!, I love that they are a family performing together as a unit. It’s wonderful" . . . "When I heard that they were performing at the Pearl River Public Library, I knew we had to go,” . . . One of the many stickers that adorn Jackofsky’s well-traveled guitar case is a quote from Jimi Hendrix: “Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens.” And, people listened, intently.
Labels:
American roots music,
buck dancing,
flatfoot dance,
Homegrown String Band,
Jackofsky,
Pearl River Library
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Happy Birthday Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy was born on June 26 somewhere in Arkansas in either 1893,1898, or 1903. His sister cited the earlier dates, but according to research by his biographer, Bob Reisman, the later date is the correct one. Either way, today Big Bill "Key to the Highway" Broonzy would be well over a hundred years old. After serving time in the Army during WWI, Bill headed up the Mississippi to the bright lights and big city of Chicago. Broonzy, along with his friend and musical partner Tampa Red, was a prominent figure in the pre-war Chicago blues scene formed by and for the relocated southern blacks who migrated up the Mississippi in search of a better life. They say Muddy Waters discovered electricity, creating the first modern electric blues combo, but Big Bill was probably the first Chicago blues man to incorporate electric guitar and drums into a blues ensemble. Big Bill Broonzy represents the musical link between rural bluesmen like Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, and Son House, and the post war urban blues of Muddy Waters and Little Walter. Broonzy was the last minute country blues substitute for Robert Johnson, who disappeared shortly before the show, at John Hammond's famous 1938 Carnegie Hall "Spirituals to Swing" concert. Big Bill passed on August 15, 1958, at the age of 55, 60, or 65.
I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy
Introduction to Big Bill Broonzy
Young Big Bill Broonzy 1928-1935
I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy
Introduction to Big Bill Broonzy
Young Big Bill Broonzy 1928-1935
Labels:
Big Bill Broonzy,
Chicago Blues,
Key to the Highway
Monday, June 20, 2011
Banjo History and Mythology
For the last one hundred and fifty years the banjo, along with the log cabin and the "Sweet Sunny South," has been a symbol of a mythical simpler time and place. The banjo, introduced to America by African American slaves, represents the evolution of a North African stringed instrument called an Ankonting. During the mid-nineteenth century, the banjo was often shown in the hands of a "happy, carefree" slave. Later, the symbol of a time left behind would become the barefoot, banjo playing, hillbilly, mountain man. Many sentimental country and folk songs have been written about log cabins, including Fiddlin' John Carson's 1923 Okeh release "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane." "The Little Log Cabin" 78 rpm backed by "The Old Hen Cackled and the "Rooster's Going to Crow" was such a huge, and surprising, success that it led to northern record companies setting up field recording sessions around the south, scrambling to find more hillbilly old time music. This postcard dated 1908, found in a Connecticut antique shop, makes use of two nineteenth century stereotypes—the banjo playing slave and the log cabin—to depict a purely fictional pastoral setting that people beset by life changing technology and "progress" have been longing for since the beginning of the industrial revolution.
That Half-Barbaric Twang
African Banjo Echoes In Appalachia
America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Ninteenth Century
For more reading on the social history of the American banjo:
That Half-Barbaric Twang
African Banjo Echoes In Appalachia
America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Ninteenth Century
Labels:
ankonting,
Banjo,
Fiddlin' John Carson,
log cabin,
nineteenth century stereotypes,
sweet sunny south
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Banjos, Murder, & Moonshine
For some reason it seems that banjo players have always had a fascination with murder. Is it because they are constantly being threatened with the possibility of meeting an untimely end, or maybe they are just a morbid group, who knows. In any case, solo clawhammer banjo and vocal seems to be the way to go when it comes to murder ballads. On July 29, 1927, in Bristol, Tennesee, at the same recording session that would launch the careers of The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, a banjo playing barber from Kentucky named B.F. Shelton recorded four tunes including two classic murder ballads. He chose the cheery "Pretty Polly," an Americanized version of the English murder ballad "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter," and the All American moonshine murder ballad "Darling Cora." Doc Watson's neighbor, Tom (AKA Clarence) Ashley, recorded "Little Sadie" and "Naomi Wise" in 1929. The list goes on and on with murder ballads being prominently featured in the repertoires of many early banjo players including Samantha Bumgarner, Dock Boggs, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, and Buell Kazee. I've kept up the tradition by including "Pretty Polly," "Darling Corey," "John Hardy," and "Little Sadie" in my solo performances.
Several years ago I decided to write a new murder ballad, God knows there is no shortage of dastardly deeds to tell a terrible tale about. I decided to compose my murder ballad based on a murder that took place in Berlin, NY, in 1845. This was a time when banjos were just beginning to be manufactured commercially and the instrument of African origin was gaining popularity in mainstream America. I found the grisly details, along with a 24 verse broadside that was hawked at the execution of Henry G. Greene, in "New York State Folktales, Legends and Ballads" by Harold Thompson. Greene, who murdered his wife of one week, Mary Wyatt, with a lethal dose of arsenic, confessed to his terrible crime only after being found guilty and sentenced to hang. In a final act of repentance, Henry sang "Rock of Ages" as he stood upon the gallows. I borrowed some verses from the broadside, added some of my own along with a spooky sounding minor tune, to come up with my version of The Ballad of Mary Wyatt.
Listen to The Ballad of Mary Wyatt by Rick Jackofsky
Watch a video of Rick Jackofsky performing Pretty Polly
Buy the Mp3 or the book
The Ballad of Mary Wyatt
New York State Folktales, Legends and Ballads
Photo by Ed Neale
Several years ago I decided to write a new murder ballad, God knows there is no shortage of dastardly deeds to tell a terrible tale about. I decided to compose my murder ballad based on a murder that took place in Berlin, NY, in 1845. This was a time when banjos were just beginning to be manufactured commercially and the instrument of African origin was gaining popularity in mainstream America. I found the grisly details, along with a 24 verse broadside that was hawked at the execution of Henry G. Greene, in "New York State Folktales, Legends and Ballads" by Harold Thompson. Greene, who murdered his wife of one week, Mary Wyatt, with a lethal dose of arsenic, confessed to his terrible crime only after being found guilty and sentenced to hang. In a final act of repentance, Henry sang "Rock of Ages" as he stood upon the gallows. I borrowed some verses from the broadside, added some of my own along with a spooky sounding minor tune, to come up with my version of The Ballad of Mary Wyatt.
Listen to The Ballad of Mary Wyatt by Rick Jackofsky
Watch a video of Rick Jackofsky performing Pretty Polly
Buy the Mp3 or the book
The Ballad of Mary Wyatt
New York State Folktales, Legends and Ballads
Photo by Ed Neale
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Rainy Afternoon
Looks like tomorrow is going to be a rainy Sunday afternoon, but that doesn't mean it has to be dreary. Don't stay home and watch Rainout Theater! Come on out to the Pearl River Library at 80 Franklin Avenue in Pearl River, NY and enjoy a great performance of traditional and original song and dance, by the Homegrown String Band.
The Homegrown String Band at the Pearl River Library
3pm - Sunday, June 12 - FREE Admission
80 Franklin Avenue, Pearl River, NY 10965
(845) 735-4084
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Sayville Celebrates its 250th Anniversary!
In 1761 John Edwards settled in Sayville and built a house at what is now the corner of Foster Avenue and Edwards Street. On Sunday, June 5th, 2011, from 1:00 - 4:00 the Homegrown String Band will be performing two sets of acoustic string band music on the grounds of the old Edwards homestead as part of the annual Edwards Farm Day celebration. Come on down to the farm and help us celebrate the 250th anniversary of Sayville.
Labels:
Edwards Farm,
Homegrown String Band,
Sayville,
Sayville 250th aniversary,
Sayville Historical Society
Saturday, May 21, 2011
End of the World ?
For months Family Radio evangelist Harold Camping has been spreading the word that the rapture would take place on May 21, 2011, at 6pm. Well, the predicted time has come and gone and it looks like the sinners and saints are going to have to try and get along with each other for a while longer. I guess it's like the great baseball sage, Yogi Berra, said, "It ain't over till it's over."
Game two of the Yankees Mets subway series will go on as scheduled.
Game two of the Yankees Mets subway series will go on as scheduled.
Lets Go Mets!
Labels:
end of the world,
Harold Camping,
Mets,
rapture,
subway series,
Yankees,
Yogi Berra
Friday, May 20, 2011
Commack Library Show Rescheduled
Our show at the Commack Library scheduled for Saturday May 22, 2011, has been rescheduled for October 23, 2011. Maybe a good thing; the weather is supposed to finally clear up this weekend. After all the rain we've had I think everyone will want to be outdoors anyway. I know I'm looking forward to tending my dandelion patch and getting my tomatoes and peppers in the ground. Yes, I have a dandelion patch. My Italian grandmother taught me to love and respect the lowly dandelion. What's not to love, beautiful flowers that can be fermented, tasty leaves that can be eaten raw or steamed, roots that can be roasted and brewed. I never understood why people spend time and money putting down toxic herbicides to rid their lawns of this delicious and nutritious plant that is packed with vitamins and minerals.
Hopefully the canceled Commack show won't inconvenience anyone. The next Homegrown String Band show is at Edwards Farm Day, June 5th, in Sayville, NY.
Photo by Rick Jackofsky
Hopefully the canceled Commack show won't inconvenience anyone. The next Homegrown String Band show is at Edwards Farm Day, June 5th, in Sayville, NY.
Photo by Rick Jackofsky
Labels:
Commack Library,
Dandelion,
Homegrown String Band
Friday, May 13, 2011
A Long Island Quaker Anniversary
Yes, there are Quakers on Long Island. The Religious Society of Friends was founded by George Fox in Great Britain during the mid seventeenth century and the faith quickly spread to Colonial America. The Conscience Bay Meeting in Saint James, NY, founded in 1961, is one of the newer Quaker meetings on Long Island, but Quakers have been on Long Island for over 350 years. The meeting house in Flushing, NY, was built in 1694 and is still in use today.
Come on down to Saint James, Sunday, May 15th, and help the Friends of Conscience Bay celebrate their 50th anniversary. Listen to the Homegrown String Band, walk the labyrinth, check out some local handmade crafts, and pick up a free Quaker Herbs & Spice cookbook.
Rain or Shine! Free!
1:30 - 5:00 pm
4 Friends Way
Saint James, NY
631-862-6213
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Turtle Power
Things have been kind of slow for the Homegrown String Band lately. I've been getting in a lot of miles running the trails in the old RCA property here in Rock Hollow. It's great to be back out in the woods with the deer, turkeys, hawks, and turtles. The box turtle in the picture must have followed me home. I went outside to water the garden this morning and the little guy was lumbering across the yard less than ten feet from my back door. I think the turtle must be my new power animal—it's OK to slow down, as long as you keep moving forward.
We had a great time playing at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, NY. on April 16th. They have a brand new beautiful building filled with fantastic artwork and historic artifacts.
This weekend, Georgianne and I will be taking our Homegrown Two act on the road. We will be performing out on the street at The 39th Olde York Street Fair in York, PA on Mothers Day May 8th..
Next weekend, on May 15th, the full quadrupelo band will be performing at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Conscience Bay Quaker Meeting in Setauket, NY. We will not only be the featured band, we will also be participating in the accompanying craft fair. Erica will be bringing along some of her Fiddle Knits knitwear as well as a selection of printed patterns for knitters. Georgianne is hard at work making crocheted and woven pot holders and trivets. Annalee will be showing and selling her homemade soaps, and I will be selling my Roosterick pewter buttons, Navajo spindles, and kumihimo bookmarks and jewelry.
Photo by Rick Jackofsky
We had a great time playing at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, NY. on April 16th. They have a brand new beautiful building filled with fantastic artwork and historic artifacts.
This weekend, Georgianne and I will be taking our Homegrown Two act on the road. We will be performing out on the street at The 39th Olde York Street Fair in York, PA on Mothers Day May 8th..
Next weekend, on May 15th, the full quadrupelo band will be performing at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Conscience Bay Quaker Meeting in Setauket, NY. We will not only be the featured band, we will also be participating in the accompanying craft fair. Erica will be bringing along some of her Fiddle Knits knitwear as well as a selection of printed patterns for knitters. Georgianne is hard at work making crocheted and woven pot holders and trivets. Annalee will be showing and selling her homemade soaps, and I will be selling my Roosterick pewter buttons, Navajo spindles, and kumihimo bookmarks and jewelry.
Photo by Rick Jackofsky
Labels:
Arkell Museum,
Box Turtle,
Conscience Bay Quaker Meeting,
Fiddleknits,
Homegrown Two,
Olde York Street Fair,
Roosterick.com,
York PA
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who came out to see us this weekend; at the Homegrown Two show Friday night at the Buttonwood Tree Arts Center in Middletown, CT, and at The Homegrown String Band show at the Port Jefferson Library here on Long Island. It was great to see all the familiar faces at the Port Jeff show and it's always a pleasure to play at the Buttonwood Tree, a great venue and organization supporting the arts in Connecticut. "From its opening it has been a grassroots, avant garde center for all ages, all comers, artists and audiences." Here's a little piece of our Buttonwood show.
Next show is 7pm Saturday April 16 at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, NY
Labels:
Arkell Museum,
Buttonwood Tree,
Canajoharie NY,
Homegrown String Band,
Homegrown Two,
When the Apples Bloom in NY
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Amazing Annalee Works For Peace
A great photo of Annalee is being featured as part of a 15 second promo spot on the CBS Times Square LED screen located on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. The spot was produced by The Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith, international organization promoting peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world since 1915. The photo montage began running yesterday and will appear every hour eighteen hours a day (6 AM to 12 AM) for the next six weeks.
“Your goal is, in my opinion, the only reasonable one and to make it prevail is of vital importance.”
—Albert Einstein, in a letter to FOR
"The Fellowship of Reconciliation is composed of women and men who recognize the essential unity of all creation and have joined together to explore the power of love and truth for resolving human conflict. While it has always been vigorous in its opposition to war, the Fellowship has insisted equally that this effort must be based on a commitment to the achieving of a just and peaceful world community, with full dignity and freedom for every human being."
“Your goal is, in my opinion, the only reasonable one and to make it prevail is of vital importance.”
—Albert Einstein, in a letter to FOR
On another note: Come see The Amazing Annalee, star of the big screen and the Siberian Jaw Harp Museum, perform with her family, The Homegrown String Band, at The Irvington, NY Public Library Saturday March 26 at 2 pm.
Labels:
Amazing Annalee,
CBS LED,
Fellowship of Reconciliation,
Homegrown String Band,
Jaw Harp,
Peace,
Times Square
Friday, March 11, 2011
Earthquake in Japan
The Homegrown String Band sends our prayers and good wishes out to the people of Japan after that country was hit by a devastating magnitude 8.9 earthquake and seven meter tsunami this morning.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Ray Alden - Songcatcher
This Saturday night, March 12, 2011, at 7:30 pm The Homegrown String Band will be returning to the Croton Free Library in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. The last time we played there, in 2007, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Ray Alden. After I played "When the Apples Bloom in NY," a song I wrote that mentions old-time fiddler Tommy Jarrell, I made an announcement that I would give a free CD to anyone who knew who Tommy Jarrell was. Little did I know that Ray was in the audience. Of course Ray knew exactly who Tommy was. Not only did he know who he was, he had known Tommy personally. Ray Alden, a great old-time musician in his own right, had spent a lot of time visiting, recording, and photographing Tommy and many other old-time music legends. After the show Ray introduced himself and we had a long talk about banjos and old-timey music. I gave Ray a copy of our "Ragged but Right" CD and let him know what a pleasure it was to meet the man who had recorded one of my all time favorite albums: "Tommy and Fred," banjo/fiddle duets by Tommy Jarrell and Fred Cockerham. A few days later I received a package in the mail with an 8X10 copy of a B&W photo of Tommy and Fred standing on Tommy's porch, along with a CD of his old-time band The Southern Schoolhouse Rascals. We were sad to hear in the late fall of 2009 that Ray had passed on in September. Though Ray is gone he has left an indelible mark on the old-time music community, with his stellar banjo playing and also by making his great field recordings available to the public through his Field Recorders' Collective. Ray started the collective in 2004; since then they have released dozens of priceless recordings of traditional American musicians that will go a long way toward keeping the music we love so much alive. Thanks Ray.
July 2, 1942 − September 19, 2009
Labels:
Croton-on-Hudson,
Field Recorders' Collective,
Fred Cockerham,
Homegrown String Band,
Ray Alden,
Tommy Jarrell
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Homegrown Two @ Trumbull
Sunday, February 27, Rick and Georgianne will be performing as Homegrown Two - the duo, at the Trumbull Connecticut Library. The show starts at 2pm and will focus on the oral traditions that helped shape American folk music. You will see and hear a lot of dulcimer/guitar duets as well as clawhammer banjo, doumbek, harmonica, banjo-ukulele, and some fancy foot work. Come on down and help us get over those Snow Shoveling Blues as we get Back to the Future of American Roots Music.
The Trumball Library
33 Quality Street
Trumbull, CT 06611
Trumbull, CT 06611
(203) 452-5197
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Snow Shoveling Blues
The record snowfall in January gave me a sore back and a new song.
The Snow Shoveling Blues by the Homegrown String Band
January 29, 2011 - Mineola, NY
January 29, 2011 - Mineola, NY
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Back by Popular Demand
The Happy Family at The Watkins Glen Oldtime Fiddlers Gathering June 2010 |
As we begin our 15th year as a performing family, we are pleased and proud to be once again selected to be a part of the Town of Oyster Bay's Distinguished Artist Series, a program where outstanding local artists are invited to perform at various venues around the town. Our performance will take place in the auditorium of the Plainview Old Bethpage Library on Saturday, January 15th at 8:00 pm.
Labels:
Festival of American Music,
Homegrown String Band,
Homegrown Two,
National Theater,
Tim Hryviniak,
Town of Oyster Bay Distinguished Artist Series,
Watkins Glen Oldtime Fiddlers Gathering
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