gcoover

Excellent suggestion for some Wilf Carter! And although he's an authentic singing cowboy, unfortunately it looks like he wrote his songs after 1923 and so far I'm not finding who owns the copyrights. Chasing down copyrights (and then trying to get permission) is probably the hardest part of writing these books. But, ol' Wilf (aka Montana Slim) does a great job of "Strawberry Roan" so at least I can cite his recording and give him some credit. By the way, great 45-minute show on the life of Wilf Carter on YouTube, courtesy of Historica Canada: I just recently added a Hawaiian paniolo song and should be printing a first proof this next week. The book will also include QR code links to videos of every song, so that's my next task. And, they will be recorded with my brand new Jake Middleton-Metcalfe "Wolverton" CG Anglo - beautiful instrument. So to answer your question, I'm shooting for the first part of September to get the book 100% completed. It's been a real treat listening to and arranging these old cowboy songs - I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I have. Gary

I've found an easy fix is to cut a long thin strip of paper, either regular or that light card stock from magazine inserts, about 1/8" wide and maybe 2" or 3" long - place it along one side of the dovetail, slide the reed shoe in, and then just break off the end of the paper strip. Gary

Would love to see some photos, of course. I well remember how excited Harold was when he was working to come up with this 24-button design. And it makes a lot of sense, I wonder why it never took off back in Wheatstone's day - maybe just too late to the market? Gary

Here's a little teaser for all you wanna be cowpokes. It's in the same key as the Don Edwards recording, so you can pull it up on YouTube and play along if you want. Beautiful song. Final tally for the book is 75 songs and it's currently in the final proofing stage, so hopefully out soon. Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell has given permission to include some of his poems set to music by Pipp Gillette, and I'm really excited to report that noted Western artist William Matthews made a new painting especially for the front cover! Gary Colorado-Trail-C-COWBOY.pdf

Sorry, Acqua, it's in the "Pirate Songs" book as "Flash Frigate" in Em, but melody only! But the mp3 is in Dm and that's a natural for the 30-button so you should be able to pick it out. You'll need to reach up to the third row for a couple of the notes, but I'll bet you can figure it out! Gary

Hi Coleman, thanks for the suggestion, I'll see if I can get a few uploaded to YouTube like I have for the other books. Gary

Putin's just doing what all good concertina players do - playing both ends against the middle* (* from accordionist Joey the Cowpolka King of Riders in the Sky)

All politics aside - all hail the power of the concertina!

Well, it's learned from the playing of Harry Scurfield - who does a much better job than this guy in the video (me)!

Still waiting on paperwork from Microsoft... they probably have a whole team of lawyers working to agree on the proper copyright citation for this one little tune. In the meanwhile, Amazon's "Look Inside" feature is now active, so all you cheapskates curious onlookers out there can learn a few for free! Gary

Jim has been a longtime attendee of the Old Palestine Concertina Weekend in East Texas. Great guy and great player, and yes, that huge beast of a duet is pretty awesome! Hopefully he'll chime in on this thread... Gary

Hey there OrangeLadBoy, The original is in the key of E so definitely no way on a 20-button (unless it's a E/B - don't think they exist). But the good news is it will work quite handily in the key of C and the melody and chords can be made to work on a 20-button (it's a little easier on a 30-button). Looks like you've got a good start on it. If you don't have the low A on the left hand button #6 on the pull (some 20-button's don't), then move up an octave and start on left hand #5 push. This will also give you the option of adding in the chords too. The chords are C, F, G, Am and Dm. This lovely tune was composed by Robin Beanland. Gary

BREAKING NEWS!!! I just now heard from the developers of Sea of Thieves and they have most graciously granted permission to include "Grogg Mayles" in Pirate Songs for Concertina! So, a revised printing will be available shortly. For those of you who already have the book, I'll be happy to send you an insert, or you can also find it here on cnet from a few weeks ago. Arrr! Gary

Love the combination of pipes and concertina! Beautiful arrangement too. Gary