gcoover

Seen today on the home page of SafetyWing Nomad Insurance.

I believe all the tunes are now completed, but I haven't seen them yet for a final proofreading. Dan is finishing up the historical portion, which will focus more on Kimber's early years and musical backgrounds. The current plan is to have an official launch sometime in September in Headington Quarry. Of course, the Headington Quarry Morris will be there, and Andy Turner will be part of it since he is now the Headington Quarry Morris musician, and other players like John Kirkpatrick, John Watcham, and Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne have also expressed interest in being part of the festivities, so it might end up being quite the event. Gary

Dan Worrall's House Dance is also in paperback with QR links to the audio files, available through Red Cow Music, McNeela Music, and Amazon. Gary

Bonjour Bastien! I would suggest left hand #6 on the push which keeps the phrase nice and smooth, but if that's too much of a reach you can do button #2 on the pull. Best of luck on the arrangement and playing at the wedding. Bon chance, mes ami! Gary

Good advice from Steve and Andy - it's all about the musical effect you are looking for. As for me, I play those three notes in your example with the button held down and just snap the bellows to change direction since it's a Morris tune and the push-pull effect is part of what can give the tune some extra bounce. If you feel like playing it smoother and more legato, then you could play that second G with the left hand 4a button (if you have a 30-button Anglo) and then everything would be on the pull. Lots of choices on the Anglo. As for those who are confused about the notation, the line above the notes (and the staff) is what indicates a pull. A longer line helps with phrasing and air control by indicating longer passages of either push or pull. There is no need to show a line for notes below the staff since it just adds to the clutter, but more importantly since you can't push and pull at the same time! Gary

Just barely in time for St. Patrick's Day, the long-awaited 75 More Irish Session Tunes for Anglo Concertina is finally out in paperback and Kindle! With regular music notation and the same button number tab system as the previous session tune book (and other Rollston Press books), but this time every tune has the benefit of being reviewed by Irish concertina master Ernestine Healy who has gone through every tune and made edits and suggestions as to how to play it in true Irish style. THE TUNES: The Ashplant, Ballydesmond Polka #2, Bank of Ireland, Bantry Bay, Behind the Haystack, Blind Mary (Mhaire Dhall), Brosna Slide, Castle Kelly, Coleraine, Concertina Reel, Cup of Tea, Dennis Murphy’s Slide, Dingle Regatta, Drops of Brandy, Farewell to Ireland, Fig for a Kiss, The Flowing Tide, Foxhunter’s Jig, Glass of Beer, Green Fields of America, Harvest Home, High Reel, Humours of Tulla, Inisheer, The Irish Mazurka, John Egan’s, Killavil Postman, Kitty’s Wedding, Little Diamond, Londonderry Air, Love Will You Marry Me, Maid in the Meadow , Maid of Mount Kisco, Mairi’s Wedding, Minstrel Boy, Miss Monaghan, Morning Dew, Murroe Polka, Music in the Glen, Musical Priest, Ned of the Hill, O’Keefe’s Slide, Off to California, Old Concertina Reel, Old Torn Petticoat, The Orphan, Over the Moor to Maggie, Paddy Fahey’s #1, Parnell’s March, Pigeon on the Gate, Planxty Charles Coote, Planxty Irwin, Rakes of Kildare, Rakish Paddy, Riding on a Load of Hay, Saddle the Pony, The Scholar, Ship in Full Sail, Ships Are Sailing, Silver Spire, Sixpenny Money, Smash the Windows, South Wind, St. Anne’s Reel, Star Above the Garter, Star of Munster, Swallowtail Jig, Swallowtail Reel, Swinging on a Gate, Tenpenny Bit, Terry Teahan’s, Tobin’s Favorite, Tom Sullivan’s Polka, Top of Cork Road (Father O’Flynn), Trip to Sligo, Walsh’s Hornpipe. It's currently available from Red Cow Music (UK), McNeela Music (Ireland), and Amazon. Since Ernestine is originally from County Mayo, attached is a sample from the book: "Rakes of Kildare" which likely came from Westport in County Mayo. Gary Rakes-of-Kildare-75MIST.pdf

Also Frank Edgley in Canada, very high quality hybrid and traditional Anglos. Not exactly sure what Wally Carroll will be doing next, but his work is also top notch. Gary

Kurt was a regular at the Old Pal Concertina Weekend from the very beginning, and we always enjoyed his old time favorites played exquisitely on a large Crane Duet. I last talked with him only three months ago about a problem he was having with one of his reeds and he sounded quite well. His humor and musicianship were a huge part of the Old Pal event and he will be greatly missed. Next weekend will be the 20th anniversary of concertinas at the Old Palestine Festival - we shall have to come up with a suitably musical memorial in his honor. We love you, Kurt, now you can make the angels smile with all your great tunes! Gary PS - Here's a photo of Kurt from the 2005 Old Pal Festival.

Just wanted to let everyone know who might be thinking of attending the Old Palestine Concertina Weekend in East Texas this next week, March 21-23, (oldpalmusic.com) - all of the Rollston Press concertina books there will be available for the enticing special festival price of only $10 each. Chris Droney's daughter and Frank Edgley will both be playing and teaching there, so I'm sure they would be willing to sign their books. Dan Worrall will also be there. Gary Coover (who dat?) will be there too, perhaps the lone voice of harmonic-style Anglo playing amongst all the ITM! Hope to see some of you there, enjoying good music, good friends, craft beer, and of course, good East Texas BBQ. Gary

My trusty worker, Jeff Bezos, says they should be available in the next 72 hours. Gary

Unfortunately not - Alan used a different button numbering system for his Twenty Button Anglo from 2004. This new tunebook uses the same "1a-10" numbering system that is in the other Rollston Press books. Gary

Should be on Kindle now, thanks for waiting! Gary

Here are the songs in Sailor Songs for Concertina (sorry, no Wellerman since the book was published before that song became popular): A Tall Ship for Texas, A Wife in Every Port, Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy, Alabama John Cherokee, Banks of Green Willow, Banks of Newfoundland, Barrack Street, Black Ball Line, Blow Ye Winds, Bold Benjamin, Bold Riley, Bonnie Ship the Diamond, Cape Cod Girls, Dark Eyed Sailor, Donkey Riding, Essequiba River, Farewell Nancy, Farewell to Nova Scotia, Farewell to Tarwathie, Fhear A Bhata (The Boatman), Fiddler's Green, For Those Lost at Sea, Frisco Ship, General Taylor, Golden Vanitee, Good Ship Kangaroo, Greenland Whale Fisheries, Handsome Cabin Boy, Hearts of Gold, Heave Ya Ho, Home Boys Home, I Will Set My Ship In Order, I'll Go and List for Sailor, I'll Go to Sea No More, Jim Jones, Just as the Tide was Flowing, Keeper of the Eddystone Light, Lady Leroy, Leaving of Liverpool, Let the Bulgine Run, Lindy Lowe, Little Fishes, Lord Franklin, Lowlands Away, Lowlands of Holland, Maggie May, The Mermaid, Mingulay Boat Song, My Johnny Was a Shoemaker, New York Girls, Noah's Ark, One More Day, Our Captain Cried All Hands, Our Good Ship Lies in Harbor, Outward & Homeward Bound, Paddy West, Pleasant & Delightful, Port of Many Ships, Pretty Nancy of Yarmouth, Rambling Sailor, Rio Grande, Roll Alabama Roll, Roll Down, Roll the Woodpile Down (Way Down in Florida), Rolling Down to Old Maui, Round the Bay of Mexico, Rounding of Cape Horn (Gallant Frigate Amphitrite), Sail Away, Sailor at the Fair, Sailor's Alphabet, Sailor's Hornpipe, Santiano, Saucy Sailor, Shallow Brown, Shenandoah, Ship in Distress, Skye Boat Song, Stately Southerner, Tommy's Gone Away, Tom's Gone to Hilo, The Water is Wide, The Weary Cutters, Weary Whaling Grounds, Whaleman's Lament, When I Was a Fair Maid, Wild Goose, Yarmouth Town, Yellow Gals

And also available now in Kindle format. Thanks, Owen! Gary

And here are the dots to the simplified version of Chocolate Rabbit that will be part of the harmonic-style Anglo workshop at the Old Pal Concertina Weekend this coming March 22-23 in East Texas. Now you can play along with the video posted earlier. From Alan's notes: "One of my early tunes that started with a base run and thinking "If only there was a tune with a base run like this in it". Well here it is!" Gary Chocolate-Rabbit-Alan-Day-2.pdf

And the tunes: The AbigailL Waltz, Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy, Al Day’s Waltz, Al’s Minor, Always Loved Never Forgotten, Archie Minor, Auntie Ada’s Waltz, Battle of the Somme, The Bees Knees Hop Step, Bonjour Mazurka, Chocolate Rabbit, Commonwealth Hornpipe, Commonwealth Jig, Coquetterie, Croissants et Café, David Stanton Waltz, Fairy Dance, The Flo Waltz, French Set – Rondeau, French Set – Bourree, Fubu Waltz (Version 1), Fubu Waltz (Version 2), Gatwick Express, Glastonbury Hornpipe, The Green Shoots of Spring, The Harbour Inn Jig, The Hollesley Frolic, I Only Want to Dance with You, In the Toyshop, Jean’s Waltz, Jenny’s Hornpipe, King Cotton March (Second Part), La Marianne Waltz, Limey Pete, Little Eavie, Little Mark’s Tune, Manor Royal March, Manor Royal Waltz, March of the Concertinas, Mazurka Gasconne, Mazurka Lapleau, Moonlight Hop, Morris Oxford, New Year Stomp, Oats and Beans, The Old Smithy, Old Tom Cat Hopstep, Pint of Cockles, Plasir d’Amour, Plum Duff, Processional March, The Queen’s Jubilee, Ro’s Tune, Shingle Street, Sidmouth Polka, Snow Flakes are Falling, Son ar Chistr, Spring Bumbles, Stream to River Flows, The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended, Three-Part French Schottische, Tom Tolley’s Hornpipe, Turn Off the Gas Mantle, Up with the Sparrow’s Fart, The Wiggle Woggle Jig. Gary

The Anglo Concertina Music of Alan Day is now out and available through Red Cow Music (UK) and Amazon! With musical notation for the melody and Anglo button numbers and tab like all the other Rollston Press books, plus QR code links to videos of Alan playing the tunes. It has been a pleasure working with Alan on this book - 65 tunes, of which 46 of which were composed by Alan in a variety of styles, and including one surprise tune composed very recently. A couple of weeks ago I posted his tune "Bonjour Mazurka" here on CNET. The book also includes a QR code link to Alan's 20-button Anglo Tutor audio files on the ICA website. I've really enjoyed transcribing and playing his tunes, and I'll be teaching "Chocolate Rabbit" at the Old Palestine Concertina Weekend in East Texas in two weeks. With luck I will have some copies of the book with me, hot off the press. Kudos to Alan for writing so many great tunes and for being such a tireless promoter of the concertina. It's both a privilege and an honor to showcase his work. Hope you all enjoy it too! Gary

I hope it also has flashing LED lights...

At 62 buttons I'm guessing it is probably not an Anglo, since 62 is a fairly common number of buttons for the larger Jeffries Duets. Would be good if someone could get over there for a preview and a quick squeeze. The auction houses don't always have the best or most accurate descriptions! Gary

Hi Pete, Good to see I have such good customer support worldwide! Hopefully I can help without muddying the waters any further. And yes, that graphic on p.62 of EA123 is a bit bass-ackwards. In a nutshell: I typically only show the melody line in regular musical notation, in actual pitch, to minimize the clutter and to not confuse the basic notes of the tune. All button numbers above the music staff are played with the right hand on the right side of the instrument, and all button numbers below the music staff are played with the left hand on the left side of the instrument. The durations of the melody notes are the same as the musical notes, the "dots". Sometimes the melody crosses over to the left side, and if so, those button numbers are shown below the musical staff. The accompaniment, or harmony notes below the musical staff are shown only as left-hand button numbers. The little dashes indicate holding the particular button a little longer. These button numbers are suggestions only, feel free to hold notes longer, or shorter, or play something else altogether different. Or totally ignore all those extra button numbers and just play the melody only, that's ok too. If you start with the simpler tunes like Oh Susanna, I think you'll find the tablature becomes self-evident very quickly. Hope this helps! Gary

I just now discovered some videos posted 2 months ago about concertina construction by Willie Crook, who is making concertinas in Denver, Colorado. Anybody familiar with his instruments? I've not heard of him before, but his work looks very detailed and precise. Gary

I'm not seeing anything on CNET about Sid Goldsmith, so wanted to share a couple of videos of his that I stumbled upon today quite by accident. Absolutely lovely EC playing, awesome sound on the bass EC too! He also plays in the folk trio Tarren out of Bristol. Of course, I had to immediately download the CD from their website. Mostly fiddle, cittern, accordion, and some songs and concertina. Excellent stuff. Gary

Feels like you've left the back roads and suddenly ended up on the freeway, doesn't it? Nothing to be embarrassed about, we've all been there. Excellent advice so far from everyone - listen and learn, sit back and quietly play what you can. When I first went to sessions I often just defaulted to drones or chords (mainly open fifths). Some Irish sessions can be brutal if you don't already play the tunes up to speed, but it sounds like your friends were glad to have you along and are encouraging on your journey. Find out what tunes they like to play and become familiar with them as you become more familiar with your instrument and you'll do fine. Practicing is totally different than playing with other folks, but turn your panic into active learning and you'll catch up much more quickly than if you are sitting at home playing. When practicing you probably stop and start if you hit a note you don't like, but playing in a group environment teaches you to keep going no matter what - the show must go on. You'll get there eventually, we're all pulling for you! Gary

Thread Drift Warning! So what's with this bellows "fanning thing" and who the heck first thought this was a good idea? I've even seen a video of an Anglo player doing it. Professional players don't do this. Sorry, but it makes absolutely no sense, and severely limits your ability to express and breathe life into the tunes! Gary

Perhaps Rollston Press can keep this book in print and also add a Kindle edition? I've sent a PM. Gary