Mailbag

Here's some of the comments your fellow fans have written back to us in response to Missouri Old-Time Fiddling and More.... You can send us a message, too. Just send yer emails to fiddleboy57@yahoo.com and let 'er fly. We will never intentionally include names or other such personal info so go ahead and cut us a new one.

Hi! I found your tenor guitar web site via google. Thanks! But it seems that this page was never finished as you intended. If you know of any materials available regarding chord (and melody) fingering on the tenor guitar, I'd be grateful if you'd pass along some pointers. Me, I'm a chromatic button accordion player, and to expand my horizons while remaining "wierd", I've now bought a tenor guitar, which I plan to tune GDAE (like an octave mando, with suitable string gauges). (Or perhaps FCGD, and then add a capo on the second fret to move it to GDAE.) At the same time I'm trying to learn to play a mandolin, so it'll work together, maybe. Although all the theory should be the same, optimal chord voicings and fingerings may differ due to the different scale lengths? Thanks! M.

By dern, you boys have put together a great site. It is always nice to see good work somehow emerge from those you had assumed to be total losers. I don't know Mike, but anyone that would associate with Possum probably gave up bathing and shaving at age sixteen. But thanks to both of you for a nice window on a wonderous musical place, and one of the nation's best places for rich styling and great taste. Joe W.

Dear Possum, Thanks for the info on "I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough". A new old stock copy of this great LP will be better than the scratched-up 24 year old disks that I have now. Best Regards, Alex S.

I really liked your site. It took me back to 1975-1977 when I moved from Memphis, TN to St. Charles, MO and was first introduced to old time Missouri fiddle music by a co-worker. He gave me a two LP record set of "I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough" by the Missouri Friends of the Folk Arts when I moved to Denver, CO. I sure would like to get another copy of it or better yet one on Compact Disk. Can you help? I can't find the MFFA on the internet. Your MIDI selections are great but I hope that you add a lot more tunes using the WAV format. I've downloaded what you have and added it to many others that I got on-line from the Library of Congress colleced by John Lomax (circa 1939) and Alan Jabbour (circa 1966). Its a great way to learn and preserve old-time fiddle music. By the way, how could you fail to include Jessee James and Whiskey Before Breakfast in your top 100 Missouri fiddle tunes? Keep up the great work! Best Regards, Alex S.

Your web site is awesome!! Very cool dude! Do you program the web site in html or did you use something like Front Page? Just curious cause me and dad want to start some sort of web page. I am on dads computer so write me back at Fiddlesong@cs.com. When are you coming to Nashville? I have been refering your web site to people and dad has too. Later man!---Matt W.

Hi Charlie, Thanks so much for the transcriptions. I love finding more music on the net. So glad you spoke up and thanks for the Christmas presents. Hope you have a nice Christmas too! --Judy

Hi, I stumbled across your terrific web page on traditional fiddling. Although I'm not from MO, I suspect that the music is similar to what what the old-timers used to play in my home state of IN. I can't wait for you to finish the accompaniment section: I'm very interested in second fiddle, but can't find anyone who does it to get them to teach me. I'll be checking back from time to time. You have some great articles. Keep up the good work.---Tim H.

The domains peckerwood.com, peckerwood.net, peckerwood.org, are all not available.--Stew

Hay man, 'member when we broke inta pappy's corn likker and got all stanky? Lits do it agin sumtime reel soon.

Poss, While I thoroughly enjoyed your treatise on the tenor guitar, I think its proper location on the WWW is somewhere on the jazz-pimp pages.

Nice web page. It will be really nice when you get all the stuff working. I printed out OK Redbird and London Hornpipe and listened to the slo-mo files. On AOL, when I print these things the text prints on one page and the tune on another and then it is followed by a blank page with just the headers and footers. Is this the way it is supposed to work? Don't forget to put Duncan's Hornpipe and Little Joe on here ASAP. :-) --CS

good to hear from you bro,nice site need more on the backups,such as Pete Stinnett or Pete McMahan's Sister etc.Or Lena Hughes

I heard that Marmaduke blew the cupola off the courthouse in Hermann by mistake. I don't know if there's anything to that or not. You have a great setting for his hornpipe but he had to be one of the ugliest CSA generals there was. That fine part shows up everywhere for me, STRING TOWN, DEER WALK, PUMPKIN RIDGE( Ed Haley's version of DEER WALK.) There's no telling where that strain has been.

Charlie and Mike, I like it. The only thing. Maybe my eyesight is going, but the beige color on the background of the first page is hard to read with black letters. Everything esle seems cool. The tunes with the written music is cool too. My house has one more doorknob to go.

i particularly liked the section on homebrew. you have a great start in my froth and slosh opinion.

Hi Charlie. This looks like a great website. You're taking old time fiddling to a new modern milestone.

Possum, how 'bout a link for each of the 12 styles of Mo fiddling? each could be "The History on Little-Dixie Fiddlin'" etc. --jg

Great to hear from you and thanks for the information about Missouri fiddling. I just returned from Crockett, Texas and the world fiddling championship. Had a wonderful time.

Great job on the web site! Glad to have it available. A couple of small thoughts from a small-minded fiddler:1. when I printed a copy of Fiddler's Dream directly, it printed an extra (though blank except for web address). Maybe you have left extra space at the bottom of the page (i.e., maybe the page is a little onger than necessary). ANYWAY, if you delete a line or two at the bottom of the page of each music page, it might save the users a wasted page of printer pager. I know, I know, this is trivial compared to the value of what you have made available for us. Don't weitht this comment anywhere near as heavy as the appreciation for what you have done! 2. For those of us not familar with a particular tune, some indication of the speed or tempo and a tape or CD which includes a version similar to the one printed would be of additional value. Again, just responding because you asked; YOU DONE GOOD! Happy Fiddlin'

HI. Thanks for the www address for your terrific site. I was there, and surfed about a bit. I even added you to my ever growing list of favorites. I liked it and played some of the tunes.

dude, you forgot to include photo's from her [Ellie Mae] appearance at the Ozark Extravaganza. The only valid connection she has to Mo fiddling. I still have a plastic beer mug from that event. --jg

HI, and back to yah, even on the same day....horrors am I still sitting here ??? I must go crack out that friendly fiddle of mine or get to work,,,hard decision fiddle or work....fiddle or work....fiddle or wor....fiddle or wor...fiddle or wo...fiddle or wo...fiddle or w...fiddle ...fiddle

Potentially a nice little website you and Poss have going. Interesting that the beer making link is one of the only active ones so far. Keep up the good work. Oh and tell Poss that the tenor guitar ain't no part of Missouri fiddlin'. That discography looks very cool. I saw a bunch of stuff on there I've not heard (and some I've not heard of). I'm sure that's a work in progress as there's very little Ozark fiddling included (recordings by Bob Holt, Vesta Johnson, Fred Stoneking, Gene Goforth, Art Galbraith are conspicuously absent). But I'm sure as you boys get done with your beer, you'll have more time to devote to the important stuff. later, JN

I came across your website, looking for info on Frank Reed, I found him listed in your discography (Reed, Frank. Old Tyme Fiddlin'. Overland, Missouri: 1976.) Do you have any more info on this man? Does he have more than this one record? Where can I get a copy? I believe I have an old cassette copy of this album.

Charlie, Thanks for the web site. Have enjoyed playing the tunes that could be printed. Keep up the good work.

Hi Charlie, Nice job with Woodchoppers. Great tune. First person I heard play it was Jake Hockemeyer, who had a monster rendition. About that in the 70s I
heard Graham Townsend play too. Then in the 80s it seemed like a lot of
people played it well -- yourself, Kelly Jones, Travis Inman, Pete of
course, Cyril of course, Taylor McBaine, Johnny Bruce, John Griffin....
About that time, I got hold of some Bob Walters 50s tapes and it's on one
of those sessions with Christeson too. Hell of a good tune and a hard one
to "get right".

a nice start to your website! you probably don't remember me, but I met you at fiddletunes. Good to see you on fiddle-l also! and merry christmas!

thanks for the woodchoppers. working on casey's now. have the snowshoe, i'm encouraging everyone to learn it for echoes. i appreciate the effort. happy holidays. mike the muck

Thanks so much for the transcriptions. I love finding more music on the net. So glad you spoke up and
thanks for the Christmas presents. Hope you have a nice Christmas too!

dude, have you seen my crib yet? www.myjazzhome.com

Dear Charles Walden, Thank you for ordering at Walmart.com!

Thanks for the tune. I think they used to talk abouit Casey, ocasionally, on the "Kitchen Klatter" program which was broadcast for many years by the same radio station. This program may still be on the air. I can remember running on to it some years ago and being surprised it was still around and being continued by descendants of the original family with the same format; kitchen table visit, recipes, family news, letters from listeners, directed toward the at home housewife. My mother used to listen to this program a lot, before television. Hope the holidays are good to you.

Shoeshoe Reel looks like a good tune, thanks. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the message Charlie. I will be sending you a couple of tapes and would like more of your music. I especially like what you do with Woodchoppers/St Anne's Reels. I was trying to figure out the lick on Woodchoppers on low part. Sounds like you are using some kind of double-stop -- anyway it sounds cool!!. Please include a slow version so I can figure it out on Woodchoppers.

I belong to India, an entirely different culture, so I dont know much about fiddle music, but I've listened to some on the net, and really like it. There were a couple of questions I had, could you help me with them? Is a fiddle constructed exactly like a violin, or would there be differences? Could I get this kind of tone from an ordinary violin? (I have a violin, though I amnt too good on it!) And, could you put in a transcription of the 40 years ago waltz, which I loved?