bacon September 24th, 2007
After posting last night about the Sudbury Colonial Faire, it dawned on me that I wrote a tune a number of years ago in homage to the fall festival. So, I spent the remainder of the evening dusting off the music and recording this trio entitled Autumn Faire.
The Sudbury Colonial Fair, often called the Sudbury Muster has been the muse for many composers including my friend Jason Malli. He wrote a tune called Wayside Moons, which we performed along with Autumn Faire in a fife solo five or six years ago. It was an interesting solo because the two tunes really have nothing in common aside from their inspiration.
Autumn Faire [0:39m]:
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bacon September 23rd, 2007
Every fall, as the air becomes crisp and the leaves begin to turn, there is a wonderful event that takes place on the grounds of the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts.
On the last Saturday of September the Sudbury Companies of Militia and Minute and the Sudbury Ancient Fyfe and Drum Companie host a colonial faire, which features twenty or so fife and drum groups from all over New England and beyond.
This years line up includes such perennial favorites as the Middlesex County Volunteers, who have just returned from a month long trip to Scottland where they had the great honor of playing at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Beyond that, they play some of the pertiest fife and drum arrangements you’ll ever hear.
Additionally, all the way from Fort Myer, Virginia comes the United States 3rd Infantry, otherwise known as The Old Guard Fife & Drum. The Old Guard, being an official ceremonial unit for the President of the United States, has also played the wide world over. Imagine having this on your resume; They were asked, by Jackie Kennedy, to play at JFK’s Funeral Parade. You can see them in red at the bottom right of the picture below, which was published in Life Magazine. They are truly classy and put on a great show.
The Ancient Mariners, also recently returning from a European tour, will bring their own unique brand of fife and drum entertainment to the colonial faire, which takes place in what, many years ago, was a corn field across from the Wayside Inn.
Incidentally, many of the Ancient Mariners are actually Old Guard alumni and, in fact, there is one Mariner that has recently joined. I, myself, auditioned for the Old Guard in 1988 but was rejected on the grounds that I was too short. Basta’ds. A year later I joined the Ancient Mariners to receive my floggings…but I digress.
In any case, the faire really is a great day full of music, apple cider, riotous children’s games such as Soak the Bloke, and a variety of colonial vendors that sell everything from fifes to flapjacks.
Don’t miss it.
bacon September 21st, 2007
Here is a drum part that was written for the Screaming Wretch by my good friend Scott Mitchell. The two of us performed this together on fife and drum at the Carmel Muster in New York many years ago. To my knowledge, it is the only time the tune has ever been performed.
Incidentally, Screaming Wretch, for whatever reason, is the tune that gets the most traffic on my site. Maybe it should be performed more often.
bacon September 17th, 2007
There is a new musician that has been coming to John Stone’s for our session on Tuesday evenings. He plays the Uilleann Pipes.
Man, the pipes give the whole thing a different twist. Check out this mp3 that I was able to record on the Edirol last week. Pay special attention to the second tune. The piper dude is laying on all the regulator keys, or whatever they are called on that crazy contraption. In any case, it sounds like a musical traffic jam. It’s tough to get the flute to sound like that. Other instruments in this musical exuberance: Bouzouki, Flute, Tenor Banjo, Guitar, Fiddle. What fun.
John Stone's Session [3:01m]:
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bacon September 9th, 2007
Blogging here about the Mariners and, more specifically, our follies in Switzerland has been quite enjoyable. I’ve received some great, and sometimes funny, feedback via comments, emails and in person about the ‘We Are the Mariner‘ series. One fellow even told me that he can’t read my blog anymore because I made him cry. Sorry about that one.
Also, there is a strong interest with other Mariners, both here and abroad, to share more stories with you as they unfold and to unearth stories from the past. Therefore, I am excited to announce a new blog where The Mariners can continue to chronicle their adventures.
Introducing: www.TheMariners.org
Please take some time to check it out. We look forward to seeing you there and we’ll do our best to write things that won’t make you cry.
bacon September 3rd, 2007
For those that are interested, I did all of my audio recording in Switzerland on an Edirol R-09. I had never used it before and, in fact, a co-worker loaned it to me the day before I left for Europe. I threw some fresh AA batteries in, 2 gig of SD memory and I was off to the races. I found it very easy to use and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a high quality, compact recording device. I recorded in some very adverse settings such as bars filled with drummers and fifers. In spite of the conditions the quality of the recordings were consistently good.
In addition, I found it really easy to transfer tracks to my computer. Just plug it in via a USB port and it was instantly recognized as another hard drive. Simple.
Amazon has it listed for $349. I give it an A+.
