We got together soon after the successful FOTA jam session as John owed his wife a trip to West Virginia to visit with friends. And a trip home ALWAYS requires some music time!!! We continue to add new instruments. Tim and Larry are doing so well with their new Mandolin and Guitar respectively while John has been having fun leaning the Ukulele and playing the hand built Fladmark Autoharp that was lent to him by his teacher. Most deservedly Edna acquired a new and acoustically wonderful banjo. The overall tone in this new instrument is dramatic and Edna is enjoying learning how to take advantage of the sound it provides.
The weekend was spent learning a whole bunch of new songs. One was a composition by John he calls “Magothy River Breakdown.” It’s the first song we’ve done with the Autoharp on the lead. We worked on the Steve Martin song “Sun is Gonna Shine” with much of the effort with Edna and John figuring out how to sing this tune. Our first try at a recording was not the best and we will try again and post. However, if you want to hear this tune it is posted here on YouTube.
Other songs we did is one by Dolly Parton called “Love is Like a Butterfly” and a classic Old Time tune called “Goin Down to Cario” and also is known as “Goodbye Liza Jane.” Recordings for all three new songs are posted on the website. Also wanted you to see the notes we work from to understand beat and when to play specific chords. This method of rhythm notations works very well for us. Got a few additional pictures shown below.