Another favourite tune title! This great crooked West Virginia tune dances satisfyingly across the fiddle’s range. It’s fairly straightforward to catch by ear, but the double stopping’s a whole other ball game, so I’m posting several versions to help people find their best way in.
In order of appearance:
A string band playing the tune at speed
Two wonderful solo fiddle videos that show that pesky double-stopping fingering more clearly.
A slightly slower fiddle/banjo rendering that may help mastering the basic tune
And a bonus track – a haunting experimental recording that sent chills up my spine.
Key of A (mixolydian), with the fiddles cross-tuned ADAE (for more on cross-tuning, see blog post Newt Payne’s Tune)
As always, although this blog is fiddle-focused, the tune is intended for any instrument – I’d so love to hear it on border pipes or hurdy-gurdy!
Let’s begin with a great string-band performance setting out the tune for us.
Stephanie Coleman (fiddle), Adam Hurt (banjo), Beth Williams Hartness (guitar), Kellie Allen (double bass)
A rocking line-up filmed at a house concert.
(‘Fine Times At Our House – Stephenie Coleman, Adam Hurt, Beth Hartness, and Kellie Allen’ YouTube video, 3.30. Posted by Kabel Channel, 13 Sep 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNHoECrWKCo)
Scotty Leach (fiddle)
Filmed at a Seattle house concert on 31 May 2014, West Virginia fiddler Scotty leads with an introduction to the tune’s background.
(‘Fine Times At Our House’ YouTube video, 2.48. Posted by Doug Plummer, 4 Jun 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7W9S5Oh3FM)
Katie Davis Henderson (fiddle)
A very clear video from Katie’s wonderful New Tune A Day video archive.
(‘Fine Times At Our House (Old Time) NTAD’ YouTube video, 1.40. Posted by Katie Davis Henderson, 17 Dec 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W0MhX79Qfo)
Stephanie Coleman (fiddle), Adam Hurt (banjo)
A slightly slower-paced rendering from these iconic players – and great for clawhammer banjo players, too.
(‘Stephanie Coleman and Adam Hurt play “Fine Times At Our House”’ YouTube video, 2.51. Posted by clawhammerist, 23 Nov 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xrESpxtBm4)
And finally…
Scotty Leach fiddles Fine Times At Our House – ‘recorded through the mic on a pair of Apple Earbuds,’ he tells me.
Cold Mountain meets The Revenant. Enjoy!
For further information:
Adam Hurt: website Facebook YouTube channel
Beth Hartness: Facebook
Katie Henderson: Blog (where you can also buy her e-book of NTAD tunes) YouTube channel
Kellie Allen: singer, bassist, guitarist with the Old Time Shifters
Scotty Leach: Facebook Email: wefiddleboy14 [at] gmail [dot] com
Stephanie Coleman: Website Twitter
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