Appalachian Blossom

"Appalachian Blossom" - available from iTunes: http://bit.ly/zl2SPC This album features my arrangement of some of my favorite Appalachian fiddle tunes, arranged for traditional clawhammer 5-string banjo, in a selection of some of the enchanting modal tunings, unique to the Appalachian Mountains... Clawhammer is the most archaic style of banjo playing, which may have its origins in the original African origin of the banjo. Clawhammer (also known as "frailing") is a much more gentle rhythmic style of playing, in contrast to the frenzy of finger-picked Bluegrass-style banjo music ! Instead of the finger picked frantic rolls heard in Bluegrass banjo, in clawhammer, the right hand forms a "claw", whereby melodic notes and rhythm are created percussively, by hitting the strings with the nails of the right hand, punctuated by the hypnotic "ping" of the 5th string played with the thumb. Most of the musical repertoire of the Appalachians, was the "invisible baggage" carried in the folk memories of the original Scots/Irish settlers, of the centuries-old Celtic music of their distant homelands. Once the American 5-string banjo was adapted & adopted by these settlers from about the 1890s onwards, these ancient Celtic songs & fiddle tunes took on a new life, tonally colored by a myriad of enchanting, mournful, modal tunings. This album is my attempt to provide a snap-shot of this incredibly rich & diverse Appalachian musical culture - a wonderful bouquet of Appalachian "musical blossom" to revere and enjoy!