Local, Joyful Valentines

For a couple years, I helped the Old Time Fiddlers deliver FiddleGrams on Valentine's Day.

What a kick!! -- It is a grand group of musicians, exquisitely organized by the talented and ever-enthusiastic Tricia Ferguson, who fiddles and sings with all her heart.

What makes it My Favorite Gig ?

• An entire office filled with gals wiping tears from their eyes as we sing and play "Could I Have This Dance."


• Patrons at a diner grinning from ear-to-ear as we serenade the sweet little gal in charge with "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."
  
• The elderly lady who positively beamed as we sang the personalized lyrics her stepson provided.
  

Every delivery was unique - offered joyfully and received graciously. This year, FiddleGrams will be delivered in the Redding area on February 12, 13 and 14th. FiddleGrams are a major fundraiser for the non-profit group, California State Old Time Fiddler's Association, District 6, and they're available year round. Fiddlers will play and sing and present your sweetheart with a card and a rose - all for only $40.

You can order a Fiddlegram online at the CSOTFA website: click here.

Fiddlin' and Pickin': Saturday in Redding

The Annual Amateur Fiddle and Flatpick Contest will be held on Saturday, February 21st at St. James Lutheran Church at 2500 Shasta View Dr., and admission for spectators is free.

The contest, produced and hosted by District 6 California State Old Time Fiddlers Association, draws area fiddlers and guitar players of all ages, who compete for awards in various divisions, including the popular Twin Fiddle and Open divisions.

Contest registration begins at 7 AM and fiddling and picking gets underway at 8. The event concludes at 7:30 in the evening with the awards ceremony.

For a schedule, rules and a printable flyer, visit http://www.csotfa.org/ , or contact: Nicki Carlisle: 530-474-4427.

Not a player? Come on out and and enjoy the music -- you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer group of musicians anywhere. The music is lively and the price is right.

To get you in the mood: Fiddle great Jana Jae (formerly of Redding and instrumental in establishing the fine fiddling tradition here in the North State) takes a ride on the Orange Blossom Special

Music this week

Everyone is welcome on Wednesday (Feb. 11) afternoon at the Redding Homeschool Network Family Jam and Sing-Along. Bring your voices, your grandmas and grandpas, your instruments and sing along with us at 1:30 in the children's section of the Redding Main Library.

On Friday evening, Feb. 13, enjoy Old-Time Fiddle music with District 6 fiddlers at Leatherby's Ice Cream Parlor in the Downtown Mall. This popular event gets underway at 7, and you can look forward to some foot-stompin' good time music. To get you in the mood, here's a Youtube video -- Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys.

Making joyful noise in the library

Enjoy Fiddle Music at the Redding Library at 6 PM, Tuesday, February 3rd

California Old Time Fiddlers from District 6, will play those old-time tunes in the community room as part of this new music series at the Redding Library. This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce little ones to live music and watch musicians of all ages sharing their talents.

This new library series will feature different groups and genres each month. Free and open to the public. For information call 530-245-7250.

For more information on the local Old Time Fiddlers, click here.

Music and Ice Cream

The local Old Time Fiddlers are jamming downtown.

They'll be bringing their fiddles, acoustic guitars, mandolins and basses to Leatherby's Ice Cream Parlor in Redding's Downtown Mall on Friday,January 16th and on Friday, January 30th, starting at 7 PM.

Join fiddlers, and others to play old time jigs, reels, hoedowns, waltzes and tunes of choice. Beginners, intermediate and advanced players of all ages are welcome to come and learn new songs, have fun with old friends and make new ones.

The public is invited to play along, watch, listen, tap their toes and dance. And they can load up on some delicious ice cream while enjoying the music.

More on the fiddlers - visit the District 6 Old Time Fiddler website.

Rosin in Red Bluff

It's Fiddle Week in Red Bluff -- the Western Open Fiddle Contest starts with an old-fashioned Country Dance on Thursday (Oct 23) evening, and the contest gets underway Friday morning. The strains of old-time fiddle music will be heard until Saturday night.

The Western Open is a real celebration of music, tradition, family and friends. The musicians are some of the best in the country and the atmosphere is joyful.

Annie's not competing this year, but in the past Sweet Georgia Brown was her contest round Tune of Choice.

Here's a killer jazz version, performed by legendary Joe Venuti, to get you in the proper mood:



For details on the Western Open: click here. Hope to see you there.

Tri-tip-atarians: Come on down...

...to the Tehama District Fair!

Craig and Annie and I will be helping to serve up Tex's famous marinated Tri-tip -- raising money for the Western Open Fiddle Contest coming up on October 24th-25th.

So strap on a feedbag for the fiddlers! It's a good cause, supporting the North State's rich musical heritage.

Name That Tune

Singing harmony -- or attempting to sing harmony -- is a family tradition that we've only recently attempted to revive. How successful will the resuscitation be? That remains to be seen, or - rather - heard.

Our goal is a performance at the Western Open Fiddle Championship in October. We've never placed in the highly-competitive (but very fun) Jukebox division -- but we are giving it our best shot this year. The competition is meant to feature songs from the Jukebox Era of American music, performed acoustically -- the campier, the better.

Annie -- the Shasta College music major -- is in charge of assigning parts and keeping us on track. We call her the "Harmony Nazi."

Craig, trooper that he is, is putting on his best lead-vocalist-falsetto voice.

I'm trying to blend with tenor Joe, and not dominate. "You're singing back-up, Mom -- tone it down."

Max will be a dancing animal.

There's a free, Hot-Off-the-Presses Sacramento River Whispers CD for the first person to tell me what song we're rehearsing.

Here are the clues:

The song was written in 1939, and the songwriter's heirs only recently were able to recover royalty payments. It was a pop hit in the 50s and early 60s, and a big hit for a band with a 14-year-old lead singer. The song has been covered by 150 different artists, including: The Weavers and REM.

Email me with your guess: erin at stillmarried dot net - or leave a comment.

"I hate songs about hobos"

said The Fiddle Player.

"Gee," said the parents, "perhaps you could overlook that fact for four minutes and 23 seconds and record a fiddle track for us even though you hate songs about hobos. After all, we financed years of fiddle lessons, paid to straighten your teeth and endured months of colic. Not that we're keeping a tab or anything."

The Fiddle Player took pity on us and gave us the track we needed to finish up the recording of "The Cardboard Sign."



Vocals: Craig Friedman

Fiddle: Annie Friedman

Back up vocals, guilt trip: Erin Friedman


The Cardboard Sign -- words and music by Erin Friedman

Saw him just ten miles south
Of the Shasta County Line
An old hobo with his thumb out
Holdin' up a Cardboard Sign
His ragged jeans were washed in dirt
His flannel shirt was frayed
On his sign was a single word
Made me hit the brakes


Chorus:
The Cardboard Sign he held to his chest
Told the passers-by where he was headed next
The lines on his face said “Weary to the bone”
His eyes said “Please”
His sign said “HOME”


Had a voice like an old dirt road
Had a hundred dusty stories
Ladies, moonshine and rodeos
Freight trains bound for glory
He said, “There’s a price for runnin’ wild
And I paid my dues in Memphis
Did my time, made up my mind
Now it’s time for mending fences”


The Cardboard Sign he held to his chest
Told the passers-by where he was headed next
The lines on his face said “Weary to the bone”
His eyes said “Please”
His sign said “HOME"


At the end of a gravel drive
Just outside McCloud
He said “I’m much obliged
Here’s where I get out”
A woman waving from the porch
Came running down to meet him
I turned around and headed for
The place that I’d been leavin’

The Cardboard Sign he tossed on the seat
Was a one-word lifeline that old man threw to me
The lines on his face said “Weary to the bone”
His eyes said “Please”
His sign said “HOME”


Saw him just ten miles south
Of the Shasta COunty line
An old hobo with his thumb out
Holdin' up a Cardboard Sign