I’m sorry folks that I didn’t give any notice, but I’ve been busy trying to catch up on some last minute things. I am on vacation for the next couple of weeks. I am not sure if I’ll be checking in or not because I’m planning on relaxing and drinking a lot of good, cold beer. If the mood strikes me, I may put up a video or two next week. I am taking the cameras with me, just in case!
I’ll see you all later in April!
Kelly
Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms is the Folk Song Of The Week. I always love playing this song and it’s a great one to add harmonica, mandolin and fiddle to. Have fun with it and remember: don’t be afraid to sing!
Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms(PDF)
I [G]ain’t gonna work on the railroad
I ain’t gonna work on the [D]farm
Gonna [G]lay ’round this shack till the [C]mail train comes back
And [G]roll in my [D7]sweet baby’s [G]arms
Chorus:
Roll in my sweet baby’s arms
Roll in my sweet baby’s arms
Gonna lay ’round this shack till the mail train comes back
And roll in my sweet baby’s arms
Where were you last Saturday night
While I was lying in jail
You were out walking the street with another man
Wouldn’t even go my jail
Mama was a beauty operator
Sister could weave and spin
Daddy’s got an interest in an old cotton mill
Watch that money roll in
I know your parents don’t like me
They run me away from your door
If I had my life to live over again
I wouldn’t go back there no more
This is a great song that I loved ever since listening to The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. I always liked to play it in the key of D, but I thought that I would be nice to everyone and play it in the key of G. You can find the tab for this song in the Keys of C, D and G in Irish Pub Songs For The 5-String Banjo, Volume 1 in print form or as a pdf download.
There [G]once was a troop of Irish Dragoons, Come marching down through [D7]Fife-e-o
And the [G]captain fell in love with a [C]very bonny lass
And her [G]name it was called pretty [C]Pe[D7]ggy-[G]o
There’s many a bonny lass in the town of Augherlass
There’s many a bonny lassie in the Jeery-o
There’s many a bonny Jean in the streets of Aberdeen
But the flower of them all is in Fife-e-o
“Oh, come down the stairs pretty Peggy my dear,
Oh, come down the stairs pretty Peggy-o
Oh, come down the stairs, comb back your yellow hair
Bid a long farewell to your mammy-o”
The colonel he cried “mount, mount boys mount”, The captain he cried “tarry-o
Oh tarry for a while, for another day or twa’, ‘till I see if this bonny lass will marry-o”
“I never did intend a soldier’s lady for to be, I never will marry a soldier-o
I never did intend to gang to a foreign land, and I never will marry a soldier-o”
Long ‘ere we came to the town of Augerlass, We had our captain to carry-o
And long ‘ere we reached the streets of Aberdeen, We had our captain to bury-o
Green grow the birks on bonny Eithan side, and low lie the lowlands of Fife-e-o
Oh, the captain’s name was Ned and he died for a maid
He died for the chambermaid of Fife-e-o
The Folk Song Of The Week this week is Sittin’ On Top Of The World. It’s a lot of fun to play on frailing banjo so don’t be afraid, jump right in and start playing!
Sittin On Top Of The World (PDF)
It was [G]in the spring one sunny day
My [C]good gal left me Lord she went [G]away
And now she’s gone but I don’t [Em]worry
‘Cause I’m [C]sitting on [D7]top of the [G]world
She called me up from down in El paso
Said come back, daddy, Lord I need you so
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Show me a woman a man can trust
Mississippi River, long, deep and wide
The woman I’m loving is on the other side
You don’t like my peaches, don’t you shake my tree
Get out of my orchard, let my peaches be
Don’t you come here running, holding out your hand
I’ll get me a woman like you got your man
I survived a very, very fun and festive St. Patrick’s Day season and actually was able to record a lesson!
The Winds Are Singing Freedom is a fun song on frailing banjo. This was a favorite this weekend so I decided to revisit it from a couple of years ago. Have fun with it!
THE WINDS ARE SINGING FREEDOM(PDF)
In the [G]battered [D7]streets of [G]Belfast can’t you hear the [D7]people [G]cry?
For [C]justice [D7]long [G]denied [Em]them and their [C]crying [Am]fills the [D7]sky
But the [G]winds of [D7]change are [G]singing bringing hope from [D7]dark des[G]pair
There’s a [C]day of [D7]justice [G]com[Em]ing you can [C]feel it [D7]in the [G]air
And the winds are singing freedom they sing it everywhere
They sing it on the mountainside and in the city square
They sing of a new day dawning when our people will be free
Come and join their song of freedom let it ring from sea to sea
Too long our people suffered in their misery and their tears
And foreign rulers used our land for about eight hundred years
It’s a long road has no turning and I know that soon we’ll see
That day of justice dawning when our people will be free
There’s a time laid out for laughing there’s a time laid out to weep
There’s a time laid out for sowing and a time laid out to reap
There’s a time to love your brother there’s a time for hate to cease
You must sow the seeds of justice to reap the fruits of peace
I am happy to announce a St. Patrick’s Day Sale at BanjoMania!
Order any product from the BanjoMania.net store and receive a free 30 minute Skype lesson! That’s a $30 gift, for free!
Order any time between Wednesday March 14th and Sunday March 18th to take advantage of this offer. You will be contacted by email after your purchase to set up the free lesson!
I really thought that I would have enough time to do some free videos this week, but this is the busiest week of my year and I can’t find the spare time to get it down.
We had a great gig at The Harp Irish Pub in Milwaukee, WI this last Saturday during the St.Patrick’s Day Parade. I love playing next to the water and getting to see the parade pass by.
I will see all of you after next weekend.
Until then,
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
I thought that I would kill two birds with one stone and answer some questions that I’ve been getting about what’s been going on the Griner household.
I uploaded the photo above to show the damage that I did to my leg last weekend. The other leg is not as bad, but the bruises go from my groin all the way to my knee. Sandy didn’t believe me on Saturday that I hurt myself. I think she thought that I was exaggerating. Once the bruises started forming and I couldn’t walk, she started to believe me. I was able to make it to work on Monday, but after doing too much I had to take Tuesday off. I am still hobbling around but it is getting better. The one thing I do know is that I will never play Whirlyball again without some kind of padding between me and the steering console.
I get asked many questions about my schedule and if I can take on new projects or help out on other websites. I have a very hectic schedule and I always have. For years I was gone from Thursday morning until Sunday afternoon until I finally decided that I needed to stay home once in awhile. My current schedule gives me a little more time with my family.
It’s hard to know where to start, so I’ll just use a typical day and go from there. I usually get up around 8 am and give Skype lessons until I have to wash dishes and leave the house to go work at 10 am. I am usually home around 9 pm and eat dinner while Sandy and Amber get ready for bed. At 10 pm, I start on the lessons again until around 2 am. Some time between 2 am and 4 am I go to bed and start all over again. I average about 4 hours of sleep a day and seems to keep me going for about a month or so until I decide to take a whole day off and sleep for 10 hours and then start again.
For a guy who teaches over the internet, I sure don’t get to use it much. I usually do a periodical check on BanjoMania.net and BanjoBandits.com, my YouTube channel and check Facebook and some news and I’m done. I have decided to cut back on some of the Skype lessons because I could really use some time off to work on some other things. As it stands now, I have about an hour and half block a week to record the Irish Pub Song Of The Day and Folk Song Of The Week, process them and have them ready for upload. Since it takes about 45 a piece to process, that doesn’t really leave time to actually record them. I kind of like the pressure because it is very close to live performances. If you haven’t stepped up on a stage and tried to hold the attention of a room full of drunks for four hours, you haven’t lived!
I love performing and teaching is just one more facet of performance. Life is good, even when you bruise yourself. Be brave, jump out there and sing and play even if your performance is just you on your porch. The worse thing that can happen is….you get addicted to it! 🙂
See you later this week,
Kelly
I am finally back! I can’t really walk, but at least I could sit in the barstool and play this song!
Peace and Justice is a great, great song and I hope you like it as much as I do. Just remember that all you need to know how to do is change a couple of chords, the basic frailing strum and some single note strikes.
Raise the [G]cry for peace and justice, let the [D7]people sound the [G]call
Justice [C]for our battered [G]country. Peace for [D7]one and peace for [G]all
Chorus:
Peace and [G]justice are our watchwords. Peace and [D7]justice is our [G]call
Peace and [C]justice for our [G]people. Peace for [D7]one and peace for [G]all
Tell the RUC and the English soldiers, the UVF and the IRA
Guns can’t silence all the people calling out for peace to light another brand new day
In Armagh, Belfast and Derry, people walking hand in hand
Cry with love and heartfelt yearning, “Help us heal our broken land”
Man’s injustice to his neighbour, for too long has been our fate
Practice love and understanding, all we need to hate is hate
Though the road be rough and rocky and the problems mountain high
Hold your hand out to your neighbour
And we’ll all find peace and justice by and by
We must all sit down together share our hopes, our joys, our fears
Understanding and forgiveness will dry up our country’s tears
Every day that peace continues, hope will help to ease the pain
Sisters, brothers understanding will make our land a nation once again
I had a great, great time this weekend. I went out with my wife Sandy and some friends to play Whirlyball on Saturday. For those of you that have never heard of it, it’s a cross of bumper cars, basketball and lacrosse.
The only problem that I had is that at six and a half feet tall and three hundred pounds, I BARELY fit into the cart. The steering is controlled by a joy stick that slammed into my legs every time that I hit someone on the court. I have huge bruises from my groin to my knees. It was a blast, but walking today is almost impossible.
To top it off, I had a three hour jam session today that was a practice for the new songs that will be performing this month since it’s the St. Patrick’s Day season. We had two mandolins, fiddle, Irish bouzouki, guitar, banjo and tinwhistle. I am horse from all of the singing and the moonshine that I had hoped would lubricate the old voice box.
To make a long story short, I had a blast this weekend, but there is no way I will be putting up a video for Monday. I hope to have the Folk Song Of The Week up later in the week.
Until then, have fun and don’t forget to sing!