$12.00 The official magazine of the Bluegrass Music Association of Canada Keep in touch with Bluegrass in Canada with our news, lessons, and more! Volume 16 Issue 4 October 2022 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 42167060 bluegrasscanada.org Sugar&SpiceSugar&SpiceSugar&SpiceSugar&SpiceTable of Contents Carlisle Remembered 10 19 23 6 On the cover Pete Adkins, Sandy Hill, Jimmy Hoover, Terry, Wally Hoover. Columns 5 President Murray Hale’s Message 43 Editor Mike Kirley’s Message Lessons 6 Banjo with Denis LePage 8 Mandolin with Emory Lester News 33 Grass Clippings Listings 26 Radio on the Air 28 BMAC Organization Listings Canada V o l u m e 16 I s s u e 4 $12.00 The official magazine of the Bluegrass Music Association of Canada Keep in touch with Bluegrass in Canada with our news, lessons, and more! Sugar&SpiceSugar&SpiceSugar&SpiceSugar&Spice Volume 16 Issue 4 October 2022 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 42167060 bluegrasscanada.org OCTOBER 2022 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Mike Higgins takes us through the legendary bluegrass festivals at Carlisle, Ontario. Out West Linda chats up an old friend who is a stalwart mandolin enthusiast. Banjo Time! Denis LePage teaches you to capo or not to capo with the Lonesome Fiddle Blues. Mohawk Musicians An interview with Sandy Hill and Pete Atkins—“from Ohsweken and Beyond”.Bluegrass Music Association of Canada BMAC is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and promotion of bluegrass and old-time music in Canada, and supported by the volunteer efforts of its members. BMAC MISSION STATEMENT The BMAC mission statement as enacted in the by-laws: a) Dedicated to the preservation and promotion of bluegrass and old-time music throughout Canada. Goals: b) To support individuals, groups and organizations involved in bluegrass and old-time music. c) To provide leadership and promote education among fans, clubs, bands and artists. Specifically: 1) The establishment of bluegrass categories in the Juno Awards; 2) Lobbying with other musical genres for changes in US laws to allow easier access to the US by Canadian musicians; 3) Establishing a national bluegrass awards program not in conflict with the two existing regional awards events; 4) Sponsoring Canadian Bands to Showcase at IBMA; 5) Supporting Canadian bands efforts to play in other parts of the country; 6) Seeking grant funding to achieve these goals. V o l u m e 16 I s s u e 4 Email: membership@ bluegrasscanada.org Website: bluegrasscanada.org Publisher Murray Hale & Mike Kirley Editor Mike Kirley SUBSCRIPTION One Year $45 / includes Free Grass Roots Membership The Bluegrass Canada magazine is digitally published quarterly in January, April, July and October, online in the ‘Members Only’ section of the Bluegrass Canada website. MEMBERSHIP • Grass Roots Membership: $20/y includes all members of a household up to age 18. Access to online magazine plus all other BMAC online services. • Organizational memberships: See bluegrasscanada.org or contact Gord DeVries at 519-719-2501 or membership@bluegrasscanada.org. SUBMISSIONS Send change of addresses and undeliverable notices of Canadian addresses to BMAC, c/o Gord DeVries, 22790 Amiens Road, Komoka ON NOL-1RO. Please send articles, calendar information, photos and letters to: Bluegrass Canada Mike Kirley 831 Rose Street, Cambridge ON N3H-2G2 Email: mikekirley@gmail.com Telephone: 519-653-4975 Deadline for submissions is the first of the month, 60 days preceding the magazine date. PRINTED IN CANADA. CANADA POST CANADIAN PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES PRODUCT AGREEMENT No. 42167060. BMAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Murray Hale mhale@green-vision.ca 705-845-8112 Vice-President Mike Kirley mikekirley@gmail.com 519-653-4975 Treasurer Roland Aucoin raucoin72@gmail.com Secretary Dave Featherstone davefeatherstone58@gmail.com Membership & Website Gord DeVries gord.devries@rogers.com Advertising Director David Featherstone davidfeatherstone58@gmail.com Director Mike Higgins mj10@sympatico.ca Director Denis LePage dlepage99@gmail.com Director Eric Holt erich@foothillsbluegrass.com Social Media Carol Boyer carol.boyer@sympatico.ca Contributors David Featherstone Gloria Jean Hansen Denis LePage Emory Lester Linda Thorburn Advertising Rates & Specs Dave Featherstone 705-624-1155 Dennis Casey 705-457-6880 Layout James Kerr 705-927-0994 Printing & Distribution Innovative Kaitlyn Gerber 1-888-698-3883 kaitlyn@innovative.ink Millbank, ON Canada 4 BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA BLUEGRASSCANADA.ORG MASTHEADPresident’s Message By Murray HaleDriving Home from Rogersville, N.B. Well, August has passed and I’m driving home from Rogersville New Brunswick where I attended the amazing Rogersville Bluegrass Festival. This summer past has witnessed an encouraging return to festivals and travelling. Your Bluegrass Music Association committee members took a two- month holiday from our monthly meetings just to enjoy some music and camaraderie at the festivals. It appears that everyone else in the Bluegrass community has done something similar for the summer. We are excitedly looking forward to reports from across the country regarding their festivals and plans. It is our hope that all areas will keep us posted so that we can continue to keep our website up-to-date and our magazines interesting and informative. By the way a big thank you to everyone who contributes information to the site and the magazine. We have been informed that the Central Ontario Bluegrass Awards Show in Huntsville Ontario is going forward with a special “No awards “year. It will have a theme called “Back to Grass” Please peruse our magazine and/or website to find out all we know about organized music in other parts of Canada. We will look forward to seeing everyone in the Ontario bluegrass scene at the wind-up festivals and at “Back to Bluegrass” at Deerhurst. Please remember our website bluegrasscanada.org Please collect one or all of your guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, fiddle, dobro and song list and head out to your favorite festival. Enjoy your summer everyone. You deserve it. Cheers, Murray Hale Become a member of the BMAC Email: membership@ bluegrasscanada.org Website: bluegrasscanada.org Start gettin’ picky about Your music... OCTOBER 2022 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 5 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Murray Hale, president of the BMAC.Lonesome Fiddle Blues I’ve always enjoyed playing in a variety of keys on the banjo. To my ear, certain playing positions lend themselves better than others when playing the different types of songs and tunes that are found in the bluegrass repertoire. Most ‘hard driving’ songs in bluegrass are played capoed out of the ‘G’ position to take advantage of the many bluesy licks that are most easily played in that position. Some of those types of songs though are played in the capoed but in the key of C where you can simulate the upper neck G licks that Scruggs played so effectively. When it comes to fiddle tunes, there are many that are played in the keys of D, A, F, Dm, C or even Bb and this is where I’ve experimented a bit to find the right playing position for me. And you should do the same for yourself. For example, although I play most fiddle tunes that are in D in the open D position, I play St. Anne’s Reel in the C position with a capo at the second fret. I know that many (or possibly even most) players prefer to play it without a capo in the D position. Part of the reason I do it that way is that I find the B part easier to play when capoed and I also can play the tune in A with the capo on just to give the tune a bit of variety. One of my favourite keys is D minor and I play quite a few tunes in that key. Dm is almost always played without a capo and both the chord positions and the related melodic positions lay out nicely that way. I’ve included a version of the popular Lonesome Fiddle Blues played in Dm and if you don’t yet play this tune you should include it in your arsenal because it provides an excellent opportunity to get familiar with the basic Dm melodic positions. I should mention one final note about this key. In some songs the 5th string is capoed to A even if the other strings are not. In other tunes the 5th remains un-capoed. Lonesome Fiddle Blues is one of those tunes where the 5th string is not capoed. Have fun with the tune and you can always email me if you have any questions at Denis LePage at dlepage99@gmail.com. By Denis LePage To capo or not to capo in Dm CANADA’S STORE sales • rentals • repairs financing • print music • lessons www.long-mcquade.com music music With over 80 locations across Canada. 6 BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA BLUEGRASSCANADA.ORG BANJOLonesome Fiddle Blues To capo or not to capo in Dm Denis LePage has spent over 40 years mastering the banjo, and is an active member of the Canadian bluegrass community. He currently runs a website dedicated to banjo instruction: banjoden.com. OCTOBER 2022 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 7 BANJOThis time around we will feature a fun and popular tune in the ‘jazzy/swingy’ category, shown here in the mandolin-friendly key of ‘D’. ‘Panhandle Rag’ has been played over the years by many of the greats on all instruments, in varied keys, rhythms and presentations. The notes shown here in this ver- sion feature the melody in a ‘low octave’ of D (standard first position D for mandolin), and switching to a higher melody octave in the last two lines of the sheet, played in ‘closed position’ up the neck. This will give you an option as to how you wish to present the song, in either a low or a high melody, or both, to make a very interesting and creative solo on the mandolin. There are also some ‘double notes’ or ‘double stops’ shown at times, to bring more colour and depth to some of the passages. Emory Lester is an icon in the Canadian bluegrass scene. Although he is a Virginia native, Emory now calls Ontario home. His mandolin playing is revered worldwide. By Emory Lester Emory presents an old swing tune written and recorded in 1949 by Leon McAuliffe PANHANDLE RAG Played over the years by many of the greats... When you advertise in Bluegrass Canada, you: Target a niche demographic Get seen in digital and print Support Canadian Bluegrass To learn more, contact: Arlene Jamieson arlene@venture.interiors.com David Featherstone davidfeatherstone58@gmail.com Introduce yourselves to our readers 8 BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION OF CANADA BLUEGRASSCANADA.ORG MANDOLINWhen you advertise in Bluegrass Canada, you: Target a niche demographic Get seen in digital and print Support Canadian Bluegrass To learn more, contact: Arlene Jamieson arlene@venture.interiors.com David Featherstone davidfeatherstone58@gmail.com Introduce yourselves to our readers 0 2-4 00 -SL 4 042 G 20 044 032 D 2222422 402 3 65 2 02 00 5 02 42 2040 0 542 2 5 024 76 3 -SL 7 44 76-7 3-4 002002 0 54242 02 -H 02 0 2-3 4 0 452554 245 0 200200 75 5 IMI 5 0 0 100 4 24 42 02 7-9 55 IIR-SLMRIR 9 597 RIIM 75 59 MRIR 9 587 MM M 777 MMR M 7977 RII 5 59 8 65 7 02 0 I 5 0 5 RI 57 97 MRMI 7595 IRIM 5 979 RMIR 7 5 57 MI 9 76 8 -SL 7 99 76-7 8-9 D DA D DG AG GDD DA 2 5 024 76 3 -SL 7 44 76-7 3-4 A 0 2-4 00 -SL 4 042 G 20 04 4330 D 2 0 2422 402 3 65 2 D 4 -H 02 0 2-3 -H 02 0 2-3 -H 02 0 2-3 -H 02 0 2-3 -H 02 0 2-3 -H 02 0 2-3 -H 02 0 2-3 L PANHANDLE RAG (Leon McAuliffe) (Key of D) BRIDGE HIGH OCTAVE LOW OCTAVE OCTOBER 2022 BLUEGRASS CANADA MAGAZINE 9 MANDOLINNext >