Southern Mountain Melodies

June 13th Mars Hill Concert will be hard to top

2009-06-30T21:20:00.005-05:00

On June 13th 2009, Jenny and I along with Shay Garriock met and had our 2nd music adventure as a trio. We were scheduled months ago to perform for a concert for the students who annually attend the music camp know as Blue Ridge Old-time Music week held on the campus of Mars Hill College just north of Asheville, NC. Having the opportunity to debut our new sound with Shay at the Workshop Porch stage at the 2008 Floydfest, we started our 2nd gig adventure of 2009 once again in North Carolina.

Adventure means you spend sometime on the road getting to a new place and look forward to meeting up and performing for a good audience with a sponsor that takes good care of all your needs. This was indeed the case on June 13th when we met Shay in Statesville, NC the morning of the 13th. We had previously contacted Harry West of Fine Vintage Instruments, a music store located in Statesville known for its proprietors (Harry and Jeanie West) who had once been an active husband and wife duo in their younger years and recognized as contributors to the genre of old-time country music by historians and fans of early country and Bluegrass.

Harry was interested in our new CD's and bought some to re-sell in the store after we played and sang the old Wade Mainer song Take Me in Your Lifeboat. We left after a NC Barbeque lunch and headed west for Mars Hill getting there in time for a sound check in the campus chapel around 4 with the concert to be at 8. We got our room and board situated, saw and visited several of our friends, many of whom were staff/ instructors in various instruments such as old-time fiddle, guitar, clawhammer banjo, and vocal harmony.

Hillary Dirlam, long-time director of the camp gave us a nice welcome and introduced us as if we were something special. We were flattered and knew we had our work cut out for us to not let her down. Jenny and I began our first set with several of our favorite duets like heard on our early recordings that some were already familiar with. Shay came on with his fiddle and launched our sound in a new direction. The acoustics of that sacred space as well as the skill of a competent sound man with a decent system helped get us fired up to play well and enjoy ourselves like all musicians would hope for. Kind of like a house concert but with a big crowd.

There were probably 150 people who really got into what we were doing and responded

positively to our music which include many numbers from 'Turkey in the Mountain'. As students of banjo and fiddle, Shay and I felt that we could demonstrate some of our tunes that

show techniques and stylistic elements that many had come to appreciate on a different level than the general public.

With Jenny on guitar for the last number, we were surprised by the enthusiasm of the crowd and were asked to do an encore for which we not prepared. Shay broke into the old standard dance tune called 'Hen Cackle' which got some dancers in the crowd to come up and cut loose near the stage. We do love dancers like that. With a great number of CD's sold, decent pay for our performance, and a fine wind down party afterwards, we couldn't have asked for more.

On Friday coming home, we felt inspired to do something like that again and again. Keep checking back as we hopefully will have some other similar trips that I'll report on after they occur if notable as Mars Hill was.

'Turkey in the Mountain' now in season

2009-05-27T07:21:00.002-05:00

I am proud to let folks know about the availabilty (for sale) of a new CD collection of banjo/fiddle duets featuring the tasteful and very oldtime fiddling of Shay Garriock formerly of the NRV (New River Valley). I contributed banjo (clawhammer and OT picking), fiddle (one number) and vocals. Jenny Traynham added her tasteful back-up guitar to a few numbers for contrast, comparison and variety. We were honored recently by playing some tunes from this CD on the traditional stage at the 22nd Merlefest celebration. The CD is entitled "Turkey in the Mountain' on my Southern Mountain Melodies label. ( # SMM - 2009)

As many of you know, Shay and I have been into collecting and playing tunes primarily from Southwest Virginia sources since the mid 80's. We were fortunate enough to meet and visit many older folks who still played in their community as well as in their homes. Several had already been recognized by the many folklorist who had previously scoured the region for 'authentic' players while others were not. This collection is a tribute to those from whom we 'caught' some really 'cool' tunes and certain techniques for playing them. I suppose being around a lot of great old-time flatfooters at the Sunday PM Mabry Mill jams on the BR Parkway in our beginning stages (1970's and 80's) had an influence on our sound as well. My buddy Paul Brown (of NPR and banjo fame) was kind enough to write some liner notes for us. For each tune or song, we provided a tid-bit of info on the tune sources and the tunings we used (in case you are a player/listener). We hope we will have done our part to send these tunes into the future with regard to the way they were played in the past. Bottom line is we think you'll enjoy what you hear!

We did not just do a cheap recording on a mini-disc recording device. All these tracks were professionally recorded & mastered at Mountain Fever studios near my home in Floyd County. The graphics on the digi-pak are first class and very attractive. No more cheap jewel cases. For those who do only downloads we'll be working to get the entire collection available through CD Baby or through our website in coming weeks.

For more information on how to get a copy sent to you check out our website macandshaycd.homestead.com We will also be sending out our postcard announcement to those whose mailing addresses we have. (We really need to break even on this.)

Shay and I plan to have a CD release party at the MT Airy fiddlers convention on Sat. June 6th at 4 PM just outside the driveway/entrance in the area to the left as you are walking out. Come sample some of our ice cold freestone spring water from our source in Floyd County. It will help beat the heat if its like last year. There's be other free goodies as well.

Thanks for your attention,

Mac

Back from Merlefest 09

2009-04-29T07:45:00.002-05:00

Thanks for checking us out. A special thanks to Alice Gerrard for making it possible for us to be able to perform at the prestigious Merlefest which has been a major east coast annual event for 22 years. It is our biggest east coast gig to date. As fans of Doc Watson and his old-time Appalachian mountain region connections, we felt honored to be there. Our friend Shay Garriock joined us with his fiddle for several numbers and for a dance workshop.

In the 1970's, we were college students and fans of the landmark album 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken' which featured Doc Watson among others. We first heard of the Delmore Brothers from hearing Doc mention them and recognized how they influenced his own flatpicking style of guitar playing. Upon hearing them we found ourselves drawn to their energy and creative harmony singing. Our mission then became to listen to any early country music artist and learn to play certain songs that we liked without the modern influences that are prevalent in today's acoustic music scene.

What does it matter, you may ask? As advocates for the old-time attitude of quality over quantity, handmade versus machine made, big business versus small business etc. we feel like the simplistic, honest, approach to making music for the good of the community is what we really want to be known for. In other words, even though we were proud to be considered 'artists', we felt at home playing for the folks at Merlefest knowing that so many community groups in the Wilkeboro NC area benefit from the success of the festival. It was a time for us to be with our daughter Hanna who likes to play clawhammer banjo and was impressing folks in the old-time jams she was in. She only took it up last August 08. We may evolve into a family band yet. More as that develops.

Thanks to all the volunteers and fans who support the mission of such an event. What a great memorial to Doc's son Merle who lived a short life but spawned a great public interest in a sub genre of 'acoustic' music that respects the traditions of family and community while expanding to open the minds of all to the great music making spirit that Merlefest fosters. Google Merlefest for much more info. Also check back for info about the upcoming release of a new banjo/fiddle CD featuring Southwest Virginia rooted versions of tunes learned from certain 'old-timer' sources.

Herald Angels a success

2009-02-17T08:41:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all who have supported our efforts to bring the music of some of our performing

friends to Floyd. We enjoy helping to present a quality program rooted in the traditional music that we find ourselves carrying on in this day and age. We were able through generous donations to support the Zion Lutheran Church. The church has several members whose enthusiasm for our cause is well appreciated.

We consider such events (formerly held in our home) a win - win situation. The community of supporters get a great intimate performance, the performers have a great audience to perfom for, the musicians benefit from the donations are all for the musicians who have worked to develop their styles and repetoire to a such high level, and we get a chance to visit more closely with our friends who we don't see except during the summer if then. As everyone knows life is short so we should live every day fully as possible. Some days get lived better than others and life goes on.

A new recording of me (Mac) with fiddler Shay Garriock is on the horizon. It will be mainly banjo and fiddle duets and songs. The CD to be entitled 'Turkey in the Mountain' has a few numbers with Jenny on guitar to give a contrast to the drone and rhythm oriented music that was the norm for this region 100 years ago. The tunes selected are in tribute to 'our unsung heroes', the old- -timers who were visited and recorded by us and others from the Floyd to Bristol region of Southwest Virginia during the 1970's, 80's and 90's.

Over the years, the fiddle and banjo traditions of other areas of the country have been focused on by the folklore establishment and others and have elevated to a highlighted status. For example, West Virginia and the 'Round Peak' area of North Carolina have received a lot of national attention. We hope our recording may help elevate the banjo/fiddle tradition of Southwest Virginia to a higher level.

Our friend and noted banjo player/ NPR announcer Paul Brown has agreed to write a set of liner notes. The finished product will likely have a 2nd grader drawn image of a Turkey with mountains in the background for the front. Great job and a literal view of what 'mountain style linguistics can conjour up if you don't know the dialect. All this will be available for sale through all the local outlets as well as through the website of our local recording studio label mountainfeverstudios.com hopefully by the end of April.

There is also our website for this macandshaycd.homestead.com

Here we have several clips of sample tracks. We hope to have more info and photos as we gather them about the old guys who we were inspired by originally.

Check it out!!

2009 is upon us

2009-01-06T22:05:00.002-05:00

As 2009 comes on we are not playing much as a duo. Our daughter Hanna has taken up the clawhammer banjo since August. She has been impressing everybody with the tunes I have taught her so far. Of course there are high expectations for her and she seems to be very interested in playing and jamming. I am thrilled to have someone who I can teach the versions of the mountain standards that I like to play on the fiddle. I hope we can play together often as possible and maybe eventually play for a dance or at a fiddler's convention together.

Jenny and I are planning to again sponsor a house concert this year. We have set Saturday night February 14th as the night to feature our friends the Herald Angels . Members are Alice Gerrard, Kay Justice and Gail Gillespie. These three are highly respected in the field of old-time country and traditional playing and singing. We have been accumulating email addresses to let folks know the details. Let me know if you want more info.

Instead, of our house this time we are going to use a 'sacred space' ie, the old-timey feeling Burk's Fork Church of the Bretheren . This 100+ year old structure has all wood interior with padded benches and twin woodstoves for heat. It has great acoustics and should be a fine venue for listening to the music.

As for ourselves our Gig of the Year will be as a part of the traditional stage at Merlefest in April. We plan to include our buddy Shay Garriock on fiddle. Shay has been someone we have worked with on many occasions for serious programs as well as for flatfooters at the Floyd Country Store on Friday nights occasionally. He is featured on a couple of numbers on our CD 'Never Grow Old' on the Mountain Fever label.

Shay and I have been working on a recording of banjo & fiddle duets and songs to be released by April. We have been into the same sources for years so our playing tend to be very tight. We intend for it to showcase some versions from Virginia old-timers that we have learned from. Check out macandshaycd.homestead.com for some samples.

There will be more to say later but check our calendar and come see us.

Tribute to the Carter Family

2008-09-15T06:48:00.004-05:00

Finally, I have an urge to update. Although Jenny and my musical activity has been lower than usual this summer, we are looking forward to being a part of the Floyd Country Store's 'special' event on Sept 20th. An evening of Carter Family music will feature grandson of AP and Sara, Dale Jett and his wife Teresa along with others. The 'others' include Jenny and me along with Gary and Jackie Ferguson with Rhoda Kemp and her sister Iva Stillwell. To top the evening off will be the duo of Jeremy Stevens and Darren Moore who will replicate the 'sound' of the Original Cater Family. They will demonstrate exactly how Sara and Maybelle played their instruments and sang on a whole set of numbers. I may even get to sing AP's part on a couple of numbers in their set. Yay!

So using my ipod I have been pumping into my head the music of the Carter Family that I got in a huge 12 CD collection from Floyd's own County Sales at the bottom of Talley's Alley. Its very interesting to hear the details of their style which was so strong and captivating to the rural audience of the 20's and 30's. Women should be proud to have been represented in such a high profile and effective way especially in those days. I am a huge fan of Maybelle's guitar innovations and her links to the black community from where she was influenced. As a person who drawn to the rhythmic aspect of old-time music as opposed to the melodic I find their approach to backing up a song full of life and power. If you are not already a fan of the Original Carter Family I urge you to open your mind and listen to all aspects of their music from the

words, the melody, the harmony, the autoharp rhythm and the various ways Maybelle chose to play her Gibson L-7 archtop with its top quality tone. By the way she had it tuned 3 frets below standard to get those deep notes on certain songs.

The story of their music is one thing but the story of how their popularity in the world of

commercial music business affected their everyday lives is fascinating. I recently read their biography entitled "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone". I recommend it to you as it will help anyone to understand the way life was for them in such a rapidly changing time in America's history. Visit your local library ASAP.

Summer News

2008-07-17T07:30:00.004-05:00

Summers on the fly and days are getting shorter so what can I say. We've been gone some on family trips not music trips as it has been a different season of life for us and our family. We are intentionally not going far away for a while. Its hard to make plans for anything following the loss of family members and old friends in the past few weeks. I even lost a great employee to a more serious employer, but, with a slower than usual season in my cabinet shop, its been a good thing for now.

So having fixed up a neat old Gibson L-00 guitar for country music lady extraordinaire Sue Edmonds I am ready to get on to some banjo-making. I just made a terrific haul of some birdseye maple from Ontario (where Jenny's parents live) and hope to do some trading to my banjo making buddies Mike Ramsey and Greg Galbreath. I have curly maple and dark chocolate walnut as well. Yum Yum!

I have been asked to exhibit my banjo making for two dates later this summer. First, on Saturday August 30th at the Blue Ridge Music Center, there will be myself along with several other luthiers who are known as players of their handmade instruments. Visit their website for more info. There will be a playing demonstrations as well as the opportunities to see the construction methods for various string instruments. A similar day will be held at the old Whitetop school the next Saturday September 6. This day is dedicated to the memory of the prolific fiddle maker and player Albert Hash who was an inspiration for so many of us. There will be arts, crafts, food, and several bands including Jenny and me performing in the afternoon. See myspace.com/alberthashmemorialfestival.

Check our calendar for more performances coming up like 'Floydfest' and 'Stepping Out'

Our new CD has been getting airplay and great reviews. Be sure to check our myspace page for a quick and easy way to listen to some sound clips. Myspace.com/macandjennytraynham

To obtain a copy direct from us please come back to this blog and get the info from the very bottom of this page. Thanks for any and all support for old-time country music.

Check back often as I hope to post more. Let us know who you are as we welcome contact from anyone.

New CD unleashed in Minnesota

2008-05-21T07:33:00.003-05:00

We just returned from our 'gig' of the season in Southeast Minnesota in a town called Lanesboro. It was the 10th anniversary of Bluff Country Gathering, a weekend music camp with workshops, concerts and a big Saturday night dance mostly held in a small community center. It was great place to introduce our new CD 'Never Grow Old' to a fantastic audience of old-time/bluegrass and dance enthusiasts. We sold out and wish we had brought more.

Anyway, we want to let everyone whose interested know that the title is 'Not Ragged But Right' as was mentioned in a recent Floyd publication although that fine song is Track 2 of 15. We are proud of our efforts to finally have a compilation of the many kinds of songs we know and perform. As Professor Kinney Rorer says it " will appeal to the Saturday night sinner as well as the Sunday morning saint".

We will be the primary source for this at first so if you want one that's still 'hot' of the presses

then see the ordering info at the bottom of the page.

As always it is best to deal directly with the 'artist' to keep the middle man at bay, but, we plan to have them available in our usual consignment locations around Floyd in the coming weeks. It will also eventually be available through County Sales, the Floyd Country Store, and Ol '97 Wreckords and others.

Mark Hodges of Mountain Fever records and studios will be setting things up for folks to purchase digital downloads from our new myspace music page. You can now hear 90 second clips of a few songs on the CD by visiting myspace.com/macanjennytraynham anytime.

We plan to put some more clips of the new effort on this site soon as well.

Thanks for your reading this and for any and all of your support for old-time music.

Down to the Wire

2008-05-11T15:18:00.002-05:00

By this time next week we'll be in the air returning from our 'Gig of the Year' known as The Bluff Country Gathering located in Minnesota. It is put on by the professional husband and wife duo Bob Bovee and Gail Heil who we have heard of for years. They were kind enough to invite us to come be a part of their annual 4 day music camp. We'll be part of a staff of 10 or so musicians from the national old-time music scene teaching the student participants the details of our particular kind of old-time music. There will be lots of jamming, song swapping, dancing and even a concert for the general public. We are very fortunate.

In spite of my Mom's recent passing, we have been working as diligently as we can to get our 'new' CD printed so we can have them on hand for the event. As I mentioned before, we are calling it 'Never Grow Old' not 'Ragged But Right'. We will officially 'release' it there in Minnesota when we open our suit case. Something so 'hot' of the press from the Mountain Fever studios printing facility will definitely be needing air by the time we get there.

Hopefully, we won't have any left to bring back.

We will be announcing it's release through the New River Old Time (nrot) list serve and on a newly created 'my space' page. Check out myspace/macandjennytraynham for sound clips and photos. Thanks to Chris Gowin of WSVS-AM radio in Crewe Virginia for suggesting we do this. We'll upgrade it as we get time

to make develop it into a site much like this one but with a higher profile to the music world. So please check it out too. There'll be info about how to order the new CD if so you are interested or you can find that info further down on this site. We hope to add more

to this site as well.

Thanks for coming back and let us know who you are and where you are from.

We appreciate all your support.

2008-04-15T19:12:00.005-05:00

We hope we don't cause any confusion over this but we are going to call our new recording Never Grow Old NOT Ragged But Right. After looking online I found that 'Ragged But Right' is already in use in the form of at least two old-time/bluegrass groups named that and several recordings titled such. So not to add another Ragged but Right to an already well used list we have changed to something that is perhaps a happier thought. Never Grow Old is used by others but not in our genre. We hope we can help a new Generation discover some cool songs that happen to be 'old' songs but now are 'new' to them. The title is taken from the words to one of our tracks titled In the Land Where We'll Never Grow Old. It recently occurred to me that if you were to live by the words of the songs Tell it to Me or Ragged But Right you might 'never live long enough to grow old' anyway. We obviously get a kick out of songs that are written from a 1920's derelict's perspective as well as a 2008 unemployed American male. (hear my words to All I Gots Gone).

So we hope you'll check it out when I get some sample tracks for you to hear. I think we have much more variety than we have had on our recordings in the past. Other songs not mentioned in the previous post include the Carter family song My Old Clinch Mt Home with switching lead and harmony as well as a fast clawhammer banjo version of their song There's No Hiding Place Down Here. We also have our Blue Sky Boys inspired version of Turn Your Radio On' as well as a fun 'mother' song called Mama, I'm Sick which has graphic culinary detail as described by 'her boy who went away'. We also have Don't Let My Ramblin Bother Your Mind and In the Blue Hills of Virginia from the repetoire of the Delmore Brothers.

Any one who is familiar with the names and musical style of our sources should be able to relate to these versions as we really don't change the words or melodies unless we have a good reason. As you can tell we like many songs for a variety of reasons. Inside the CD liner each track will have a description of where we got it and why we like it just like on our other recordings. Our new CD is an attempt to reflect the great variety of our repetoire and of early 'country' music. Professor Kinney Rorrer, our respected historian, friend and banjo picker is providing a paragraph or two to help enhance one's understanding of us and our music. I think I have come up with a cool photo for the front cover which has lots of details and a dichotomy as to the subject. You'll have to see it and to know what I am talking about.

We just hope we can get this CD out soon. I am working on the details in between my regular shop work and weekly visits to my Mom's overnight. Please check back for the sample songs and if you ever hear one played on the radio or on-line please make a request for that song or another one. It will help some of our obscure numbers to have a chance to be heard for their sake, first, and yours, second and ours, third. THANKS

mac

New CD in the works

2008-03-31T07:20:00.004-05:00

Jenny and I finally got back in the studio in late February and March and finished recording several numbers for a CD project hoping it will come to fruition this May. There's still lots to do about the information and graphics but the music is 'in the can'. It will include several songs in our newest format of Mac -guitar/ harmonica and Jenny- fingerstyle OT banjo.

We are calling the project 'Ragged But Right' as it has been our theme since we started getting into arranging and performing 'cool' sounding old songs in the late 1970's. In addition to the rowdy song of that title, we have a new version of the social commentary song from the 1920's 'All I Got's Gone' except the word's are mostly original and are for today's realities. The project as a whole seems to be contrasting sacred versus secular numbers that are from older sources. We have included 'Tell it to Me' , a lively song that recommends corn licker over cocaine, as well as the high powered evangelistic number 'Are You Afraid to Die?' from the Stanley Brothers.

Our new friend, Jackson Cunningham, lends his voice and tasteful mandolin style to a couple of old-time gospel trios; namely " I'll Not Be A Stranger" and "Going up Home to Live in Green Pastures". Our old friend, mountain fiddler Shay Garriock, leads the melody on a newer stringband type song we all learned from the repetoire of the famous Kimble Family, entitled 'Red Mountain Wine'. We also include Shay in our old-time sounding rendition of the tear jerking number from Grayson County's Fields Ward called "In Those Agonizing Cruel Slavery Days."

Of course we are including a several upbeat numbers from our main inspirations, the Delmore Brother and the Original Carter Family as well as others. So check back often as I will be including sound clips of several numbers. I will also post the day of release and how you can order copies or downloads.

Our calendar is light this year because of my Mom's terminal cancer. We believe nothing is more important than family support so we are doing all we can to be there for her as long as needed. We intend to get out more as things ease up. Such is Life.

Thanks for coming to our page and reading this. Please tell others. We welcome comments too.

A big Dose of Inspiration

2008-01-14T11:29:00.000-05:00

WOW! 2008 is here and the busy holiday season is past finding us out of practice a bit. Our final 07 gig at the Todd Mercantile was a blast but left us ready for a break from performing. We still got out for some fun though.

Just before Christmas we went to super party at guitar maker/player Wayne Henderson's. The Saturday after Christmas we managed

get in a few tunes with Eddie Bond and the New Ballard's Branch Bogtrotters as well as Trish Fore at a large family gathering at the Moose Lodge in Galax. A fine potluck meal was had while visiting with

old-time stalwarts fiddler Whit Sizemore and up-side down banjoist Tom

Norman.

Flatfoot dancers and fans of the local BlueRidge old-time scene of the 70's will remember their band The Shady Mountain Ramblers who played every weekend mostly at the weekly dance at the Fancy Gap for over 15 years in the late 70's and 80's. Only fiddler Ivan Weddle of Floyd County has ever come close to such a streak of playing for flatfooters with his band the Kornkutters during that same time period. We got aquainted with many old-timers during that time.

We ourselves played very often for dances and community events with friends

in the Grayson County area where we lived from 1980-84. We also played for radio shows like WPAQ's Merry Go Round and Harold Mitchell's evening show

on WBOB Galax and the Grayson-Carroll Hoedown live broadcast. All this led to us making a LP on the Heritage label which we reissued in Spring of 07 along with our early 90's cassette now both on CD. There was a lot

happening then and still is now. It is hard not to get sentimental with out getting the blues but we are looking forward to 2008. We have got a few things on the calendar now.

This past Sat we hosted a house concert for our friends The Hush Puppies, a string band specializing in old-time music from the 30's 40's and 50's rural country music legacy as preserved initially on 78 RPM records. They also cite old-timers from the NC Piedmont as well as the Blue Ridge mountain as sources for a wide variety of songs and tunes. Our Sunday afternoon jam with some of them left us

filled with a BIG dose of fresh inspiration to learn more new 'old' songs for our repetoire. Like them and all our house concert performer friends we are JUNKIES

when it comes to this genre of music.

We intend to finish a new recording before our big trip to the Bluff Country Gathering in May. This is a prestigious music camp headed up by

Bob Bovee and Gail Heil who are a long running professional country duet from

the northern mid-west. We'll be one of several musician and performers from the

international 'Old-time' scene to be there to teach and perform.

So Keep checking back. We'll be posting new clips of our latest recording ASAP.

Thanks for your support and interest in our music life.

New Collaboration makes things easier

2007-10-01T08:11:00.000-05:00

Welcome to you (and all others) who have been attracted to our site by the review in the October 07 Old Time Herald. Thanks to Toni Williams for her kind words. Also Thanks to Steve Terrill for his nice layout on the ad.

We are now collaborating with Steve who is carrying our two CDs of old-time country duets in his on-line music store business called old 97 wrecords. He makes things easy so that a purchase is a simple click away using Pay Pal. Products are packaged sent to your door in a timely fashion.

In our display in the store you can see the front covers and a list of exactly what songs we have on each. Check out the various CD's of others available as well.

Of course if anybody prefers other 'old-time' forms of payment like cash or check then just scroll down to the bottom of this page for our address and prices. However, old 97 wrecords will accept those forms as well.

As far as digital downloads, I am working on having these available through CD Baby but we are not quite ready. Songs can be heard there and also purchased as part of each collection in the current CD form.

Thanks for any and all support you give to keeping the old songs and tunes alive.

Winding Down the Summer '07

2007-09-03T09:07:00.000-05:00

I am posting this on Labor Day 2007 which marks 7 years since I moved my custom cabinetry business to my own shop building on our premises here in the Willis area of Floyd County. Its been great to eliminate the 30 minute or more commute I had for 10 years previous to that. I have saved a lot of gas $ and wear and tear on my vehicles no doubt. Now my trips to the New River Valley are usually with a big load of products from the shop and/or with a very long list of stops to be made. It is absolutely the best job-related move I ever made. I haven't worn a watch in 3 years now either.

Our last music 'job' trip for a while was completed yesterday (9/2) when we got back safely from a wedding gig in Hopkiinsville, Kentucky. We provided background melodies for a wedding rehearsal supper to represent the mountain heritage of the groom who is from Floyd County originally. After viewing the terrible drought conditions in western Kentucky we found a deeper- than-ever appreciation for the mountains of our area of the Blue Ridge even though our rainfall is 9 inches below normal for the year at this time. Only 'brown grass' exists what we saw of that part of Kentucky right now.

Our trip in early August to Maine and Nova Scotia was wonderful except when the neck in my fiddle became un-glued to the body due in part to the beginnings of the August heat wave conditions which had reached all the way to the Canadian Border. I discovered this unfortunately 10 minutes before we were to play a dance for the reunion atendees at Camp Darrow on Grand Lake in Northern Maine. I was shocked and in a pickle and a jam simultaneously until it I was offered a fine 'violin' to use by a young woman who was the caller and didn't need to use it. I made do for that evening but wondered if I could get by without my fiddle for our next gig in Eastport. Our close friends Andy and Sharon Buckman (camp director and host) joined us for some hot tunes for the enthusiastic dancers. We felt like all had a great time and that we had visited a wonderful place in the boondocks of Maine that has meant so much to many outdoor enthsiast over its 50 year history.

Back to my fiddle, on close inspection I determined that with a clamp and glue that I could re-set the neck myself and have it playable thereafter. If nothing else perhaps a Cape Breton fiddler could help me out after all we had it in our plans to go there. Our first day in Canada was mostly traveling through New Brunswick and into nothern Nova Scotia. We looked up an old friend of Jenny's in the town of Antigonish who she hadn't seen or been in touch with for 29 years. Its never too late to reconnect with people from your past and it triggers the memories to come back although slowly for us in our middle/old age.

Through being in Nova Scotia we got a better understanding of the mix of European cultures that never blended as much as in the South. This area of Canada was
the original homeland of the Acadians (french colonist) who were banished by the British conquerors and forced to leave. They, as we know from history of American music evolution ended up in Lousiana and blended in Indian/Negro/Caribbean cultures to form what known as the Cajun culture. I sensed that our Appalachian fiddle style is somewhere in between Cape Breton's and Lousiana's similar to how our geographical location is.

Anyway, I reglued and clamped the fiddle neck back into place while on the road the next day and sucessfully recusitated my fiddle back to playable condition during the evening of our one night stay on Cape Breton Island : famous for its dance traditions and distinct music style. I feel like my old fiddle has yet another good blessing in its mysterious history since being found by happenstance by me at Floyd's local thrift store , Angels in the Attic, about a year ago.

We saw some awesome scenery in our short visit to Cape Breton and hope to return someday and finish the tour of the magnificent island. We'd of course like hear some of the local musicians play. We missed out as we were there on a Monday night and like most places, Monday evenings are low key. One needs at least a week there. We made our way back to Maine via the rocky north east coast cutting back across to come back down through New Brunswick to cross the border at St Stephens/ Calais checkpoint. We felt like we had been in a time warp in Cape Breton and Northeast coastal Nova Scotia as the lack of population explosion kept the pace of change to minimum.

Our Eastport, Maine experience was nice and laid back with fine weather, lobster rolls, fine hosts and a fine crowd for our
gig/concert in the Eastport Arts Center. The Eastport area is very beautiful with visitor friendly small town feel and plenty of support for musical unknowns from the South even if they have banjo in the performance. Go vist Eastport if you ever get a chance!

Check us out closer by for the near future. Thanks for stopping by.

From Northwest to Northeast

2007-07-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

I (Mac) am stuck in the Charlotte Airport awaiting my delayed flight to Houston, Texas to board 4 hours past when it was scheduled to leave. I agreed to do a solo gig at the 3rd annual Bayou Cities Music Festival. Jenny is staying on the farm this time. With the modern miracle of wireless internet and a laptop I am able to compose this post with no interuptions and with a large block of time that seems to get larger instead of smaller.

Since the last post we have traveled many miles and had our best experience to date as semi professional musicians. We were part of the staff of the prestigious Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend Washington in it's 31st year northeast of Seattle. We visited the festival at its location known as Fort Worden State Park briefly one evening last summer. We at that time met and jammed with some great area old-time musicians as part of our visit to Jenny's sister Polly who lives and works in Seattle. To be asked to come and be a part of the teaching and performing staff was a thrill in itself. Thanks to Dirk Powell who is the current artistic director.

We met so many nice people from all over the US and Canada. The enthusiam of the students and the supportiing staff was unmatched. In addition to various staff perfomances for the participants and for the general public , two dances with different style bands occurred in the main building every evening as well continuous jamming in the adjacent campground and rental houses. Students were free to roam about the morning classes and we were free to teach anything we wanted. We found a large turnout for our Old-time Country Harmony class held in a wonderful acoustic space of the Fort's Chapel. We had many folks clamoring for copies of the words to several songs from our repetoire that we taught for one morning session per day. These were some of the same folks who contributed to a record number of 70 of our CD's sold though the festival music shop.

During the afternoons each staff group was to hold a band 'lab' where it was our duty to coach a group folks who were interested in our style of music to want to subject themselves to our advice on how to play as a unit. This resulted in a stringband who dubbed themselves "The Trayned Country 'Hams. At one of the evening dances they performed 'Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain' for dancers to country two step to. And, on the last day on the theater stage, they performed a Stanley Brothers number called 'Darling Do You Know Who Loves You' and the favorite "Golden Slippers'. It got a high rating on the fun meter buttons that came from our band lab member from Fairbanks, Alaska. We reconnected with some old friends formerly from the East who we hadn't seen in 15 years or more. We met some more of the Seattle area's old-time musicians

The awesome beauty of the area about Fort Worden State Park (originally established to defend of the Straits of Juan De Luca) was truly remarkable with the snow-covered Cascade mountains in sight across the water while the beautiful Olympic mountains were just a little southwest of us.

We also celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary on July the 4th starting with our afternoon performance on the big Centrum stage before 1200 people who were there for the big variety of music as well as for the annual Fort Worden fireworks display just off the shore. A cool steady wind blew for nearly the whole time making us wonder if it was really July or not. Apparently summer is marked by the absence of the rainy cloudy weather that the Northwest is known for but the temperature is rarely considered 'hot'.

Returning to Seattle on Sunday July 8th, we went to Polly's place and celebrated Jenny's 50th birthday. Folks attending the
the special milestone supper included Jenny's older brother Rob and family from Yakima WA as well as Jenny's neice, Emily, from Toronto. Our Flight out on Tuesday was highlighted by a super awesome view of Mt Rainier ( we flew very near it and got some awesome phots of it) and also of Mt St Helens. We met nice people on our return flight as well marking the end of a BLAST!!!!!

Busy Summer in store

2007-06-18T06:56:00.000-05:00

Welcome.

This is our Home page where you can get basic info on our music happenings. As you can see from our calendar we have been fairly active in our local area. We have been performing for various groups of interested listeners in settings where we can talk about our songs, tell a few jokes and unbelievable stories about things that are part of our lives. We have especially enjoyed our 'First' House Concert hosted by our great friends Fred and Ann First of the Goose Creek area in Floyd County. We also had a super supportive audience this past Saturday night at the Oak Grove Pavillion behind the Lutheran Church in Floyd.

Promoting and selling our recordings has been a priority. Thanks to all who have ordered and picked up copies from us directly at our programs. We now have them available in several places around Floyd and Galax. Its still a lot to do to break even on the venture. As an 'INDIE' (independent record label) promotion starts with the mailing of promo copies to radio stations and DJ's world wide who play our genre of music regularly. Most recently we sent copies to area stations such as WBRF-98.1 FM 'Blueridge Backroads' and WVTF 89.1-FM. The Sunday 2 PM regular show 'Back to the Blue Ridge" on WVTF will be featuring a segment on the Southern Mountain Melody Makers (Mac and Jenny Traynham) on July 1 including an interview with Mac about the songs and playing featured on the CD's. The show will be repeated at 6:30 AM the following Saturday July 7.

As for a final note, we just recently had to adjust our selling price due to several factors including increased cost of shipping but if you will notice the more you order the better the price per unit. Thanks to all who have help make our hole that we
are in less deep.

Check out our calendar and please come out to see us.

CD's are now available here

2007-05-04T09:29:00.000-05:00

Today we are officially re-releasing our music made in yesteryear for another breath of life in the modern format.
As usual we bring them to this current format when the future of the CD is uncertain in the music business. LP's faded after the original release of our Heritage LP and cassettes were endangered when we released it 7 years later. Digital downloads are becoming an increasingly popular way for folks to purchase music by the 'song' or by the album. For the next week or so we will be the only source for purchase of our music in the standard CD format. We intend however to distribute them to some wholesale to sources like County Sales in Floyd VA and Elderly in Lansing, Michigan and to consign some with local outlets like the Willis Village Mart and the Pickin Porch in Floyd. The package we have produced is much more than just a burned disc with songs in some order on it. It really is a replicated CD product with a unique blend of art and information that one doesn't get with a digital download. To hold something in your hand that has really nice photos and historical or biographical information means so much to us whenever we buy CD's of other folk's music.

Knowing about where it comes from and who performed it on what instruments is something trivial but really is what makes the difference in a connoisseur and a casual listener. We have taken an approach to 'picking and singing' that on the surface seems narrow to some critics, but, the more you read and learn about the development of country music the better understanding you would have for why we do what we do. We tend to be preservationist of the broad genre known as Early Country Music first and creators within that sub-genre Old-time Country Duet Singing, secondly.

We became collectors of old recordings from the days of our parents and more so of our grandparents. It was an evolutionary process by which we got to the point of our interest in this genre in originally making the selection of materials for these CDs now available. More specifically, as young folks in our 20's we began to focus our taste on 'acoustic' as opposed to 'electric' music fascinated more by the natural sound that a player could create on natural materials. ie, the wood of a large tree to build a fiddle or guitar as well as the rural instrument maker's use of the hide of cat or groundhog stretched over a hoop with a neck and strings to make a banjo. Combined with a sense of melody and rhythm and influences from the past, rural folks (from these mountains especially) simply expressed themselves in making music for pure entertainment not distracted by the world created by the elctronic revolution. We also discovered the Golden Era of Country Music and its fascinating variety
by listening to re-issues of old 78 RPM recordings shared by our like-minded friends. In the 60's and 70's many of these early recordings were made available for sale in LP format to which we listened and thought of what life and lifestyle would have been like for the singers/players as well as the listeners from the late 20's and early 30's. We realized that rural America's lifestyle at that time was evolving with automobiles, telephones, and record players, still relatively new, not yet taken for granted by most folks who could afford them.

The performances (originally on the 78 RPM format) we listen to were percieved and believed by us and others to be truly honest and deep rooted in family values and local traditions which seem to be endangered in modern times. Unlike the commericialized and over produced pop-country music purchased by today's target audience,
The original target audience for record labels of the 20's and 30's was folks who had grown up with music being a family and local community staple. The songs themselves had subjects of deep emotion that we find just as real today as then. Homesickness, young love, tragic events,
humour, and deep religious faith spoke to us in our background of life experience; as something that we should get on mission to share with our senior audiences as well as to preserve and re-introduce to new younger audiences. Finally, the beautiful harmonies of the singers of the old-time versions we listened to attracted, fascinated and challenged us to creatively produce our own version with back-up that was in keeping with the numerous nuances of the back-up styles we heard on so many early recordings.

So with all that explained clear as mud, We hope you'll at least check out the sound clips. A second listen never hurts either as there is always more
to key in on when you take all background information into account. It is a lifelong challenge to understand and appreciate the huge world of Early Country and Mountain Music. So thanks for your interest I hope you'll continue to grow in your interest of it. Please comment if you like. See the absolute bottom of this page for ordering info.

Reissue CD's now in production

2007-04-07T13:05:00.000-05:00

Things have finally come together and our 2 former recordings are on their way to becoming available in the CD format as well as digitally. We should have them available directly from us by the end of April. They will also be available in digital as well as CD formats in May from a national distribution service known as CD Baby.

Of course as with all art and artist you would be helping and supporting the artist/musician more by dealing directly with the artist/ musician not a 'middle man'. So it is with us. If you are interested in purchasing either or both of our re-released recordings on CD then check out the appropriate section of this blog to see what the deal is. We are offering a discount for the purchase of 2 or more since this music has been around for over 20 years but in outdated formats.

If you have never heard us before but are interested then please check out the sound clips to get an idea of our style and sound. As far as back-up style goes we pretty much stayed with the two guitar format in the old days. Sometimes we featured a harmonica ( SMM-203 track 8 "The Old Folks at Home" and track 13 "Sweet Fern") and a mandolin (SMM-202 track 5 "When you and I Were Young Maggie" and track 12 "Are you Tired of Me Darling"). There are also clips from Mac's current 26 track release that feature more banjo with solo vocals and fiddle tunes along with some of our duets recorded in 2004.

As of March we have begun recording again at Mountain Fever Studios here in Willis area of Floyd County. We have already gotten several of our songs from our extensive old-time and gospel repertoire 'in the can'. We don't have a time table set for completion just yet. We hope to include several numbers with banjo and fiddle and even a third voice from a friend for a trio sound.

With Spring chores upon us on the farm as well as other time consuming things to make a living (like our jobs ie. Mac- cabinetry business and Jenny -Home Health nurse) we have to take our time with our music preservation. As you can tell from the calendar we get plenty of playing in as well. With these two projects soon to be in hand, hopefully, we can with your help reach the break-even point soon in our venture to put our music back out in the market place. We intend to use future returns to fund more projects to help keep the old songs alive and well and to present them to folks who have never heard them. Check back here often for more about the progress of our new endeavor.

Don't forget to come out and support all live music not just ours. Thanks for stopping by.

Welcome to Mac and Jenny Traynham's new site

2007-03-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

Hello Spring is close and we do appreciate you stopping by. Here you can find out more about us and our music as it is happening now as well as in the Past (See our Biography) and in the Future (see our calendar) This blog will serve us as kind of a musical newsletter with new post relaying current info on our latest happenings. Your comments are welcome too so stay tuned and check things out often.

Ever since the release in 2005 of Mac's oldtime mountain music CD entitled "I'm Going That Way" we have become more active performing in many venues near our home in Floyd County, Virginia. However, we are looking to take our music to a different level with the re-release on CD of two of our past recordings of duets of early country and gospel music .

One was a 1986 LP previously released on the Heritage label but soon to be available as Southern Mountain Melodies 107 entitled 'When The Roses Bloom in Dixieland'. The other was previously released by us as a cassette only but is also soon to be available as SMM 207 entitled 'The Sweetest Way Home'.

We are putting on the finishing touches to the 6 panel inserts that feature extensive liner notes about our style of music and about the source of each song. Interesting art work and photography will adorn each project so that if you already own the original release in LP or cassette you'll find the original packages pale in comparison to the updated ones.

The music itself has been digitally remastered to sound technically better than ever in the updated CD format. Check back for the latest in release date and ordering info. We will have certain songs available here for you to sample if you like. Also if you prefer digital downloads of our songs, that should be possible after we've worked out the details with certain distributors.

We are also starting to prep for a new project to begin this Spring and completed soon as possible.

So Check it all out now and comeback later to see the latest improvements, photos, song clips, and performance schedule.

Mac and Jenny

Spring forward

2007-03-10T08:11:00.000-05:00

Spring Forward is in the air. Thanks for checking in. Progress is being made on the music front slowly but surely.

We are into many things that distract our attention like everyday making a living. Mac has an active woodworking
business and Jenny is a part-time home health nurse as well as a fledging greenhouse business.

We plan to include info about these in side pages when we get the info and photos organized. For now we are focused on springing forward no matter how long it takes. We hope you are too.

Music in the works

2007-02-19T14:28:00.000-05:00

Over the coming weeks, we'll be putting sound clips here for you to hear. It won't be long before our reissue of two previous recordings (remember cassette tapes and LPs?) will be available. Two CD's, Roses Bloom in Dixieland and The Sweetest Way Home will be available for purchase directly from Mac and Jenny or locally at places like The Picking Porch, the Floyd Country Store and other places to be announced.

Meanwhile, give a listen to a bit of Singing Birds from Mac's currently-available CD, I'm Going That Way.

And from The Sweetest Way Home, here's a sample of When the Springtime Comes Again

Come back soon, and be on the lookout for the CDs SOON!

Mac and Jenny: Sound Sample

2007-02-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

Click the link to hear Are You from Dixie?