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I DID MY LAUNDRY ON SATURDAY NIGHT The song "I did my Laundry on Saturday Night" was written in two laundromats, on opposite sides of the continent, over a period of eight years. The image for the song arrived one rainy saturday when I was at college in Olympia, Washington. I was doing my laundry while my friends went to yet another keg party. I had had my fill of bacchanalian revelry... and besides, I like doing laundry on Saturday...the crowds thin out and there's always a dryer. So I chuckled to myself and sorted my whites, folded my shirts and forgot about it. Nothing really came of the idea, I just filed it away in some corner of my brain. Years later I moved into this little house in Toronto on Ossington Avenue. Right across the street was a laundromat - I think it was called George's. My buddies who I shared the house with were music hounds, and we scoured Queen St. for the best bands and places to dance. But on Saturday, the bars would be full of all the folks from out in the burbs... and I prefered to stay home and catch my fave band on a Wednesday or Thursday. I'd rather go out to paint the town during the week, when there's room to dance. So guess what? I did laundry... I remember there being a big ol' moon that night, and I read week old newspapers in her light on a bench outside George's. As I carried my hamper home across the street, a gaggle of partiers drove by on their way downtown to the clubs. I went in to put away my sheets and remembered the flash of song-let from years before. I picked up a guitar and the piece came out whole... pretty much word for word as it stands on Dog Man Don't Cat Man Do. I love it when that happens. Check out my "music" page to hear clips of the tune.
HOBO SIGNS The symbols on my CD, Dog Man Don't Cat Man Do, and over there to the right of your screen, are hobo signs. These were used by hobos to communicate with each other about the opportunities or hazards of the road. For a whole lot more about hobo signs check this link out. Use your browsers back button to come back here when yer done!
WIDE EYED WATCHING - LYRIC wide-eyed watching the night came sweet. people dancing at the apple farm. howling tom in the shining of the moon, comfort comes to those who crave it. if i could listen with the stillness of the buddha,
MY BANJO STYLE I play clawhammer style five string banjo (this style is also called also called frailing or stroke-style). Five string banjos, and the clawhammer style of its African origins, are amoung the older forms for the instrument. Clawhammer is a style of playing using the backs of the fingers to stroke the strings in a rhythmic syncopation. The thumb catches on the fitfth string (which is the highest string on the 5 string banjo) and this note rings just before the beat, giving a lilting, dancy, syncopated feel. The clawhammer style is one of the oldest styles of playing the instrument and pre-dates the bluegrass Scruggs style by at least a hundred years. The modern banjo was birthed in the Southern United States. These instruments were based on African instruments sometimes called "Banjers". These African style instruments were made from a gourd with a skin stretched across it. To this drum was fashioned a neck and a set of longer strings and at least one shorter one - this short string became the fifth string of the modern banjo. These instruments were played on plantations where unfortunate musicians from Africa found themselves against their will. The gourd banjo became a favorite dance instrument in the black communities. As slavery dwindled and populations melted together in the mid to late1800's, the banjo found its way into white musician population through the blackfaced minstrels - white folks in black face playing 5-string banjos. At this point the instrument started to emerge re-designed with frets, similar to the European guitars and mandolins played in the white communites. Banjo enthusiast David Hyatt has compiled what he claims to be the definitive history. I think he may be right. My style of clawhammer is influenced by these antique styles, but also brings in melodic banjo styles and a contemporary feel. I love the bouncy sound of old joe clark, and I also groove on Bowie and Marley. You can hear the old time sound of the mountain banjo in my tune : Wide Eyed Watching, which builds on this groove to a full band.
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