Browse Items (10 total)

  • Tags: audio

"Barlow Knife"

This old-time fiddle tune is known either as "Barlow Knife" or as "Cabin Creek." The lyrics are typically presented as follows: I been livin' here all my life,All I got is a Barlow Knife;Buckhorn handle and a Barlow blade,Best dang knife that ever…

"John Henry"

This recording is of one of several old-time fiddle tune variants of "John Henry." Here, Schnaufer plays with a metal slide upon the lyre-shaped hole Tennessee music box from his personal collection.

"Down in the Valley"

"Down in the Valley," also known as "Birmingham Jail," is an American folk song that has appeared in many variants in different collections and performer repertories. Schnaufer performed this selection on the Decatur County Tennessee music box #2,…

"Arkansas Traveller"

"Arkansas Traveller" is one of the most famous, if not the most famous old-time American fiddle tunes, having served as a part of the folk repertoire since at least the 1820s. In this recording, Schnaufer performs this tune on the Decatur County…

"Pretty Little Cripple Creek"

"Pretty Little Cripple Creek" appears to be a slower variant of the fiddle tune "Cripple Creek." A widely-known tune, "Cripple Creek" has an unclear provenance, and has appeared in many versions and under different titles over its history. In this…

"Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet"

Also known as the "Green Valley Waltz," this tune was adapted in Appalachia from an older British tragic ballad. The lyrics to the refrain are generally some variant of the following: Who's gonna shoe your pretty little feet? Who's gonna glove your…

"Flop Eared Mule"

This tune, a mainstay of the fiddling repertoire, is speculated to be of European origin, and its variations have been known under the titles "Flop Eared Mule," "Detroit Schottische," and "The Bluebell Polka," among many others. Schnaufer performs…

"Drink to Me Only"

The tune to this selection dates from the eighteenth century, an anonymous setting of an earlier poem by the English poet and dramatist Ben Jonson. It acquired a great following on both sides of the Atlantic in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.…

"The Water is Wide"

This folk song, also known as "O Waly Waly," originally hails from the British Isles, and like many other such traditional songs, is about unrequited love. This performance by David Schnaufer and Sandy Conatser is performed on a so-called "courting…

"Sweet Hour of Prayer"

This hymn, with words by William W. Walford from around 1842 and a melody by W. B. Bradbury that was first associated with the hymn in 1859, has become a staple of Protestant church services over the past century-and-a-half. This performance by David…