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HTMA President’s Notes

April 2018

Dear Friends,

2018 is going well for the little music

association. We have enjoyed good attendance

at our meetings and coffeehouse events, and

have had several new members join up. That is

all exciting.

I am particularly pleased to be able to feature

in this newsletter contributions from three

HTMA members, Lori McGough, Steve

Edmondson, and Bill Cassels. I have been

looking for writers willing to provide content

for this newsletter for years, and finally struck

gold. I know you will enjoy their columns.

(Continued on Page 3)

The second quarter HTMA Membership meetings will be held at 1:30-4:30:

• APRIL 15th

• MAY 20th• JUNE 17th

Please check the HTMA website to verify meeting locations

The upcoming HTMA Coffeehouses are

scheduled for

7:00 at Burritt Museum’s Old Church.

Tuesday April 24th

Milltown Tuesday May 22nd

Iron Horse Tuesday June 24th

Sally Barris and

the Birmingham Boys

Volume 52 – Issue 2 www.huntsvillefolk.org Spring 2018

Inside This Issue

1 - President’s Notes

2 - Area Events and Contacts

3 - Upcoming Coffeehouse Features

and openers

5 – A Small World Music Story

6 – Why I Play Music

Breaking Up Winter

7 – Upcoming Coffeehouse Openers

8 - HTMA Classifieds

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HTMA Executive Board

President -

JERRY LECROY

256-880-6234 jelecroy@knology.net

Vice President & Public Service

Chairman

JIM ENGLAND

256-852-5740 harpatune@yahoo.com

Secretary/Treasurer

PAT LONG

256-539-7211 plong@hiwaay.net

Publicity Chairman

BOB HICKS

256-683-9807 hsvfolk@gmail.com

Performance Chairwoman

KAREN NEWSUM karen.newsum@comcast.net

Operations Chairman

GEORGE WILLIAMS

george.p.williams@pobox.com

Webmaster/

JERI ANN PAYNE jeriann3@gmail.com

Acting Newsletter Editor

Jerry LeCroy (Position open!)

The leadership of HTMA invites YOU to be an active part of our great organization, whether you play an instrument, or want to share in any other way, we welcome you and thank you for your support!

Schedule of Upcoming Events

Please see following pages for more details on

upcoming meeting, coffeehouse, and

retirement home gig dates.

The second quarter HTMA Membership

meetings will be held at 1:30-4:30:

• Sunday APRIL 15th• Sunday MAY 20th• Sunday JUNE 17th

Second Quarter Coffeehouses will be

Tuesday April 24th

Tuesday May 22nd

Tuesday June 26th

Please contact Jim England if you would like

to be notified of upcoming retirement home

gigs.

For more information about HTMA or

current events, you can visit our website at

www.huntsvillefolk.org

You can join up or renew membership using

PayPal at

http://www.huntsvillefolk.org/paypal.htm

1 The Shady J Band playing the February 2018 coffeehouse (Photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

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[President’s Notes, Continued from Page 1]

The intrepid Lynne Edmondson has really

become engaged with developing

opportunities for HTMA members to play

for outside audiences. Through Lynne’s

organizing we are playing the first

Wednesday of each month at the Lone

Goose Saloon. In April we are going to do a

trial performance at the Sidetrack Tap on

April 23rd. Adding to those gigs, HTMA

Performance Chair Karen Newsum has set

up another fundraiser event for us

Thursday April 26th at Jason’s Deli. That

will give members an opportunity to come

out and play some music, and the

restaurant will make a gift of 15% of the

participating audience dinner tabs to

HTMA. That’s totally a win/win.

I am really enjoying seeing all the newer

HTMA members performing at this year’s

coffeehouse gigs. Please let your music-

appreciating friends know about this

opportunity for up-close-and-personal

musical entertainment.

The March coffeehouse was really terrific.

Ricky j Taylor and the Live Roots

Ensemble brought along a couple extra

fiddle players, so the audience enjoyed a

bonanza of fine fiddling. The band played

lots of Ricky’s original tunes, a bluegrass

standard, and (of course) some fiddle

showcase tunes. It was quite a night.

The show was opened by Bob and Patty

Heinisch, in their debut performance on

an HTMA stage. I sure hope that they

decide to come back and play for us again

next year.

Jerry LeCroy

The April 23rd HTMA

Coffeehouse will feature

Milltowne with Charelle

Hudgins

Our April 24 coffeehouse wll

feature Milltowne, an Americana band that

acoustically blends the musical genres of

folk, bluegrass, gospel, rock, blues, and

country. Their varied influences include Bill

Monroe, The Grateful Dead, Union Station,

Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and so many more.

Milltowne’s interpretation of traditional

songs, classics, and original music create a

timeless sound that appeals to listeners of

all ages and musical backgrounds.

Milltowne features Charelle Hudgins on

vocals and band members Danny Charles,

Greg Staggs and Keating Johns.

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2 The Iron Horse Band will be featured artists for the May 2018 coffeehouse (photo courtesy Iron Horse)

Our May 22nd HTMA

Coffeehouse will feature

Iron Horse

Iron Horse was formed in 2000 in the famous

hit recording capital of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s,

Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The band consists of

four members including Vance Henry, guitar,

lead & tenor vocals; Anthony Richardson,

banjo, baritone & bass vocals; Ricky Rogers,

bassist, baritone & lead vocals; and Tony

Robertson, mandolin, lead & tenor vocals. The

bands’ roots go back to the late 1970’s, when

Tony Robertson and Ricky Rogers were charter

members of the popular local group, “The Next

in Line”. All of the members are avid

musicians and have had involvement with

several bands throughout their careers. The

present band was born as a result of Tony

Robertson, Vance Henry and Ricky Rogers

participating in the Jake Landers Band. In

December 2002, Anthony was asked to fill an

opening for a banjo player and the present Iron

Horse configuration evolved.

For more information on Shady J’s, please

check www.facebook.com/shadyjsband

3 Sally Barris with Chas Williams and Jason Vailey will be our featured artists for the June 26th HTMA coffeehouse . (photo courtesy S. Barris)

Our June 26th HTMA

Coffeehouse will feature

Sally Barris and the

Birmingham Boys Sally Barris is an A-list Nashville songwriter who has had songs covered by such top-level artists as Kathy Mattea, Martina McBride, and Lee Ann Womack. Her song “Let The Wind Chase You”, recorded by Trisha Yearwood and Keith Urban, received a Grammy nomination for vocal collaboration in 2009.While her writing credits mightily impress, fans and peers are most captivated by her bright spirit and expressive mountain soprano. Dirty Linen says “Barris knows how to write lyrics that are as forthright as a stream of clear water and how to support them with melodies that share that quality”. Sally also performs with dobro player and guitarist Chas Williams and mandolin player Jason Bailey as "Sally Barris & The Birmingham Boys". The Minnesota native has performed Mountain Stage, New Bedford

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Summer Fest, Wildflower Arts & Music Festival and The Kerrville Folk Festival. Sally is currently touring with her new cd “The Road in Me”.

A Small World Music Story By Lori McGough

A few years ago my husband Jerry

wrote a song called the Pickle Factory.

This song was based on his experience

working in a pickle factory in Illinois in a

small town called West Chicago when

he was in High School.

In 2008, Jerry entered that song in the

MOVA songwriters competition in

Guntersville, Alabama. Pickle Factory

won first prize.

A short while after that, he recorded a

CD with that and other songs he had

written. In looking for a picture for the

cover of the CD, Jerry and I stopped at

the Sechler Pickle Factory in St Joe,

Indiana. Inside at the gift shop, we

explained to a sales person what we

were doing and about the song. At just

that moment the owner of the pickle

factory came by and the sales person

told him about the song. They both said:

“How in the world could you write a song

about a Pickle Factory?” So on the spot

without instruments or anything we

started singing the Pickle Factory song

to them and they LOVED it. They

wanted a copy to play over the intercom

in the gift shop. We happened to have a

CD with us and traded for a T Shirt from

the Sechler Pickle Factory.

NOW, for the small-world part of the

story. Our dear friends John and Gay

Sakich, who used to live in Huntsville,

but now live in Brentwood, Tennessee,

had gone on a cruise on the Baltic Sea.

While on that cruise they met a couple

from California who they have kept in

touch with since. John and Gay told

their cruise ship friends that if they were

ever in the area during their travels to

come and visit. On one of their trips

across country while traveling through

Indiana, this couple stopped at the very

same Pickle Factory in St. Joe.

Apparently the song made an

impression, because they later

mentioned it to John and Gay. Their

mouths dropped open and they said

“We know the man who wrote that song

and we have it on a CD.!” Their friends

loved the song so much that Gay gave

them their CD! After a few weeks, Gay

called to tell us about the "small world

coincidence" with the Pickle Factory

song.

The CD with the song is also in the

Museum of West Chicago. The curator

wanted it for visitors for the museum.

They said that at least one member of

almost every family in West Chicago

had at one time worked in the Pickle

Factory. The factory is no longer in

operation, but there are many who

remember it and can now enjoy the

song when they visit the museum.

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4 Steve Edmondson playing at the September Burritt festival (Photo J. LeCroy)

Why I Play Music By Steve Edmondson

I didn't start playing the guitar until later in life.

Like most people in this situation, the first songs I

tried to learn were those that I was most familiar

with from my youth, like House of the Rising Sun. I

enjoyed strumming the chords while trying to sing

along, but I didn't think I was good enough to play

with others. So I decided to learn fingerpicking, and

then I wouldn't need anyone else to play with. The

thumb plays the rhythm/beat on the bass strings

while the fingers pick the melody on the treble

strings. Now instead of trying to get good enough

to join a band, I strove to be the band. It became

easy to entertain myself just noodling around on

the guitar. I became interested in the old-time

fingerpicking styles of the early 1900's: ragtime

blues guitar, folk/country blues, and jug band

music. Most of this music is well suited to solo

acoustic guitar. The last couple of years I have

started jamming more with other people, and I

have had to modify my technique and repertoire

accordingly. But when I am sitting on my front

porch, my guitar wants to play that old-time

fingerpicking stuff.

Breakin’ Up Winter By Bill Cassels

5 Bill Cassels playing at the September Burritt festival (photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

On the first weekend in March, I attended Breakin’

Up Winter (BUW), an annual old-time music

gathering sponsored by NOTSBA (Nashville Old

Time String Band Association). If you are

interested in old-time music – the kind of music

played at kitchen and barn dances in rural areas

before TVs and record players were common,

usually featuring fiddle, banjo, guitar and

sometimes mandolin, bass and other acoustic

instruments – then I recommend you check out the

Breakin’ Up Winter video on their website:

NOTSBA.ORG. The fun takes place Cedars of

Lebanon State Park, east of Nashville near

Lebanon, TN. The program is a mix of jams (some

of which are led by presenters), and workshops on

technique, tunes, and history.

Since you can get all the info on BUW at the

NOTSBA website, no need to repeat the details

here. While you’re at the website, click on the links

to “Tunes We Play” for a huge list of old-time tunes

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including notation in pdf form, midi from the

notation, and recordings in mp3 format for each

tune. The notations are helpful as they are pretty

basic (omitting most ornaments), are easy to see

(big print), and include the key the tune is normally

played in, lyrics (sometimes), the chord

progression, and even chord diagrams for guitar

and mandolin.

Be sure to check out the list of presenters from

past BUWs, which include Charlie Acuff, Mike

Seeger, James Bryan, Ken Perlman, Alice Gerrard,

and Clyde Davenport. Our very own Jim Holland,

and Bob and Cathy White, led organized jams at

BUW back in 2010. Did I mention that there are

large stone fireplaces operating in the Assembly

Hall and the Cedar Forest Lodge where the

workshops and jams take place -- a very cozy and

friendly atmosphere?

The many presentations this year included fiddle,

banjo, fretless banjo, guitar, harmonica instruction,

wax cylinder recording, Oklahoma history, and

others topics (see the NOTSBA BUW webpage).

Among the many excellent presenters was Brad

Leftwich, whom I was familiar with from his

instructional material on Homespun.com. Another

was Rachel Eddy whom I had not heard of before,

but enjoyed very much. The presenters did not

object to being recorded.

I attended almost all the workshops. One was

Rachel’s workshop on how to lead a jam. She had

some interesting suggestions. One was for the

person leading a simple 3-chord tune to indicate

the chord changes with head nods – upright

indicates the I (Roman numeral one) chord; to the

right indicates a change to the IV chord, and to the

left indicates a change to the V chord. She

demonstrated this and even included a nod

forward when a minor chord was called for.

Someday if I ever learn to play and think

simultaneously, I might consider trying this nodding

but I suspect I might injure myself if I started to

nod a V chord and then realized it was a IV chord.

Rachel presented another workshop on bowing

techniques – which is one of the many areas that I

struggle with. She taught three techniques by

embedding them in an old time tune – Lazy Kate.

So at the end of an hour, we had not only worked

on the three techniques but learned a new tune.

Over 50 fiddlers participated in this workshop,

which Rachel said was a personal record, so she

had someone take a photo of us with her phone. I

lifted the photo from her Facebook page. Rachel is

front and center, with her right foot behind the end

of the pink fiddle case. That’s me in the green

long-sleeve shirt -- front right.

I’m including another photo of one of the many

informal jams. That’s Rachel Eddy in the ball cap

facing the camera, playing fiddle.

As in prior years, I came away with a list of tunes I

heard and want to (but probably won’t) learn

before next year. This year’s list includes Been To

the East, Walkin’ In My Sleep, Old Piss, Barlow

Knife, Kitchen Girl, Roscoe, Needle Case, Old Yeller

Dog Walking Through the Meetin’ House, and

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Dance All Night With a Bottle In My/Your Hand.

Which brings to mind another reason, besides the

wonderful people and the history, that old time

music is such fun – the song titles.

HTMA Membership

Your membership dues serve an excellent purpose,

and are much appreciated. You can renew on-line

at: http://www.huntsvillefolk.org/paypal.htm or by

sending a check made out to “HTMA” to Treasurer

Pat Long, 414 McClung Avenue, Huntsville, AL

35801.

6 Josh and Judy Allison playing the January 2018 coffeehouse

(photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

7 The Cotaco Creek band opening the February 2018 coffeehouse

(photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

Membership Meetings for 2018

By Jerry LeCroy

We will keep on with the meetings planned for 1:00 on the third Sunday of each month at the Huntsville Public Library. Most meetings will be in the Main Huntsville Library, in their main auditorium. However, we occasionally get bumped to an alternate room at the main library branch, or to the meeting room at the South Huntsville branch on Bailey Cove road just south of Weatherly. Please check the HTMA website for the correct meeting location before you head out.

HTMA Publicity Chair Bob Hicks sends out email notices of both the meetings and the coffeehouse dates, usually a week or so before the event. If you aren’t receiving these emails from Bob please send him an email and ask to be put on his list. On the other hand, if you are getting Bob’s emails but would rather not, let Bob know that as well so he can take you off our list.

8 Bob and Patty Heinisch opening the March 2018 coffeehouse

(photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

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Upcoming HTMA

Coffeehouse Openers By Jerry LeCroy

The HTMA Coffeehouse is a terrific

opportunity for members to get a chance to

come out and play a few tunes in front of a

friendly and appreciative audience. For the

second quarter of 2018 we are going to feature

a couple new faces, plus Performance Chair

Karen Newsum.

The April 23rd coffeehouse will open with Kim

Cappaert, ably assisted by Steve Cappaert. Kim

and Steve Cappaert have always loved music,

but when they became empty nesters they

dusted off and re-strung old guitars and began

playing and singing on the back porch. That

led to picking with friends and HTMA

members who encouraged them to perform.

They enjoy American folk, cover songs from

the 70’s, old country and some bluegrass.

The May 22nd coffeehouse will open with Steve

Edmondson. To find out more about Steve and

his music, please take a look at his article on

page 6.

The June coffeehouse will open with HTMA

Performance Chair Karen Newsum. Karen

Newsum is a singer/songwriter who enjoys

writing songs from her life experiences as well

as whimsical songs for children. Young or old,

her audiences delight in her original lyrics and

music.

Karen has published four CDs, Thirty Years in

the City, Garden of Faith, one for children,

Karen Newsum’s Berry Good Songs for Kids!

and most recently, Grace for the Journey. All

but Thirty Years in the City are available on

CDBaby.com as well as many other online

music stores and streaming services.

Check https://www.karennewsummusic.com/

9 Steve and Kim Cappeart playing at the Lone Goose Saloon (Photo courtesy the Cappearts)

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10 Ricky j Taylor and Inge Wood playing with the Live Roots Ensemble at the March Coffeehouse

(photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

11 The Live Roots Ensemble string section! Emory Hutchens, Hillary Klug, and five-time Tennessee state fiddle

champion Jim Wood, hanging out on cello. (Photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

12 HTMA members Jim England, Jack Ellis, Jerry LeCroy, Barney Harding, Collier Rawls, and Al Yancey entertaining residents at the

Regency nursing home (Photo courtesy Bill Cassells)

13The Live Roots Ensemble amazing bassman Ben Ayers (Photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

14 The Live Roots Ensemble Percussion section and master drummer Kyle Copeland

(Photo courtesy J. LeCroy)

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Do you have an item for sale? Are you looking for an instrument? Are you wanting to acquire, trade or sell musical gear, recordings, books,

get something repaired.... Do you need music lessons? Are you wanting to join or find a new group or band member? This section of our

newsletter is for members to place ads for services or instruments or anything related to music. It will be updated for each newsletter. If

you have an item or advertisement you would like to be published, please send an EMAIL (preferably before the fifteenth of the month) to

jelecroy@knology.net (Jerry) to have your listing included in the upcoming newsletter. In your email, fully describe what your offering or

looking for, and how you want users to contact YOU, via email, phone or both, etc. Once your listing or item is no longer active, please also

email webmaster@huntsvillefolk.org for removal of your listing. Please note that HTMA makes this service available to aid our users in

finding, trading or selling music items and services only - and we are not responsible for the completion or non-compliance of any

transactions between members.

Wayne Erbsen has offered to send a copy of his latest Mandolin instruction book out if any HTMA

member might like to write a review of the book to publish in this newsletter. Call or email Jerry if

you’d like to take advantage of this offer.

Free to a good home – HTMA is retiring a couple old microphone stands and a mic or two. The

stands are Hercules and work okay, but the plastic is getting a bit sticky. Used SM58 that may have

taken one extra hard knock – it still works, but the response no longer matches the other SM58 mikes

in our coffeehouse gear box. Call or email Jerry if you’d like these items.

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Vance Sheffield has a number of copies of two LPs that HTMA [then the Huntsville Association of Folk

Musicians or HAFM] recorded in the early 1970s. Vance also has some records produced by TennVale in the

same time period, with collections of tunes by a number of country fiddlers of that era, and other LPs recorded

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at the Galax convention. All of the albums came from the estate of Doug Crosswhite, owner of Tennvale

records and the engineer of the 1 & 2 HAFM albums.

The price for the HAFM albums is $15 per set for the AL 1 & 2 albums, free shipping, and $10 each for any

other albums, free shipping. Payment can be made through Paypal at helenhsheffield@aol.com or they can send

a check to:

Helen Sheffield,

PO Box 1342

Killen, AL 35645.

Phone #256-757-8370, Vance or Helen.