Hector the Hero

Here's another one of those celtic waltzes, this time written in 1903 by James Scott Skinner to celebrate the life of Hector MacDonald. If you read his story you'll see the hero's life is a rather sad one that ends in suicide. I borrowed some of the ideas for this arrangement from a version I found on iTunes by a band called "Jameson's Revenge", but I added the ending myself after reading the Wikipedia article on Hector.

Flop Eared Mule

This is based loosely on the version on Mike Compton and David Grier's excellent CD "Climbing The Walls".

St Anne's Reel

This is a big favorite at jams, so it's as well to work up a few different approaches to it. Here's one taking a Wayne Benson break I learned a long time ago and developing a lower octave variation and another with some more double stops and small rhythmic changes.

Eighth of January

And here's the Eighth of January, because tomorrow it will be. And here's the tab. My own version, mostly from the version on Rhonda Vincent's recent CD, with a touch of Monroe in the downslides.

Bluebirds

Here's a new tune I wrote for the new year. I recorded this yesterday after watching the bluebirds that live nearby all busy on a cold bright January day.