All arrangements are performed by me without permission – but trust me, I’m no threat to the original artist’s income stream … Most songs are recorded on either on my Lowden D-32, or a Papoose travel guitar, which is a pretty cool little instrument in its own right.

Lament for Limerick/It’s Not Yet Day

This short arrangement of Lament For Limerick is based loosely on Duck Baker’s version from the CD Irish Jigs, Reels, Airs and Hornpipes (SHANACHIE 97011). The Arrangement of It’s Not Yet Day is completely my own. My debut arrangement – be gentle with me. <p> Played on the Papoose Travel Guitar in DGDGCD (low to high) (Gsus4). [Play] </p>

Last Farewell to Stirling

A very simple arrangement of a very simple tune. Supposedly a Scottish transportation ballad which comes by way of Australia. I heard this on the Battlefield Band CD reissue of Stand Easy and Preview (Temple Records COMD2052). This arrangement could still use a lot of work, especially at the break in the middle.

Played on the Papoose Travel Guitar in DGDGCD (low to high) (Gsus4). [Play]

My Generous Lover/Donal Ogg

Papoosified version of My Generous Lover/Donal Og From Martin Simpson’s Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals Video #3. I highly recommend this entire video series (3 tapes in all) available through Homespun Tapes. Simpson is really an incredible musician and teacher.

Played on the Papoose Travel Guitar in DGDGCD (low to high). Actually, the Papoose is tuned 5 steps up from a regular guitar – so on a standard guitar, tune to DGDGCD (Gsus4) and Capo V to get this same effect. [Play]

Rosie Anderson

The Rosie Anderson part from the medely Rosie Anderson/This Shearing’s Not For You/Bogie’s Bonnie Belle (see below), recorded with the ATM-35. Sounds a lot nicer than just using the Fishman Pickup.



DADGBE (Dropped-D) tuning, capoed at the fifth fret. [Play]

Rosie Anderson (Papoose Version)

The Rosie Anderson part from the medely Rosie Anderson/This Shearing’s Not For You/Bogie’s Bonnie Belle recorded with the Papoose Travel Guitar.

Recorded on the Papoose in DADGBE (Dropped-D) tuning. [Play]

March of the King of Laoise

An approximation of Duck Baker’s version of this stately tune from Mel Bay’s Complete Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Book (by Stefan Grossman, Duck Baker and El McMeen) available from Mel Bay Publications. I find the rhythmic playing on this one somewhat difficult, so I have cheated a bit in my playing. I also added substantial echo effects to the track which fill things out a bit and help mask the occasional playing error.

Dropped-D tuning: DADGBE, capoed at the third fret, which makes some of the awkward finger stretches in this tune less so. This is my first attempt at recording with an actual mike (Audio Technica ATM-35), rather than simply going with the output from my Fishman Acoustic Matrix, and the results are MUCH better than before. [Play]

March of the king of Laoise (Papoose Version)

An approximation of Duck Baker’s version of this stately tune from Mel Bay’s Complete Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Book (by Stefan Grossman, Duck Baker and El McMeen) available from Mel Bay Publications.

Dropped-D tuning: DADGBE. Played on the Papoose travel guitar. [Play]

Lament for Owen Roe O’Neil

I learned this one from the John Renbourn solo guitar cd The Hermit (SHANACHIE 97014). I added a couple of shortcuts to the original arrangement, however. This cd is a terrific showcase for Renbourn’s talents and includes a tab booklet for about half the songs on the cd. Tab for much of Renbourn’s work, as well as a set of three instructional videos (produced by Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop), is available through Mel Bay Publications.

Recorded on a Lowden D-32 tuned to Gm (DGDGBbD). [Play]

Lament for Owen Roe O’Neil (Papoose Version)

As above, but played on the Papoose.

This version is recorded on the Papoose Travel Guitar. One of the few tunes recorded here which illustrates some shortcomings of the Papoose. The high notes played against open bottom strings in the variation on the A part of the tune sound a good bit off. This is because the intonation of the guitar begins to get pretty dicey above he 10th-12th fret. Moreover, I found that the shorter scale length and stiffer action on the Papoose made playing the B part, which utilizes a couple of very cramped barre chords, much harder than on a conventional guitar. [Play]

Blind Mary

The O’Carolan tune “Blind Mary”, more or less as arranged by Duck Baker in The Mel Bay Complete Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Book (by Stefan Grossman, Duck Baker and El McMeen) available from Mel Bay Publications. The book also includes arrangements by Dave Evans of traditional Celtic tunes. Another recommended buy, The Complete Celtic Song Book also has an optional companion CD which includes a subset of about 25 tunes from the book recorded by Baker, McMeen and Evans.

Dropped-D tuning : DADGBE capoed at the fifth fret, which makes for a nice, delicate sound. [Play]

Miss Gordon’s Reel

Trad. from The Guitar of Richard Thompson available from Homespun Tapes. Lots of really nice not-too-hard fingerpicking stuff on this 3-cassete series. The guitar is tuned to DADGAD, capoed at the third fret. I added a tiny bit of echo to this track to fill things out a bit. [Play]

Banish Misfortune

Irish traditional, learned from the excellent cassette series, The Guitar of Richard Thompson available from Homespun Tapes. I learned this more by ear than from the tab, so it’s a bit different than his version.

Played on a Lowden D-32, tuned to DADGAD. The guitar is strung with those wacky new Elixir strings from Gore. These are pretty new – we’ll see how they’ve held up in a future recording …

[Play]

Banish Misfortune (Papoose Version)

As above, played on the Papoose Travel Guitar, tuned to DADGAD. Got a bit of distortion in the recording and haven’t yet pinpointed the source (mic, cabling or soundcard). [Play]