Snake River Reel - Clawhammer Banjo

Snake River Reel, with the contemporary composition date of 1985. Composer, musician, dance caller, and potter Peter Lippincott recently wrote: “I just came up with it noodling around one day, oh so long ago. String bands in St. Louis where I lived took it to Galax and other fiddle venues and it caught on. Who knew? I named it after the Snake River, but other than sounding like a cool name there is no added significance. I also wrote an influential contra dance by the same name at about the same time. Doubling down on a good name I guess.”
Peter is the humble recipient of the Arkansas Living Treasure Series Award for practicing and educating others about the traditional craft of pottery. Take a look at and listen to Peter's pottery shop and his entertaining song. Since Peter, who now lives in Fayettesville, Arkansas, was then living in St. Louis, Missouri, the tune, in my mind, became loosely associated with the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition. Before hearing directly from him via email my imagination soared as to the historic connotation embedded in the title.
In the Lewis and Clark story the Snake River is one of the two rivers (the other being the Clearwater) where lived the Nez Perce North American Indians. The river had bountiful salmon, a seemingly welcoming meal after the Corps had nearly starved crossing the Great Divide. As the tribe made plans to massacre the explorers, an old squaw intervened to rescue them. She had once been kidnapped and escaped, and recalled the kindness of white people from Canada who helped her. The explorers were then treated as friends. Oddly, they refused to eat the salmon, which initially made them sick, preferring instead to eat horse and dog meat as they continued their expedition to the Pacific Ocean. The swift water of the Snake River brought the men and Sacajaweah down to the Columbia River and on to the Pacific Ocean. So that’s what I think of when I hear the tune…
In the video im playing a 1924 Gibson Tb 4, tuned aDADE
#banjo #banjomusic #folkmusic #countrymusic #oldtimemusic #clawhammer #clawhammerbanjo #oldtimebanjo #folk #oldtime #country #appalachianmusic #country #5stringbanjo #traditional #mountainmusic #bluegrass
For more oldtime 5 string banjo, both clawhammer and thumb lead make sure to check out my channel
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[@rogerfindlay6836]

Sort of groovy. Thanks so much. R.

[@oldtimetunesandsongs]

😊

[@banjowillowwarbler-gm4jk]

well played, tis a great tune

[@oldtimetunesandsongs]

Thanks alot

[@petehealy9819]

Oh, yeah, some great rhythms in there! 🙂👍

[@oldtimetunesandsongs]

😊