wild goose chase / geese honking clawhammer and two finger banjo by Joseph Decosimo

clawhammer then 2 finger Old-time banjo, learned from Clyde Davenport.
Here's the story Mr. Davenport told me about learning it as young fiddler in Monticello, KY, in which he highlights his ability to absorb music effortlessly:
"I learned that tune just passing Dick Burnett's house. His front yard wasn't too big. He was sitting down next to the street, and I was a-walking. Half a dozen or more were gathered around him, you know. And he was playing the 'Wild Goose Chase.' I didn't know what it was. I'd never heard it before. I never stopped or spoke to nobody. I just went on. That's where I got that tune at-Wild Goose Chase."
This fall sunset on North Carolina's Pamlico River was stunning. There’s something lonesome about being around that much water and sky, and this Wild Goose Chase resonates with that feeling. I learned it from Clyde Davenport's banjo and fiddling, and it's been a favorite on both since. I'm including a brief transcription of Clyde telling the story me about learning the tune below the links. I think James Bryan recorded it as geese honking. Clyde learned it from Dick Burnett's fiddling (Check out Burnett and Rutherford for some of the finest fiddle/banjo music of the 1920s.). I heard Clyde fiddle it and play it clawhammer, but I've always liked it as a two finger piece too, tuned eCGCD. I recorded fiddle and banjo versions of it for a forthcoming recording project. Please follow me on bandcamp if you'd like to hear it someday: josephdecosimo... (The new project also features a different tune under the same title from another favorite Cumberland Plateau banjo player, Virgil Anderson. It's the one with chimes. Another regional player named Dee Hicks played an equally haunting version of that one called "The Lost Gander." It's worth hearing them play their versions.)
hear/buy my new, solo banjo album: josephdecosimo...
banjo/fiddle lessons + monthly affordable sliding scale/streaming banjo workshop info: www.josephdeco...
I'm pretty excited about this new, old banjo. I usually go for cheap, funky banjos, but this one is really special. It's got so much color-even on the iphone mic, and I'm looking forward to getting to know it better. I'll be selling my Kel Kroydon soon, so feel free to holler at me if you're in the market for something like Wade Ward played. It's a killer, all-purpose banjo, but I'll need to pass it on to someone else who will enjoy it.
#banjo #oldtimemusic #music #clawhammerbanjo #clawhammer #oldtime #oldtimemusic #oldtimebanjo #dropthumbsnotbombs #folk #northcarolina #easternnc #pamlicosound #gibson #gibsonbanjo #river #sunset

[@briandemarcus1856]

Well, the banjo...and the player...both sound mighty fine. Great job, there, Joseph.

[@richardmacewan2385]

Beautiful playing, awesome setting ❤️🪕🎶

[@donkbert]

Beautiful!

[@KHbanjo]

You got talent!

[@ClintonDavisMusic]

good good good

[@rebelrider9510]

The banjo is not as expressive as the guitar, ✋but, but, but in this case the melancholy feeling it gives off is powerful. I like it.💚🎩

[@Frailerpark]

Beautiful isn't it? I disagree with your first sentence by the way but hope to do so humbly. I do play both and while it's true bluegrass which is synonymous with a certain banjo sound (the metal pick and roll sound), the instrument itself is capable of a ridiculously large spectrum of tone and dynamics. Played this way provides a direct human to instrument connection which I feel is way more sensitive , broadly speaking, to guitar. I think it's far far easier hear the person playing out of a banjo than guitar. This to me is how I define musical expression; a human expression.. 🙏