Truman Price

Music of the frontiers . . . A love affair

MEMOIR Still hope to break even on the memoir — two sales to go!:   Canora:  Notes from an Old-Time Fiddler, Perfect-bound pb, 8.5″ , 254 pages (… it’s gotten some nice comments from readers…) ( & it’s nearly paid for, only two years in)

2021 Calendar begins at last!

30 June – for Wine tasting party at Capital Manor, 3-5 pm.
4th of July — A short set of Patriotic songs, including America the Beautiful and the Marine Hymn/Anchors Aweigh medley, but not forgetting important verses of This Land is Your Land or Ochs’ Power and the Glory… among others.  Independence’ Riverview Park, around 4 – 4:30 pm. With Nathan Anderson of MusicalIndependence.
July 10 Sat , 11-1; for Sons & Daughters of the Oregon Trail, private.
July 24 Sat, 7 – OT Barn Dance; the barn behind the Champoeg Visitors Center.
Aug. 28 Sat. 7 – OT Barn Dance; the barn behind the Champoeg Visitors Center.

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GENERAL MUSINGS:  … a few old video song links near the bottom of this page … notes on lessons …

Recent high spots:  Summer of 2018 was nice.  Fiddled about half of all Sunny Saturday Mornings at the Independence Saturday Market. On the first warm spring day I was good for about  2 1/2 hours without a break, playing as wide a variety of songs and tunes as I could, from show tunes to hoedowns: after each tune or song, straight to the next, but changing key, and genre, and alternating between tunes and songs with lyrics.  Later, I wrote down the tune list, 60+ of ’em…  tunelist  here.

Still hoping to figure out how to continue the local Square Dance series.  Nothing firm yet. We had 3 at Champoeg Park scheduled in summer.

Enjoyed The Elements that made Old Time Fiddle, a program at Brown House, Stayton, June 2018.  Mark Babson sampled baroque/classical/romantic violin pieces; my contribution was 10+ different threads that combined to make old-time fiddle, starting with the oldest tune, Soldier’s Joy, how it can be played many ways but is still the same; a tune played in an open tuning; the Scots/Scots-Irish migrations to Appalachia and the Mixolydian mode of the bagpipe chanter; the influence of African-American fiddlers; their synthesis in a tune learned  in the New River Valley; for contrast, a regular New England/Eastern Canada tune; a French Canadian tune; in response to a question, stories about the Metis fiddlers; the influx of rags; swing; Scandinavian; a Norteno tune; and, for where do all these tunes come from, why I made up “The Swallows”, and played that.  A one-hour romp through Old-Time Fiddle as I see it.)  A hit.

  (That Metis question inspired me to work, for a while, on Red River Jig.   Tricky! Not really a jig, I think; it feels like a regular 4/4 measure plus a half-measure, repeated many times very quickly. Needs more work!)

The St. Paul Rodeo July 3 was fun. I opened and played breaks for The Bronco Billy Band.  No firm set list, so I alternated fiddle tunes whose titles mentioned large animals with old country-western songs, finishing with Bill Staines’ great rodeo rider’s lament, Sweet Wyoming Home, yo-de-lay-ee oo… (all went very well).

The “Steam Punk Jane Austen Ball” near Halloween was a different kick —  dozens of extraordinary costumes wending through the hospitality tables in the formal Grand March around the upper floor of the Mission Mill Building, straight into squares and reels.. I love doing this stuff!
Poke here for 2017 
poke here for some of 2016
 poke here for 2015 –,  Lots of old calendars here. … & a few old photos

ECLIPSE PARTY AND JAM: The eclipse centered over our house, so we had an all-weekend nonstop party.  Moon songs at eclipse party: W. B. Reid,, human jukebox, had an incredible store of songs mentioning the moon.   Here’s some of us: Vivian Williams, Adam Price, myself  & Suzi, Bruce Reid, Kevin; but we were all one-upped after a few hours when we reached a lull and an 11-year old stranger who was camping in the pasture stepped to the piano where she played a clean, simple and elegant Claire de Lune.

• 		Solo fiddling and calling, an 1800’s Reel at Newell House, authentic 1859 dinner and dance. – Suzi on the left. You should have seen that gray cloth skirt swirl when the lady twirled in the center of “Bird in the Cage”

  LOCAL JAMS:  ...all suspended in 2020… resuming July 2021
  Appalachian fiddle tunes: A nice Appalachian fiddle tunes jam in Keizer on the second Sunday of each month. Inquire here, or of Roger Applegate.   Here’s a few recent tunelists. About half of the core group of 15 or so musicians show up at any particular jam. Inquire.
  General fiddle jam: in Corvallis, 1st Thursdays of each month; at Old World Deli, 7 pm; hosted by OOTFA … A good varied jam .
  Appalachian fiddle tunes: in Corvallis, 3rd Thursdays of each month; at Old World Deli, 7 pm; hosted by John Luna (when he’s not in town, it is not)
  Second Wednesday each month, a few friends practice/perform for a small but regular audience at the Monmouth Senior Center, 6:30 – 8pm; musicians and listeners welcome!
  2nd & 4th Sundays, 6 pm – Oak Grove Grange – bluegrass jam, with many beginners
  General jam: Guthrie Park, 3 miles south of Dallas at 4320 Kings Valley Hwy, has been running   –>
  every Friday night, 6:30-10 pm, for 28 years (I never missed a Friday in the first ten years or so).  [[Note — I stopped in 2019 for a while after a lead musician accidentally dropped her loaded pistol on the stage… ].  A large jam – 10 to 20 musicians each week, a large and faithful audience of folks listening or dancing.  Strict rotation around the circle of musicians, playing country-western, older pop, folk, fiddle tunes and waltzes.  If weather is nice, fiddlers may move out to the porch.
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Ancient History:

—-> “An Appalachian Christmas” with Jane Keefer and Tim Crosby was such a fun gig!  Asked to present an hour program, we studied, practiced once and nailed it: simply  great: widely varied, perfect; many groups around the valley would love to have it  —  if only they knew about it!

An Appalachian Christmas – “Presenting three of the valley’s most respected folk musicians Truman Price, Jane Keefer, Tim Crosby.”   details

• ABOUT THE OREGON TRAIL MUSIC AND LORE:
  .   30 years ago, back to Oregon after many years of random fiddling, including a  few years in Western Virginia, I was asked to put together a 40-minute set of authentic music of the Oregon Trail as introductions for 16 performances of the Oregon Trail Pageant at Champoeg.  After research,  Jane Keefer and I recorded a cassette collection (which became a CD, Songs of the Oregon Trail);  then I did 16 performances there each year (Jane working back East).  Later the Oregon Historical Society sponsored 50+ one-hour presentations, schools, libraries, conventions; usually solo, sometimes duo or trio with True West Band.  Another 24 times solo for Oregon Trial Interpretive Center near Baker. And many more, from a few songs to two hours +… (– and the two-hour set seemed short!)
  .   Might also mention OT dance: have called over 100 evenings of dance for various adultish groups; because of that, taught old-time dances to about 15,000 kids grades 1-6, in 60+ schools, through Artists in Schools.
•     —> Seattle concert with son Adam Price – fine banjoist, person! —>
• <— Aside: For 25+ years I’ve been violinista for the annual Guadelupe dances on/around Dec. 12 with the local Mexican community.  A wonderful experience.
• Anyone can attend, and the food is super.
• Here’s a page  About the Dances for Guadelupe Celebrations
• and a brief sample of one tune: Pico Perico
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• Some Youtube Video: Solos filmed by Josh Meredith & Bob Zybach near Corvallis 2005, part of a presentation on the old California-Oregon Trail which ran through that meadow.  Note: We had just spent two hours finding camas roots and grubbing blackberry vines out of the watershed, and were all kinda muddy!  (“Out standing in the field!”)
  • St. Anne’s Reel
  • Uncle Sam’s Farm
  • Oh Susannah (the Gold Rush hit version)
  • Nelly Bly

  A few nice verses of June Apple filmed by Ray Leach at Centralia Campout August 2005, trio with Adam Price and Tom Peloso (of Modest Mouse):

  • June Apple

  These are with Adam on banjo, at Northwest Folklife Festival, Seattle, Memorial Day Weekend 2007:

  • Frosty Morning
  • Mississippi Sawyer  (with the modal D-C second part)
  • Wait for the Wagon

  Most of these videos, and a few others, are on YouTube, some with nice comments – poke here, or just enter the words “old time fiddle” and see what comes up!—

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  Two CD’s:

  • Songs of the Oregon Trail CD Truman and Jane Keefer
  • Rough and Ready CD Truman and Wes

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  LESSONS:

• I’ve taught, beginning violin to advanced fiddle, for many years.  One current student is in California and we do lessons by Zoom, and it is working well.  Inquire.
• Several former students have become  players and bandleaders. Also have enjoyed doing a workshop “fiddle for violinists”, seven times for NW Folklife in Seattle and also for the Oregon Oldtime Fiddlers annual convention in Rickreall.
  

  From the desk window in Early Spring . . . . . .	Same thing in June, with organic Jerseys . . . . . .	Hey, Stop Scaring My Cows!

  BOOKS:
• We make part of our living selling antiquarian books, especially children’s literature, and Suzanne’s site at http://www.oldchildrensbooks.com is really nice.  Also I offer a few hundred titles of folk music which can be searched here. (not my personal collection of a few hundred more)  For more titles, change the keywords… e.g. “music” or “fiddle”.
  – truprice at gmail dot com