OLD TIME MUSIC MUSINGS

Recently I was lucky enough to be made the custodian of two fiddles that came from John Morgan Salyer's  son, Grover.  They are believed to have belonged to J.M. Salyer but there is no proof of that.    My sister Maggie Helton was kind enough to pass them on to me and deliver them to Texas.  One fiddle is supposed to be the one JMS learned to play on.  When he was 8 years old he broke his leg and spent close to a year bed bound and someone (I never heard who) made him a homemade fiddle.  The second fiddle is the one that is reputed to be the fiddle that he took to Chicago to the World's Fair in 1934.   Next step - restoration. The homemade JMS fiddle. The homemade JMS fiddle. John Morgan Salyer during the Spanish American War The later fiddle

2013 is the year I hit 60.  SCARY!!!  William said he wanted to talk to me about my birthday and I said, "I DON'T want a 60th birthday party!  I want to forget it!"  Well, he was planning to give me an Old-Time Square Dance for my birthday.  I'll take it I say.  What a fabulous idea.  It is going to be great and I can't wait.  Lots of friends coming from all over.  And William designed a very nice invite. My favorite Old-Time String Band will be there, The Barn Owls.  And an Old-Time Jam will happen afterwards.

Aunt Emma Ree & Uncle Grover 

John Salver Tunes

For years I've been looking for a photo of my grandma with a banjo. Finally one surfaced from Aunt Edith's shoe box of old photos. This is Mammie with a banjo that Grover originally bought Mammie. It the 70's Grover had the banjo restored and she hated that banjo after that. I think you can read that on her face. Grover's restorer put decorative concrete on the resonator and on the peghead and basically made it unplayable.

I've heard my grandma, a keen banjo picker, recite this poem, Maude Mueller, probably a hundred times. I always wondered if it had some special meaning for her.