Updated “Peeler's Jacket” Backing Track

I redid these backing tracks this week. I changed the feel (as versus the original ones that I made back in in April) to a straight feel instead of swing, which is how Dave Hum did his. The volume is much higher on these new tracks. The bass has less distortion. I'm using a MODO bass emulator for the MIDI bass. I added a crash cymbal in the places that Dave Hum used one, and also at the very end.

Here is the TablEdit tablature that I made (here's .PDF tabs, which I also updated and am confident is now very accurate. I studied Dave's hands in slow motion on YouTube to write these tabs. I didn't tab out every note in the song, just the more difficult parts. In my humble opinion, these tabs would rate as intermediate to play. It takes awhile to get the pattern down pat, but once you've spent some quality time with the song, it's a lot of fun and rewarding to play. Dave is playing some repetitive distinct patterns. I don't enjoy playing some songs, like Cherokee Shuffle, but I love playing Peeler's Jacket. Each song has its own unique feel to it. To each his own.

I'm paying a new guy (David Day) to make me a professional track right now for $150 for Peeler's Jacket, based off one of Dave Hum's two YouTube recordings of it. I told him to pick whichever one he wants to recreate. I love this song! I'll freely share the new backing track with everyone when I get it. By God's grace, here are the best quality tracks I've been able to make so far for Peeler's Jacket. I think you'll like what I made. And as always, I encourage you to freely share anything I make with others. So enjoy my friends!

• Peeler's Jacket Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• Peeler's Jacket Tablature (.PDF tabs tabs)
• Peeler's Jacket (normal, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (slower, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (slow, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (woodshed, Key of G)
• Peeler's Jacket (normal, Key of A)
• Peeler's Jacket (slower, Key of A)
• Peeler's Jacket (slow, Key of A)
• Peeler's Jacket (woodshed, Key of A)

My bass playing is okay, but not the greatest. Sadly, MIDI bass sounds better than my own bass playing, so I used it instead...lol. Hey, whatever works! I cannot tell if Dave Hum used how own bass playing or MIDI for his backing tracks. I need to work on my bass playing. On the way to my doctor today, while driving I listened to Tobin's Jig. I like to hear the same song over and over. On the way home, I listened to his album recording of Timour the Tartar and I was blown away by the high quality booming bass. Nice!

Peeler's Jacket is a bit of a tricky song to master, until you develop the muscle memory, but well worth the effort. It didn't take me too long to learn it well at a slower speed. I really like playing it. You need to play a song enough until you're so familiar with the tabs, that you can play it without having to think what comes next. Only then can you begin to focus on articulating the song in your own style. I learned that from an interview of guitar virtuoso Tommy Immanuel with Rick Beato. It's a great interview!

Here are the older original backing tracks for Peeler's Jacket that I made in April of 2024. These new ones have much more volume, which I was able to obtain by reducing the low end of the bass (by adjusting the Parametric Equalizer in MixCraft 10).

And if you want to see how much I've thankfully improved at making backing tracks, listen to my first track for 'Peeler's Jacket' from 2021. Goodnight in the morning, make that noise stop!

The Railroad Spike I Installed On My Deering Golden Wreath

A New Backing Track For “Saint Anne's Reel”

I found this melodic song, “Saint Anne's Reel,” which sounds nice on the 5-string banjo. It is done in Standard Tuning, in the Key of G. Despite its popular association with Ireland, St. Anne’s Reel is actually of French-Canadian origin. The inspiration for the 1929 tune comes from a quaint French village named Baie Sainte Anne, situated on St. Anne’s Bay, near the mouth of Miramichi Bay in New Brunswick. 

• Saint Anne's Reel (faster)
• Saint Anne's Reel (normal)
• Saint Anne's Reel (slower)
• Saint Anne's Reel (slow)
• Saint Anne's Reel (woodshed)

Here is a helpful YouTube video with partial tabs (he wants $6 for full tabs) explaining how to play the song, but if you slow the YouTube speed down to 50% you can figure it out. I made the backing track to play through the whole song four times. It's a typical length backing track. I used a MIDI bass and drums. I am playing my Cort 6-string acoustic guitar. I added an audio loop of a shaker. I used my favorite “Rattle Shake” (pun for Rattle Snake) shaker audio loop at the end.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

Stay Away From Greedy Banjo “Ben” Clark

As a subscriber of their email list, I received an advertisement from the Ben Clark General Store on July 5, 2024 for their upcoming Banjo Camp in Bigfork Montana. I really want to attend, but I figured that all spots were taken. So, the next day I emailed their store to ask if there were any spots left, and if not if they'd please put on a waiting list if someone cancelled. I clearly explained that I wanted to attend the "Banjo Camp" and that I would be bringing my "Deering Goodtime Special banjo" with me to the event in Montana. Amy replied by sending me a link to their signup page. I was so happy and paid the $899. I received a confirmation email. I went moments later to Priceline and spent $2,077.25 for a travel package from Pensacola, Florida to Kalispell, Montana for August 15, 16 and 17, 2024 for the Banjo Camp. I was all set to go and excited.

To my horror 2 days later on July 8th, Amy emailed to let me know that all the banjo spots were gone. I frantically contacted her to let her know that I already has a receipt confirming my $899 purchase to attend the Banjo Camp. She replied that I had signed up for guitar lessons, not the banjo. I was heart-broken. For $3,000 I wanted to attend the Banjo Camp, which is what was advertised when they first contacted me. Nothing was mentioned about guitar lessons. Amy ass-u-med that I understood these things, but I had no clue.

Unbelievably, Amy actually blamed me, accusing me of not noticing on their store's website that the drop down menu showed different instruments. How was I supposed to know? She sent me a sign-up link for guitar, when I had plainly only shown interest in the "BANJO CAMP." It is unwise that their website defaults for the guitar, when everything about Ben's business centers around the banjo, hence, "Banjo Ben Clark."

Plus, Amy should have clarified when she sent me a sign-up link that the banjo spots had already been taken. She didn't say a word, she just sent the sign-up link, so I reasonably thought there were still available spots. Why would Amy send me a sign-up link for guitar, when I had plainly said I wanted to attend the Banjo Camp" in Montana, and bring my "banjo"? 

So, I immediately (36 hours after making reservations) cancelled everything. I was able to obtain a full refund from United and American Airlines, and the Travelodge by Wyndham hotel, but the ungodly thieves at Alamo car rental refused to refund a single penny of my $619.20. After the dust settled weeks later, and it was confirmed that I had lost $619.20, I kindly contacted Ben Clark General Store, to explain that Amy hadn't explained anything to me, which caused the whole problem. Their store is at fault, not me.

I simply requested kindly that they allow me to attend a future Banjo Camp at a $619 discount, so that I could recoup my losses. But both Amy and Jake Stogdill totally ignored me. I emailed them again, but they still ignored me again. They couldn't have cared less.

Kindly said, Ben Clark owes me $619.20, because their employee Amy caused this situation by not doing her job, and Jake (the store manager) didn't even bother to respond to my request for restitution, which would be the Christian thing for them to do. I am a born-again Christian, as is Ben, who is also a Baptist pastor according to their website. They need to treat people (their customers) MUCH better. Thank you for reading. SHAME on Ben Clark and his employees. Evidently Ben Clark is a Christian in name only, not in practice. He's a phony!

A New Backing Track For “Mason's Apron”

One of my very favorite songs performed by Dave Hum is Mason's Apron. He really out did himself on this song, and a bunch of others too...lol. The Mason’s Apron (a traditional Irish reel) is also known as Braes Of Glenorchy, Lady Carbury, Lowrie Tarrell, Mason Laddie, The Mason’s Apprentice and the Mason’s Cap. Whew! I really enjoy playing this song and am slowly getting better at it. I diligently tried to recreate Dave's backing track, mandolin and all. The song is done in standard tuning, Key of A. 

• Mason's Apron (fast)
• Mason's Apron (faster)
• Mason's Apron (normal)
• Mason's Apron (slower)
• Mason's Apron (slow)
• Mason's Apron (woodshed)
• Mason's Apron (caveman)

I used a MIDI bass. I'm playing acoustic guitar and I used an MD505 Eastman mandolin. I deliberately kept the mandolin's volume very low, so as to not clutter the track. It just helps carry the song along. They sent me the wrong one though. I wanted the Satin finish, but they sent the gloss, which holds back the sound. So I ordered the MD505CC, which is a Satin finish on a contoured comfort body (i.e., rounded edges without binding). I tried to imitate Dave's mandolin playing, but he is much better than I am. The fun is in learning, which I am enjoying. I love stringed instruments.

As a result of getting rear-ended by a bus in 1992, I suffer in constant agonizing neck pain and burning nerves, which makes everything in my life more difficult to do. It is a heavy burden, but I have no complaints to God, because I have seen a lot of people much worse off than me. Pain medications help some, but it's impossible to get enough from a doctor nowadays. If you are a Christian too, I'd kindly ask for your prayers for my health. I have lived along for 18 years since my wife divorced me in 2006, and I still struggle with loneliness often. I've looked for a woman to remarry, but never had the blessing of meeting someone. So, I'd appreciate your prayers friend. Who knows what the future holds. God is always good.

Okay, back to Mason's Apron. I'm just playing the low notes for the intro on my guitar, using the chords E, D and A. In fact, nearly all of the song uses those three chords, but there is a Bm used a couple times in the chorus. I also added a shaker and a Cajon box audio loop to the song, just like Dave used. There's a crash cymbal at the end.

I have provided 7 different backing track speeds, something for everyone. I am up to the slower speed, which is challenging for me to keep up but a good speed for me to learn. I like to warm up with the slow speed. If you are just learning the song, you should start at the caveman speed until you learn all the parts. Enjoy!

Selfies I Took Today On July 22, 2024
(My 10-year-old grandson gave me that cool shirt)

Banjo “Ben” Clark's General Store

Kindly said, I was cheated out of $619.20 because of Banjo Ben Clark's General Store.

I had received an advertisement that they emailed me, about an upcoming Banjo Camp in Bigfork, Montana, on August 15, 16 and 17 of 2024. I really wanted to attend the event, but it was only 6 weeks away. So, on July 6th, 2024, I kindly contacted Ben Clark's General Store to inquire if there were any openings left. Amy at Ben Clark's Store replied to my inquiry. All she sent me was a signup website, which showed that there were still openings. I was so happy and excited, so I gladly paid the $899. I signed-up and received a confirmation email showing that I had purchased my spot to attend the Banjo Camp. I had made it very clear to Amy that I would be bringing my Deering Goodtime Special banjo with me to the Banjo Camp.

I do not like to put off until tomorrow what I can do today. So, I used Priceline on July 6th to purchase my reservations. I had planned to stay in Kalispell and drive 35 minutes down to Bigfork for the Banjo Camp. The entire travel package cost me $2,077.25 total. Great, I thought, I'm all set.

To my horror, Amy emailed me 2 days later on Monday, August 8th, to let me know that all of the banjo spots were already filled. I immediately contacted her to let her know that I had already purchased my spot, and had a confirmation number that they billed my credit card for $899. She said that I had signed up for guitar lessons, not banjo. I was sickened and disgusted, because I have no interest in guitar lessons. I had plainly told Amy that I am bringing my Deering banjo and want to attend the Banjo Camp. I'd like to make some factual observations:

1. Amy foolishly ass-u-med that I understood how their website works, but I sincerely didn't.
2. Amy never mentioned in her first email to me that the banjo spots were all gone, which is her fault.
3. Their website defaults for guitar lessons, which is insane when everything about Ben's name is associated with the banjo. How the hell was I supposed to know that I was signing up for guitar lessons?
4. Why in the world would Amy send me a sign-up page for the guitar, when I had plainly said that I wanted to come to their “Banjo Camp” in Montana, with my Deering Goodtime Special “banjo”? Amy is 100% to blame!

Ben Clark's incompetent employees created a hellish nightmare for me in the weeks to follow. I called Priceline on July 8th (36 hours after making my reservations) to cancel my travel reservations. I was able to obtain a full refund from United and American Airline, and the Travelodge by Wyndham hotel. But Alamo car rental were greedy thieves who refused to refund a single penny of my $619.20 that they stole from me. When you cause somebody to lose money (especially a substantial amount as I did), and you refuse to make things right, you are a dirty thief!!! How greedy can they be at Ben Clark's store?

I have contacted Ben Clark's General Store about this matter, but they have horribly chosen to completely ignore me. Well, I won't shut up about it! I kindly requested that Ben Clark's General Store allow me to attend a future Banjo Camp at a reduced cost of $279 instead of the usual $899, so I can recoup the $619 that I lot because Amy didn't explain anything to me. She is 100% to blame for this misunderstanding. I've always paid for my mistakes, I shouldn't have to pay for Amy's too.

I have already filed complaints at Consumer Affairs against Priceline, Alamo and Ben Clark's General Store for their greed, but none of them care. They're dirty thieves, greedy sharks! They haven't even responded. They are all ungodly. Evidently Ben Clark's Store is no better, because they don't care either. What the hell has our nation become? Does anybody fear God anymore? Companies just bilk other people with impunity. Ben Clark owes me $619.20.

Improved Backing Track For “Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom”

I revisited my older backing track for “Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom” and tried to make some improvements. First, I adjusted the Parametric Equalizer to reduce the low end frequency in the bass to remove distortion. Second, I increased the overall volume of the backing track.

These are two of my favorite songs to play on the banjo. Both songs are of unknown origin dating back to at least the 1800's. They are both popular fiddle songs. This backing track is done in the key of G, but I made a couple tracks in the Key of A also. I used Dave Hum's recording as a template to make this backing track...

• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Woodshed
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Slow
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Slower
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Normal
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Faster
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Normal - Key Of A
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Slower - Key Of A
• Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom - Slow - Key Of A

Here's some tabs for Devil's Dream from the BanjoHangout. Also, here are some free tabs for Devil's Dream from Ross Nickerson. 

Here's some tabs for Blackberry Blossom from the BanjoHangout. Bill Nesbitt does a great job explaining how to play Blackberry Blossom, which you can find on this webpage. Also, see Geoff Howald's free tabs for Blackberry Blossom.

The leather strap worked it's way off my acoustic guitar's end pin when I made this backing track and the instrument fell to the hard floor, cracking the body. Ouch! It was the Devil's dream! Ha Ha! 

I Hate When That Happens!

Thankfully I only paid $130 for the guitar in 2022 at a local Guitar Center. It is a Cort brand and I love this guitar. I knew I was going to buy it from the moment I made the first strum. It doesn't have all that shellac coating deadening the sound that some guitars do, it is bare wood and sounds organic. The case cost me more than the guitar! I am thankful that it wasn't a $5,000 Gibson, or a $3,500 Taylor. I once held an $8,000 Martin guitar about 30 years ago at a Guitar Center in Chicago. I hated the thing! The strings were hard to press down and the guitar did nothing to impress me. I hung it back up on the wall very carefully...lol. Go figure that a $130 guitar from Mexico could feel and sound so nice.

Anyway, I recorded this guitar after damaging it on Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom and it still sounds excellent (so far...lol). I also went on Amazon and ordered some strap locks! (I don't want to accidentally break anything else.) I just bought my Deering Goodtime Special banjo in April, for which same price I could purchase EIGHT more Cort guitars!!! It's an okay banjo, but I recommend saving your money for a professional banjo if you don't have one. I only bought this lighter Goodtime Special because of my neck injury going back to 1992 when I got severely rear-ended by a church bus, and it permanently misaligned my neck. I cannot express in words the horrible arthritis neck pain that I suffer with on a daily basis. It is debilitating to say the least. Albeit, God is good and I have no complaints.

I watched about 30 Dave Hum videos on YouTube and carefully studied his hands, gear, banjos and everything. The guy is amazing! I watched him play Third Man Theme and it blew my mind how skilled he is in his coordination with his right hand. Wow! God only made one Dave Hum! If I could ever play one-third as good as Dave, it would be a great blessing. I have years to go, Lord willing, but I'm having a lot of fun learning, and that's the whole idea. Music makes the world a better place!

Dave's music has brought so much happiness into my life. Surviving with constant neck pain makes Dave's music all that much more meaningful to me, especially knowing that he was dying of Myeloma cancer while recording all of his cheerful videos on YouTube. Dave is one of my heroes! Also, I'm enjoying making and freely sharing backing tracks as much as learning the banjo. I want to help encourage other banjo enthusiasts.

I am learning as I go how to make better backing tracks, so bear with me. My original recordings that I posted here in my blog are not too good. They all lack some form of padding to carry the song along. They're just bass and percussion, which is not good. So, God willing, I will be redoing all of them over time, one by one, and reposting them for everyone.

Also, they are all too fast, so I need to provide some slower ones for people like me...lol.

Plus, I have learned to play bass better in the past 2 years. I wasn't letting the notes sustain long enough. I have a bad habit of playing short beats with my bass, instead of letting the notes sustain for a second or so. It makes a big difference in the end result. Humbly said, I think this backing track came out pretty decent.

I'm also getting better with my timing in MixCraft and learning things from studying Dave's techniques. I'm working on a backing track for The Maid Behind The Bar, and it's almost done. Gaspe Reel is next. These are all Double C tuning songs. If you've never played the Double C tuning, you should really try it, it is simple and beautiful. There are chords online. Today I studied Dave's video and tabbed out The Maid Behind The Bar in Double C tuning, which I will post with the backing track when completed. It is a simple song to learn, but difficult to play correctly because it requires impeccable timing, which is a slowly acquired skill that only comes from spending time in the woodshed playing your banjo. Playing folk songs is a completely different skill than playing Bluegrass rolls. Dave Hum excelled at both techniques. As a banjo player I love both styles.

I used my Gretsch short-scale bass on The Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom.

At first I thought I'd have a lot of difficulty making Devil's Dream because of the fast moving guitar chord changes, but it turned out to be quite easier than I thought. It all went quickly. The entire song only uses 6 chords (G, Em, C, Am, D, Bm). All of my future tracks, Lord willing, will have some type of chord padding, like Dave uses. He uses some type of acoustic piano for padding it seems, which I need to work on. I am much more skilled with the guitar than the piano, so that is what I am using for now.

By the way, in case you may be wondering why I say "God willing" or "Lord willing" often, it is because of a teaching in the Holy Bible from James 4:13-17, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” As a Christian since age 13 (wow, that was 44 years ago), I try to honor God by never assuming that tomorrow is mine. Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” One day at a time.

To be honest, one of the reasons why I started a banjo blog was to share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with others. Life is short, Hell is hot and eternity is a long time! I won't preach to you in all my blogs, but every so often I would like to just invite you to trust Jesus as your personal Savior. Like my backing tracks, eternal life is a free gift from God. But for those who refuse Christ, please know that everyone is very welcome at my blog and I love everyone unconditionally with God's love, no matter who you are. So please feel welcome!

Thank you for reading my blog.

A New Backing Track For “Chicken Reel”

This is a fun song to play, Chicken Reel. Dave Hum's family has the tabs for sale for this song, plus 9 others in this tab pack. Dave recorded this song in standard tuning, Key of A. I bought Dave's tabs, but he doesn't tab out the tricky part that he plays in the chorus. It's really simple once you know what he's doing. I was able to figure it out, so I tabbed the chorus for you.

• Chicken Reel Chorus Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• Chicken Reel Chorus Tablature (.PDF tabs)
• Chicken Reel (faster)
• Chicken Reel (normal)
• Chicken Reel (slower)
• Chicken Reel (slow)
• Chicken Reel (woodshed)

I humbly think the track came out nice. I used a MIDI bass. I also recorded along with my Fender Mustang bass to compare, but I like the MIDI bass better, so I just went with that instead. I spent $850 for the bass and prefer free MIDI. Go figure! Of course, I'm not that great of a bass player. So there's that...lol.

I also added a MIDI piano for chord padding. I love how you can get chicken sounds out of a banjo in this song. I recorded myself playing a Cajon (pronounced: Cahon) box at the very end, like Dave also does. Thanks for visiting my music blog.

New Backing Track For “Blue Ridge Cabin Home”

I wanted to make a backing track for something different than from songs that Dave Hum did, simply to carry on Dave's tradition of learning new songs. I heard him say that there are so many songs and so little time. He sure was right about that. I used this YouTube video of “Blue Ridge Cabin Home” as a template. This particular recording was done by Lester Flatt and Mac Wiseman. The song is in the Key of G. Enjoy!

• Blue Ridge Cabin Home (faster)
• Blue Ridge Cabin Home (normal)
• Blue Ridge Cabin Home (slower)
• Blue Ridge Cabin Home (slow)

The bass is all MIDI. I also added a MIDI piano. I played acoustic guitar. This was an easy song to make, using only the chords G, C and D. Lord willing, I plan to make backing tracks for many more new songs as I discover good ones to play the banjo on.