A New Backing Track For “Off She Goes”

This is a fun jig called “Off She Goes,” played on the 5-string banjo by Dave Hum in standard tuning (gDGBD); capo 2nd fret, 5th string capo 7th fret, for key of A. Also known as “Humpty Dumpty” or “Lancer's Quadrille.” There is a key change in Dave's backing track half way through the tune to the key of E, but to keep things simple I chose to make my backing track entirely in the key of A. Playing in the key of E felt awkward for me, so I just kept the track in one key. I have made tracks in both keys of A and G for your preference. Enjoy!

• Off She Goes Tabs (.pdf)
• Off She Goes Tabs (.tef)
• Off She Goes (key of A, normal)
• Off She Goes (key of A, slower)
• Off She Goes (key of A, slow)
• Off She Goes (key of A, very slow)
• Off She Goes (key of A, woodshed)
• Off She Goes (key of G, normal)
• Off She Goes (key of G, slower)
• Off She Goes (key of G, slow)
• Off She Goes (key of G, very slow)
• Off She Goes (key of G, woodshed)

I used MIDI for the bass, drums, piano padding and keyboard parts. I used real audio for the tambourine and shaker. This is a fun tune to learn and play.

Dave Hum

(April 11, 1966 - November 14, 2012)

A New Backing Track For “Salt Creek”

“Salt Creek” is a fiddle tune that was popularized by Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe (1911-1996). The tune is a Bluegrass staple that originated as “Salt River,” an old Irish-American tune. Dave Hum recorded the song in standard tuning (gDGBD); capo 2nd fret, 5th string capo 7th fret for key of A. I have made backing tracks in the keys of A and G for your preference. Enjoy!

• Salt Creek (Jim Pankey lesson)
• Salt Creek (key of A, normal)
• Salt Creek (key of A, slower)
• Salt Creek (key of A, slow)
• Salt Creek (key of A, very slow)
• Salt Creek (key of A, woodshed)
• Salt Creek (key of G, normal)
• Salt Creek (key of G, slower)
• Salt Creek (key of G, slow)
• Salt Creek (key of G, very slow)
• Salt Creek (key of G, woodshed)

I used MIDI for the bass, piano and drums. I used real audio for the shaker and tambourine. I'm also playing my Cort 6-string acoustic guitar, and MD505CC Eastman mandolin.

Dave Hum

(April 11, 1966 - November 14, 2012)

A New Backing Track For “Whisnant's Rag”

Here's a Ragtime tune called, “Whisnant's Rag” (also called “Wiznant's Rag”) written by Johnny Whisnant (1921-1992), played on the 5-string banjo in standard tuning (gDGBD), key of G. I used Dave Hum's performance as a template to make backing tracks at various speeds in the keys of A and G for your preference. Tabs and the original backing track for this tune are available at Dave Hum's website. Enjoy!

• Whisnant's Rag Tablature (from Banjo Hangout)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of A, normal)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of A, slower)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of A, slow)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of A, very slow)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of A, woodshed)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of G, normal)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of G, slower)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of G, slow)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of G, very slow)
• Whisnant's Rag (key of G, woodshed)

I used MIDI for the bass. drums and piano, real audio for the tambourine and shaker. I found this old recording on YouTube of Johnny Whisnant playing “Home Sweet Home.”

Lou Ellen Wilkie on Facebook posted the following biographical information about Johnny Whisnant, which I reposted here to preserve. Good stuff! ...

Remembering Johnny Whisnant (December 12, 1921 - February 2, 1992) grew up being called "half pint," wound up underrated and under-recorded might have seemed predictable. They were still calling Johnny Whisnant that nickname when he went on the road professionally at the age of 11 as a member of J.E. Clark and the Lonesome Mountaineers, and he no doubt looked the part. But one thing should be clear -- there was nothing half-grown or dinky about this man's banjo sound. 

It seems like Whisnant lived, slept, and probably ate banjos, and he could build them as well. He was known as a superb craftsman and instrumental builder, and also invented the most practical version of a quick-change banjo tuning peg, called a cheater. Why the man wound up with such a small recorded catalog is certainly a mystery, attributed to some by his unwillingness to compromise and his perfectionist nature. 

Whisnant began playing banjo during a childhood illness, when he was handed the mighty five-banger as a proposed distraction. He was entering amateur contests by the age of seven, heavily inspired by his collection of Charlie Poole records. 

In 1930, his father, Old John Whisnant, was working at a furniture factory and thought his son might enjoy meeting one of the other employees, a young fiddler by the name of Carl Story, who later went on to become a major bluegrass figure. After gigging together at parties and local square dances, they formed a group together with a local promoter, J.E. Clark. 

It was 1932 and the beginning of Whisnant's professional career. The band began appearing over WSPA radio in Spartanburg, SC. Like many bands of the day, they picked up a commercial sponsor, Vim Herb, the patent makers of Scalf's Indian River Medicine. During this period, the band did their first studio recordings, a series of sides cut for Vocalion. 

In 1936, they moved on to WHKY in Hickory, NC. And so it went until World War II broke out, the band shifting their allegiance from one radio station to another. Whisnant was drafted in 1942. He shifted his locale to Tennessee after getting out of the armed services, working with the Lane Brothers, Willie Brewster, and brothers Hack and Clyde Johnson. But something dissatisfied Whisnant and he wound up ditching the Tennessee bluegrass scene for a job as an auto mechanic back in Lenoir. 

As the years went on, he kept bouncing back and forth between the latter form of work and bluegrass playing around the South, all the time changing and developing his banjo work. 

In 1953 he developed a one-man act, billing himself as Cousin Johnnie and His Banjo. In the late '50s, he relocated to Florida, working with the Cherokee Ramblers and finally deciding to hang up his lug wrenches once and for all and concentrate on the banjo. Actually, he didn't hang up the tools, he just quit using them to work on cars. He invented his own set of banjo cheaters, a device that instantly switches the tuning a banjo player is in, allowing them to play in several tunings in the course of a song. Banjo giant Earl Scruggs created several famous tunes around one such device. But most banjo players are more aware of the Keith peg, invented by banjoist Bill Keith, that does the same trick. Being the underdog in such a competition was a familiar role for Whisnant, and there are fans of his who insist that some of Scruggs' trademark devices were actually learned from Whisnant. 

In the early '60s, he headed up north a bit, beginning a stint of gigs in the Washington and Baltimore area that are remembered with enthusiasm by local bluegrass fans. A box set of his recordings entitled The Rebel Set was said to have existed at this time, but seems to have vanished off the face of the earth. 

After fronting a band called the Countrymen for several years, Whisnant finally got an opportunity to release an album of his own on the well-distributed Rounder label. Although banjo players and bluegrass fans were thrilled with this album and the Whisnant version of "Maple Leaf Rag" on a Rounder banjo anthology, there was never a second album released. 

In the style of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' kin, Whisnant's daughter, Judy, has written on the Internet in search of a half sister from her father's first marriage. She also reminisces about a banjo her father had made: "...with an Eagle perched on top carved and a colored eagle with spread wings on back of the resonator... beautiful... I'd like to know if it ended up in a good home."

Dave Hum

(April 11, 1966 - November 14, 2012)

Music You've Likely Never Heard From Dave Hum

I periodically search the internet, intrigued to find anything about Dave Hum (1966-2012). That is how I found his backing tracks in 2024. I recently found an obscure YouTube channel called 'The Huckleberries,' which features four different albums and a total of 57 songs, all featuring Dave Hum on his majestic 5-string banjo. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Live In The Garden (1995)

The following 18 recordings are all LIVE PERFORMANCES...

1. Apples And Sloes
2. Blackberry Blossom
3. Castle Carey
4. Cathal Polka
5. Cherish The Lady (Monaghan's Jig)
6. Cumberland (Fire On The Mountain)
7. Duellin Banjos
8. Grandfather's Clock
9. Greengates
10. Haystack Rock
11. June Apple
12. Nuns For Nixon
13. Reggae Jig
14. Salt River
15. Silver Spear
16. Third Man
17. Turkey Knob
18. Whisnant's Rag

Reelgrass (1996)

1. Devil's Dream/Blackberry Blossom
2. Castle Carey
3. Gold Ring
4. Three Captain's/Fisher's Hornpipe
5. A Nonny Moose
6. The Wind That Shakes The Barley
7. Whiskey Before Breakfast
8. Farewell To Erin
9. Arkansas Traveller
10. Speed The Plough/Mason's Apron
11. Raggle-Taggle Gypsy/Drowsy Maggie
12. Greengates/Silver Spear
13. Huckleberry Express

Jigweed (1998)

1. Huckleberry Island
2. Timour The Tartar/Boys Of Malin
3. Lark In The Morning/Last Night's Fun
4. Apples And Sloes
5. Feargal O'Hara
6. Sphynx
7. The Maid Behind The Bar
8. Sailor's Return
9. Turkey Knob
10. Chicken Chaser
11. Farewell Erin/The Gravel Walk
12. The Pulse
13. Lost At Sea
14. Grandad In The Lift

Incahoots (2008)

1. Folly Jewels
2. Incahoots
3. Inman's Delight/Whittler's beard
4. Scotia Nova
5. Lark On The Strand
6. Audrey's Perfect Fleece
7. Little Ash
8. One After Ark
9. Hamlin's Gate
10. Tipsy Goblin
11. The Alchemist
12. Splaidamoose

I cherish all these albums! Humbly said, I am probably the biggest Dave Hum fan on the planet. I love the guy and feel like I've know him my whole life, although sadly I never had the privilege of knowing him. I didn't find his music until 2017. Instead of wallowing in depression while dying with Myeloma cancer, Dave made hundreds of precious banjo recordings to leave as his legacy. I thank God for Dave's good heart and amazing banjo skills, whose music is a constant source of inspiration for me. God is so good.

I used 'VIDEO 4K DOWNLOADER' to freely download all of Dave Hum's songs and albums from YouTube. For just a one-time $10 fee, you get a lifetime license, which is not bad at all! This enables you to download unlimited YouTube video as either audio (MP3, M4A, OGG) or video (MKV, MP4) formats. You never know when something will vanish from YouTube, so download your favorite videos while you still can!

Dave Hum
(April 11, 1966 - November 14, 2012)

A New Backing Track For “Irish Washerwoman”

I made this simple backing track for the popular tune, “Irish Washerwoman,” a traditional jig known to have been played throughout Britain, Ireland and North America. Dave Hum didn't record this song, but it is a fun song to play on the 5-string banjo. I found this performance on YouTube which gives you an idea of what to play. I've made backing tracks at various speeds in both keys of G and A for your preference. Enjoy!

• Irish Washerwoman (key of A, faster)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of A, normal)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of A, slower)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of A, slow)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of A, woodshed)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of G, faster)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of G, normal)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of G, slower)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of G, slow)
• Irish Washerwoman (key of G, woodshed)

I used MIDI for the bass, drums and piano, real audio for the tambourine and cymbal.

Dave Hum

(April 11, 1966 - November 14, 2012)