Tag: banjo

Posted on

Gravity Clocks

Close up of an electric guitar with a hand resting on top of it. The image has a shallow depth of field so the body of the guitar and the hand are the only elements in focus.

I’m looking forward to performing tomorrow on a concert highlighting free improvisation and electronic music. The show will include Sam Herman, Aaron Johnson, and LaDonna Smith.

Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7pm
An Evening of Free Improvisation and Electronic Music
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Hulsey Recital Hall
950 13th Street South
Birmingham AL

I’ll be performing material similar to the pieces on my 2021 Tell A Gossip recording from Tape Drift Records.

Posted on

Twelfth Day of Christmas

It’s Epiphany, the last day of Christmas, so it’s my last chance this season to share the Composer’s Voice Holiday Show presented by Vox Novus.

YouTube player

My banjo tune “Shepherd’s Crook” kicks it off. Stay tuned for vocal music, chamber music, arrangements of holiday favorites, and even a piece by Stockhausen!

Posted on

Smoot’s Good Foot

Here’s a funky tune from my recent collaboration with fiddler, Esther Morgan-Ellis. We’ve been working for the last year on a group of new old-time tunes. We’ve performed them in a series of concerts beginning in Spring 2024, and we plan to release a recording of them soon. Here’s a performance of my tune “Smoot’s Good Foot” from our concert at the University of North Georgia, Dahlonega.

YouTube player
Smoot’s Good Foot; Esther Morgan-Ellis, fiddle; Holland Hopson, banjo

Here’s the tablature for the banjo part and a representative melody line.

Download Tablature for Smoot’s Good FootDownload

Notes About This Tune

  • “Smoot’s Good Foot” is in D, played in Double D tuning (aDADE) using the clawhammer style.
  • This is a deeply crooked tune that nonetheless has a great groove.
  • I usually play the quieter, groovier, unpredictable A part as many times as I like, before signaling to move to the louder, straighter B part.
  • Esther and I have been playing “Smoot’s Good Foot” as the closing tune for a set.
  • The tune gets its name from MIT student Oliver R. Smoot, for whom the smoot unit of measure was named. See Robert Tavernor’s Smoot’s Ear: The Measure of Humanity for more.

Give the tune a try, and add a comment to let me know what you think!

Posted on

Taking Wilbur Home

I’m headed to Florence, Alabama, today for a performance with poet Hank Lazer. We’ll perform sections from his newest book, As We Vanish from Public View and a variety of other material with banjo and electronics.

I’ll also play a few tunes on acoustic banjo using Wilbur, my Dobson-style banjo. Wilbur was my very first banjo–it was a gift from Margaret Darby. She had kept it for many years in the attic or garage of her beautiful Victorian home in Florence. I named the banjo after her late husband, Wilbur, who she claimed was a friendly ghost in the house.

Friday, October 4, 2024 6-8pm
As We Vanish from Public View
Abraham Rowe Photography
204 Cypress Mill Road
Florence, Alabama 35630

Posted on

Pale Blue Dot Blues

Pale Blue Dot photo of Earth taken from the Voyager space probe (source: Wikipedia)

This is a fun finger-picked tune from my recent collaboration with fiddler, Esther Morgan-Ellis. The video is of our performance at the University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, of my tune “Pale Blue Dot Blues.”

YouTube player
Pale Blue Dot Blues; Esther Morgan-Ellis, fiddle; Holland Hopson, banjo

And here’s the banjo tablature:

Download the Banjo Tablature for Pale Blue Dot Blues Download

Notes About This Tune

  • “Pale Blue Dot Blues” is in C, played in an open C tuning (eCEGC) using the two-finger, thumb lead up picking style.
  • I like the way this tune sounds on a fretless banjo with Nylgut strings–a low, mellow tone with some nice slides thrown in for color.
  • The piece isn’t really a blues. It’s not in a blues style or blues form, though its ABABC structure could be a nod to the typical AAB phrases of a 12-bar blues.
  • The title comes from the Pale Blue Dot photo (above) of earth taken by the Voyager I explorer.