ManyTracks old time Upper Peninsula acoustic music fiddle guitar string band dance

ManyTracks Home MUSIC Main Page Schedule New Lost Lake Ramblers Wild Cherry Wine Recordings Contact Us	ManyTracks Music fiddle ~ guitar Steve Schmeck & Sue Robishaw	Fiddles Rent or Buy Other Instruments Folk Dance Links

	Old Time Acoustic Dance Music and Ballads ~ ~ ~ Lively, Fun, and Upper Peninsula Home-grown It just makes you feel good!
Welcome to the lively world of ManyTracks Music! We enjoy and play a variety of music, focusing mainly on old time dance music from many areas, as well as ballads and songs both old and not so old. Whether by ourselves or with others, informally or in a band, we have fun sharing a wonderful array of acoustic music. We play together as ManyTracks; with Rochelle Schuster and Marilyn and Barney Ouellette as the string band New Lost Lake Ramblers; with fiddler Sharon Vierk as Wild Cherry Wine; and with many other wonderful musicians on stage or off. Informally there are many fun jams, including the old time open jam Wednesday evenings at Falling Rock Cafe in Munising where you might find from one to a dozen acoustic musicians having a good time in the back room.

Steve and Sue -- Fiddle and Guitar

From being interested listeners and sporadic plunkers on the guitar to being fully immersed in playing music feels a lot like jumping in without knowing if you can touch bottom, which you can't so you might as well settle in and ride the waves. And what a ride it has been, with strong currents and occasional sandbars. Both fun and challenging, playing music in this fashion has broadened our world in a great way.

In 2007 Steve decided he wanted to learn the fiddle. Since he didn't have one on hand, he built one. Being interested in the lower tones he came up with his octave violin, beautiful if a bit heavy. It worked. It was fun. I dusted off the guitar and we started collecting fiddle tunes. But they really needed a regular fiddle. After a start with a cheap fiddle (later to be cut it apart and turned into an electric practice fiddle for which it was better suited) he found his "real" old German fiddle -- what a delight.

We learned some tunes and ventured out into the world. Thanks to a wonderful array of patient U.P. jam musicians we survived and learned much more than we would have had we stayed home. Thanks to their help and our perseverance we were soon well into that lively entrancing circle of traditional music.

There is no end to where we want to go with our music; there are so many areas to explore. But we're having a good time with the old and the new -- tunes, songs, musicians, and friends -- sharing our music, and discovering something new almost every day.

TUNES and SONGS

What do we play? Old time style dance tunes from Europe or North America, traditional songs and ballads, folk songs both old and contemporary, and occasional forays elsewhere. Some choices are unique to a setting or band, some tunes crop up most everywhere. Here are some you might hear from us:

FIDDLE TUNES

Angelina Baker
Coffee-O
Cold Frosty Morning
Fair Jenny's Jig
Farewell to Whiskey
Finnegan's Wake
Girl I Left Behind Me
Golden Slippers
Goodbye Girls Going to Boston
Jackie Tar
Jamie Allen
Marie's Wedding
Old Joe Clark
Pop Goes the Weasel
Red Haired Boy
RedWing
Road to Boston
Road to Lisdoonvarna
Sadie at the Backdoor
Seneca Square Dance
Soldier's Joy
Up the River
Yankee Doodle

AIRS & WALTZES

Battle of Aughrim
Arran Boat Song
Ashokan Farewell
Darling Nellie Gray
Hector the Hero
Life Let Us Cherish
Londonderry Air
Margaret's Waltz
Midnight on the Water
Over the Ice
Ragvalsin Waltz
Rosin the Beau
Si Bheag Si Mhor
da Slockit Light
Tis a Gift to be Simple
Tombigbee Waltz
Tommy Bhetty's Waltz
Un Homme Marie

And many fun old "campfire" or
sing-a-long songs such as
O Susannah, Cindy, Waterbound, Boil Them Cabbage, Shortnin' Bread

OTHER

Bango's Tune
Give Me Your Hand
Davy Davy Knick Knack
Lucy Farr's Barndance
Polokantahtia
Sturres Schottis
Viiskolome
Viola's Favorite Schottische

SONGS

The Blackest Crow
Crossing the Border
Danny Boy
Golden Slippers
Goodnight Irene
Let the Mystery Be
Loch Lomond
Puff the Magic Dragon
Red River Valley
Star of the County Down
Tennessee Waltz
Tiny Fish for Japan
Waltzing Matilda

Back to top To comment, ask questions, or just say Hi, Contact Us. We enjoy hearing from our friends! If you would like to be on our Music Email List to receive notices of our performances and appearances, send us your email address and we will add you.
We always appreciate links to our site www.ManyTracks.com from appropriate sites, and we thank you for recommending us!
Tips at performances and donations anytime go toward public service performances -- providing live music where it might otherwise not be heard.
	Click on the Donate Button at left to use your ~~~ Thank You!! ~~~
updated 01/18/2012

ManyTracks Music fiddle ~ guitar Steve Schmeck & Sue Robishaw

ManyTracks Music
fiddle ~ guitar
Steve Schmeck & Sue Robishaw