Annotation:Piedmont

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PIEDMONT. Old-Time, Breakdown. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Source Galbraith thought it might have been a tune from Scotland, although the stately-paced reel sounds more like a generic quadrille piece. It is probably named for Piedmont, Missouri, a small town at the eastern edge of the Ozarks.

Source for notated version: Art Galbraith (1909-1993, near Springfield, Mo.), learned from his Uncle Tobe, who was born in 1853 [Beisswenger & McCann, Phillips]. Galbraith said Tobe was "an older uncle who played very well and played a lot of tunes. I got most of my tunes from him." Galbraith was descended from a long line of prominent local fiddlers, remarks Norm Cohen (Traiditional Anglo-American Folk-Music, 2015). "He taught English for a while, then took a job with the post office. Before retirement he had played frequently at numerous folk festivals and fiddle contests."

Printed sources: Beisswenger & McCann (Ozark Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 40. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 184.

Recorded sources: Dittyville 845121043167, James Bryan and Carl Jones - "Cricket's Lullaby" (2011). Rounder 0157, Art Galbraith - "Simple Pleasures" (1983).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear a 1979 field recording of Art Galbraith playing the tune, from Gordon McCann's collection, on youtube.com [2]