Here's where you can link to mp3's I've uploaded to the web.

They can be streamed from here in a "Lo-Fi" format to cut down on buffering delays for dial-up connections. If you desire to hear them in a more "Hi-Fi' format, you can link to my artist page at:
Banjo Brad on ezFolk.com

As far as I am able to determine, all tunes are either in the Public Domain or are my own works. All are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license


Recent Additions: 11/25/2009

Rolling Mills Are Burning Down
Clawhammer Banjo - fretless (eBC#F#B) and vocal


Tunes,Songs and Other Recordings
(Alphabetical by Genre)

Clawhammer Banjo Solos

Arkansas Traveler      
This is a well-known banjo and fiddle tune that isn't played often enough. Tab

Barlow Knife      
This is a fun little tune that I can play all day! Done on my Deering Goodtime, it is the first recording with the Fyberskin head and No-Knot tailpiece. Standard G tuning.

Black Eyed Daisy      
This is an old tune I learned from a tab by Bob Carlin. I really like the simplicity of the tune.

Breaking Up Christmas
Clawhammer Banjo (aEADE)

Cluck Old Hen      
A traditional fiddle/banjo tune rendered on my new Chuck Lee banjo.

Colored Aristocracy
Clawhammer Banjo (gDGBD)

Cumberland Gap      
A fairly standard fiddle/banjo tune common throughout the Appalachian Mountains. Played in "Sandy River Belles" tuning (gEADE).

Drowsy Maggie      
Clawhammer banjo

Glass of Gin      
I was fooling around with the banjo tuned to double C and capoed the other day and came up with this simple tune. Lots of drop-thumb, kind of a nice cooler after the heat of an Arizona summer day.

Liberty      
Clawhammer banjo tune.

Lizard on the Garden Wall      
An original tune for Clawhammer banjo. I came up with this one while sitting on the patio watching a lizard running along the face of my garden wall while being pursued by a Cardinal. The lizard won this round! Tab

Mississippi Sawyer      
Clawhammer banjo version of the old fiddle tune.

Needlecase      
Clawhammer Banjo rendition of an old fiddle tune.

Old Jawbone      
A Henry Reed fiddle tune rendered on my Chuck Lee Lone Star openback banjo. I hope to one day add the fiddle to this catchy melody. Done in the key of G.

Pusch Ridge      
Another original tune, but I think it a bit of that old-time sound to it.

Rolling Mills      
Rolling Mills Are Burning Down     
Clawhammer banjo and Vocal. This is my version of an old traditional tune, "Rolling Mills." I have only heard 2 other versions, and have used some from both. A rolling mill is a factory that rolls steel into sheets. My best guess about the song is that back in the late 1800's-early 1900's, the industry was undergoing a bad time, and the song probably reflects a bad time in a mill town when the mills burned down, and the owners had no intentions of rebuilding.
The second recording is in a slightly different tuning, eBC#F#B, and is played on a fretless mountain banjo with Minstrel strings, which require a lowere tuning. If this on on my steel string banjo, the tuning would be f#DEAD.

Sally In The Tater Patch      
My Clawhammer banjo version of "Sally In The Garden" and "Tater Patch."

Shady Grove      
Clawhammer banjo and Vocal.

Soldiers Joy      
I had originally learned this in the key of A, and had previous recording was in that key. Recently I have been playing around with putting it into its "proper" key of D. After a few days of experimenting, this is what I came up with. Played on a Deering Goodtime banjo, clawhammer style.

Spooky Cripple Creek      
Clawhammer Banjo in a minor tuning. This came about on All Hallow's Eve a few years ago after hearing a version by Donald Zepp that struck me as eerie.

Spotted Pony      
Can you hear the pony trotting down the road? A pretty little traditional tune in the key of D. Often done as a fiddle/banjo duet (which I hope to accomplish in the near future). Performed on my Chuck Lee Lone Star openback banjo sitting on my patio. The fountain in the background adds a certain nuance to the music, I think.Tab

Fiddle Tunes

Home On the Range     
Fiddle, Banjo and Vocal. The song was orginally titled "My Western Home," and never contained the well-known phrase "Home on the range." For more information on the origins of the story, check the NPR story at: NPR I did this on the fiddle and banjo. I used a two-finger picking pattern on the banjo, because the fiddle work was so out of time.

Sugar Hill     
This is a fiddle tune I am working on, I recorded the banjo first for rythmn, then added the fiddle. I finally threw in a couple of choruses of vocal just for fun.

Liza Poor Gal     
An old fiddle/banjo tune. This one has a slight twist to the B part. Also known as Little Liza Jane.

Folk Songs

Danville Girl     
Vocal and Banjo. This is a nice hobo/love song. I like the fact that the basic clawhammer stroke works great for 3/4 time tunes. Tab

Fair Margaret and Sweet William (Child 74A)     
Guitar and Vocal. Tab

Follow The Drinking Gourd     
A favorite folk song of mine which comes from the days of the Underground Railroad. Done in Am on the banjo, my vocal is in the general area.Tab

Good Old Mountain Dew     
Clawhammer banjo and vocal.

John B's Sails     
Clawhammer and Vocal (also known as Sloop John B).

John Henry (Steel Drivin' Man)     
Clawhammer Banjo and Vocal. I was fooling around one day with the double C tuning, trying to see if I could figure out "Rolling Mills," when this song just sort of popped up. It seemed to fit well to the tuning, so I went searching for lyrics different from the well-known, well-worn lyrics usually sung. This is what I came up with. I like the sound that the modal tuning gives the song, and the sound that the added 3rd (E) gives the second line of the verse. I achieved the plunky dead sound by slipping a strip of foam cushioning material under the strings at the bridge to deaden the sound. Tab

Kicking Mule     
Clawhammer banjo and Vocal.

Lady Margaret     
Clawhammer banjo and vocal of the oldtime version of Child 74.

Stewball     
Clawhammer banjo and Vocal.

The Fox     
Clawhammer banjo and Vocal. This is an old song that I've known since a boy.

Worried Man Blues     
Vocal and Banjo I have always liked this tune, and finally got around to working up a clawhammer arrangement for it. Tab

Guitar Solos

Ländler & Caprice     
I haven't really played Classical guitar in almost 20 years, but recently I felt my Goya G-10 longing to try some. So, I dug out an old notation book and spent a couple of hours practicing a few of the short ones I used to play. Here is a Ländler by Joseph Küffner and a Caprice by Ferdinando Carulli.

Singer/Songwriter Stuff

Pretty Desert Flower     
Written quickly for the song of the month thread for May. You may be able to guess that I have been listening to a lot of Carter Family music lately.

R-A-I-N     
Guitar and Vocal. This is a little song I wrote because one of the members of the ezFolk forum wanted some April Rain songs. I tried to put an Hispanic/Flamenco sound to it, and rather like the guitar work.

Sometimes I Feel Like A Nut     
An original talking blues with Clawhammer banjo.

Ukulele Pieces

Blue Uke Waltz     
An original Ukelele instrumental. Lots of reverb in the mix.