Cabin A by Cardinal Puffin

Recorded November 23 and 24, 2013
Scutters M’Coyle – GDAE tuned tenor banjo, Bridie M’Coil – DGBE tuned baritone ukulele (bodhran on Brosna Slide and Belle Layotte)

On a cold weekend in late November 2013, Cardinal Puffin retreated to a cabin in Spotslyvania County to play some of our favorite tunes and songs. We used an Olympus LS-14 digital recorder to capture the sounds being made. You might even be able to hear the hisses and pops of the wood burning fireplace in the background on a few of the tracks.

This is the type of music we make when it’s just the two of us at home playing our instruments. No criticisms, no audience, no reasons to show off, no genres or traditions to oblige to. Please excuse the minor flubs and missed chords or notes here and there. We are amateur musicians. What you're hearing here is what it sounded like there.

Track Notes:
Good Guys and Bad Guys is a Camper Van Beethoven song (David Lowery). What Deaner Was Talking About is by Ween (Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo).

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a Flaming Lips song (Wayne Coyne). We tried playing Yoshimi 3 times and never quite got it, but I chose to include the first take which has a good “feel”, although we totally botched the timing of the transition back into the bridge. Oops.

Devil Town was written by Daniel Johnston. This is a tossed off version with impromptu lyrics from the Phish song Cavern to help give it a 3rd verse. Ha ha ha.

Johnny Mickey’s, Brosna Slide, My Darling Asleep and The Banshee are Irish traditional tunes.

Chinquapin Hunting and Coleman’s March are part of the American oldtime tradition. Saturday Night Breakdown and LandN Rag are stringband country rags.

Caroline and Belle Layotte are early Caribbean tunes we got from the Etcetera Stringband.

Cha Bai comes from the Cape Verde islands and is included in John Philip Sousa’s 1890 book National Patriotic and Typical Airs of All Lands. However, we got it from The Rhythmia. We had never tried playing this tune together until the day we recorded it! It’s one of my favorite cuts.

Two amateur musicians learning tenor banjo and tenor guitar and playing a mixture of Irish trad, Caribbean melodies and campfire songs. Established August 30, 2011.

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