Annotation:Mary Marshall

Find traditional instrumental music

Back to Mary Marshall


MARY MARSHALL. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. A Mixolydian ('A' part) & A Major ('B' part). ADae tuning (fiddle). ABB. The tune comes from the playing of Cumberland Gap region (Monroe County, south-central Kentucky) fiddler Jim Bowles [1] (1903-1993), who was recorded in the field by folklorist D.K. Wilgus in 1959. Titon (2001) points out the similarity of the 'B' part with that of "Old Bunch of Keys." The tune is considered one of several older or archaic tunes in Bowles' repertoire, local to the south-central part of the state.

Source for notated version: Jim Bowles (Rock Bridge, Monroe County, Ky., 1959) [Titon].

Printed sources: Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 101, p. 132.

Recorded sources: Marimac 9060, Jim Bowles - "Railroad Through the Rocky Mountains" (1994).

See also listing at:
Hear D.K. Wilgus's 1959 field recording of Jim Bowles playing the tune at Berea Sound Archives [2], Slippery Hill [3], and the Digital Library of Appalachia [4]




Back to Mary Marshall