I was thinking of the Kimble Family of neighboring Carroll County while leading a jam this weekend (in 2018) when I brought out this tune to play. Several had not heard it before and they are members of this list. Too bad, I played it anyway.
That is what these tunes of the week are for. So I can share the music from the local sources that I draw my inspiration from as a player of native old time music in Floyd County, Virginia where I call home. Please pass it on to other players, and, if you like the tune enough, please adapt it to your style and learn it.
Here’s a cool old time version of the tune Bill Cheatham where the chords don’t change on every beat like in the standard version and the banjo player can relax some. I have no idea where Taylor Kimble got this version of a midwest classic. Maybe his version is much older and it originated in this area.
I have heard old renditions of the standard version from fiddlers like Eck Robertson of Texas, but none would be as clawhammer banjo friendly like this one seems to be. In this version, the speed is critical here to making this version effective. If it was much faster, you would likely be inclined to leave out some of the melodic detail that makes it cool. Note Ivery Kimble’s wonderful back-up guitar with nice transition runs. To those of us who knew her she was a sweetie, too.