Stephen’s Square Dance Blog

News from Square Dance Land…

I had a friend ask me why I’ve started putting “News from Square Dance Land…” at the beginning of my posts. The answer is that I’ve subscribed to this blog on my Facebook page so I don’t have to repeat myself.  Adding a small header lets people know what the post is about and they can decide whether or not is is worth a read.

I’ll post my thoughts on the 58th Nataional Square Dance Convention shortly, but I thought I’d start a “new thing.” I’ve decided that every month I’m going to include a post about the music that I’ve purchased for my dances. Some may be from the website: www.dosado.com/music, it might be from a vendor like A&S Records, it might be from eBay, iTunes, or other online source.

There are a few reasons I’ve decided to do this. I believe in keeping my “record case” updated. Far too many square dance callers are using music that was super popular when they started their calling career. Music that was great then can still be great today, however, I think that variety is good *and* people enjoy dancing music with which they can connect.

I’ve read reviews of music, and like so much of society today, they tend to say something nice about every piece of music. Granted, I’m not going to start saying that certain titles aren’t good. Nor am I going to even say other titles just aren’t good for me. I’m simply going to let everyone know what I bought, why, and what I think of it.

This month bought 4 tunes at the National Square Dance Convention, one on eBay, and got one from a friend. (You know who you are… Thanks again.)

Bluesberry Hoedown on Square Tunes. This is a nice remake of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Bluesberry Hill. There are four tracks on it; each has its own take on the tune. Different instrumentations are the only real changes between each track. I like the first one, but the others are growing on me. Sometimes a minimalist version works very well. (Especially in places that have a lot of echo… echo… echo.)

On Rhythm Records, I got “I Don’t Even Know Your Name.” I don’t know who did the tune originally, but I know the Alan Jackson tune from the mid-1990s.

From Royal Records, I got “This Train.” I know this as a Peter, Paul, and Mary song. (My dad really enjoyed listening to PP&M when I was a kid, so this song really resonates with me.)

Then, on Sting Records, I got “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.” Again, I don’t the original artist, but Mr. Carl Olsen, in junior high, introduced me to the group “The Manhattan Transfer” and I heard them do it on one of their albums. (I might have even owned it on vinyl at one time.)

Finally, on eBay, I got a copy of Royal Records “Slow Dancin’.” No clue as to the original artist. But… I can sing “Slow Dancing, Swayin’ to the music… ”

Oh, and I got a pristine copy of a hoedown from Rockin’ M Records call Joe. (The flipside is Chet.) Yes, these are typical sounding tunes you’d expect for a square dance, but they are both really, really good and solid tunes. (They are the kind of tunes that make you want to tap your foot. In my mind, that’s the BEST kind!)

It will take me some time to get these songs into the computer, and then a little more time before I add them to a dance. I want to really know them before I use them. It’s sort of like using a power tool. You want to know how something works before you hit the switch. Otherwise, it could be disastrous.

Until next time, keep dancing!