Vermilion from Sans Voix by Kevin Closs
Paul Dunn introduced me to the banjo and taught me the claw-hammer style of playing, also called frailing. By the early 2000s I had acquired an old banjo from our family physician, who was not only a doctor but a musician as well. We were working on his first album and I was thoroughly immersed in Irish traditional music. Fiddle tunes are written in parts, usually two, repeated ABAB. More elaborate tunes have three or more parts and can be quite complicated. This piece has four main parts plus a small bridge to bring it home. It was originally recorded for the Homecoming CD but when everything was mixed, the producer and I felt it didn't quite fit in. I recorded this version in 2004, playing all the parts myself.
