We enjoy playing together regularly with a small, compatible group of old-time musicians in Albuquerque. These jams occur several times a week, during the noon (lunch) hour, as some are not yet retired.
One day a new member of this group, a recent transplant from another city, but certainly not new to old time music asked if we had ever heard a tune which he thought was Gil something, and he played it on fiddle. We eventually figured out it was Gilsaw, and a quick look at my music folders showed two versions stored on my computer.
The first version was by mid-western fiddler, Chirps Smith. Chirps says, according to something I read on the Fiddle Hangout, that the name Gilsaw is just a name, and there is no other meaning to it. No, it is not a saw for fish gils, or whatever else you’d like to think.
The second version I have is by the Big Foot Jam, which I believe was recorded a few years ago live at Clifftop. Playing it were Rhys Hones, Cleek Schrey, John Herrmann and Susie Goehring. A fellow Banjo Hangout member gave this to me - so, Paul D., if you are reading this, feel free to correct any errors I’ve made.
It is an easy tune in double D to play on the banjo, and I’ve listed below some links to it. I also included one of the lunchtime jam recordings of this in my audio files on the Hangout.
Hugh Strawn, in The Banjo Newsletter, March 2012 edition, wrote two pages about it and included a tab. Hugh wrote, “This month’s tune, Gilsaw, is taken from the playing of central Missouri fiddler, Pete McMahan. This is another of Charlie Walden’s”100 Essential Missouri Fiddle Tunes. I have no idea what a Gilsaw is or was, but I’m sure there’s a story there.” The video and mp3 are posted at http://courses.missouristate.edu/HStrawn/
We seem to play Gilsaw frequently these days. We recently recorded a video in preparation for this TOTW presentation. Featured on banjo is yours truly, on guitar, my husband, Michael Muldawer, and on fiddle, Miles Krassen, the newest member of our group. This is such a nice tune that I wonder why I had not heard of it until recently. Here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nVMga8x6Z8
Below are additional links to audio and video files:
http://www.oldtownschool.org/connect/fiddle/2009/07/23/old-time-ensemble-weds-week-4/