My tune for #Squarch 12th is Halifax, from NH Mills of Boones Mill, Virginia, by way of Armin Barnett. I really like this tune, and I think I’m finally figuring out how to bow it.
In a workshop, Armin told a story about NH Mills which I thought was interesting, since it’s one of the few I’ve heard that doesn’t paint all the old-timers as delighted at the prospect of city revivalists descending on them to sit at their feet and collect tunes: one time (probably the last?) when Armin visited him, Mills told him “if any of your friends ask about me, you tell them I died.”
I learned this from Armin’s playing on Jason and Pharis Romero’s album Back Up and Push, where they play it in G. The Ruglifters also do a great version, in A, which you can see them play on YouTube.
Here’s me and Strum Machine playing it slower than either of those: