Cat and the Fiddle $3.41

About Cat and the Fiddle

FiddleSticks is a family musical group that performs folk songs and Celtic style tunes. On this album, the band consists of two sisters, Elizabeth on cello and Katie on fiddle, and their father, Mark, on guitar and bodhran. They have been performing together as the band FiddleSticks since 1996.

This album focuses on the fiddle and was arranged and produced mostly by our fiddler, Kathryn. It's sort of her solo album. We tried to explore new areas which FiddleSticks could try out, at the same time being true to our family's sound. We see three categories of music on this CD -- traditional dance music, original fiddle tunes, and vocal songs. We hope the combination of heritage and exploration will make the relaxed appeal we were striving for.

Liner Notes:
1. Zebe's Girl (Liz Davis); Morrison's (Irish Traditional) 2:30 fiddle, cello, bodhran
This set is based on a traditional tune called Morrison=s Jig that Liz and I funkified. I liked how Liz totally jammed out to this tune so I had to put it first on this collection. Liz wrote the slow cello air that opens the set.

2. Adam Ondi-Ahman (American traditional/
William W. Phelps) 2:30 voice, fiddle, cello, guitar
This traditional hymn tells of hope for return to a lost paradise, and is one of my favorites. The tune was collected in the 1835 American hymnbook, Southern Harmony. The text by W.W. Phelps was included in the very first Mormon hymnbook, also published in 1835. Check out our website for the lyrics of this and our other songs.

3. The Fishing Reels (Irish traditional); Out of the Water (Mark Davis) 2:30 fiddle, bodhran
This set is made up of two tunes, "Bonnie Anne" and "the Irish Girl," from Beandán Breathnach's awesome collection of Irish tunes called Ceol Rince na hÉireann (Dance Music of Ireland). My dad added the wild bodhran solo that closes the set.

4. Cloudwaltz (Katie Davis) 2:30 fiddle, viola
I performed this air a few times before naming it, so we just referred to it as the "slow violin thing." Finally, I showed it to a friend in Virginia who thought it sounded like waltzing with clouds.

5.Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon (Robert Burns) 2:30 voice, fiddle, cello, viola, guitar, bodhran
This gorgeous ballad is by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-96), who was famous for his love poems and songs. Burns's life is celebrated every year on January 25, his birthday, at "Burns Suppers" held all over the world.

6.Neverbland (Katie Davis) 2:30

fiddle, guitar, cello bodhran, electric bass, djembe
I wrote this one for my great friend Gabe who was in a band called Neverband. When I performed this tune with them three years ago it was my first experience playing with a rock and roll band, an event that was definitely Never Bland.

7.Jonathan's Reel (Katie Davis); Captain McDuff's Reel (Irish traditional) 2:30 fiddle, guitar, electric cello, electric bass, bodhran, congas, djembe, washboard
Jonathan is a little boy I met at a gig at Deseret Village in Salt Lake City. He was really fascinated by my fiddle playing and stared at my hands for a half and hour, long after the rest of his group had moved on. I decided to name the tune I was playing after him. The interlude reel is an old tune collected in about 1870 in James Kerr's second "Collection of Merry Melodies."

8.Short Trip Home (Edgar Meyer); Whiskey Before Breakfast (American traditional) 2:30 fiddle, cello, guitar, bodhran, banjo, string bass
This set starts with an Edgar Meyer tune and then morphs into Whiskey Before Breakfast, which, despite its unhealthy title, is a fun and famous bluegrass tune.

9.Green Book Reels (Irish traditional) 2:30 fiddle, electric cello, bodhran, congas, djembe, shaker
This is another collection of gems from Breathnach's collection, which is green, by the way. The tunes are The Musical Priest,Corney is Coming, The Glens of Aherlow. The book was a gift from Charlou Dolan, a friend in Austria.

10.Westlin= Winds (Robert Burns) 2:30 voice, fiddle, cello, guitar, banjo
Robert Burns also wrote this song about true love and hunting birds (his two passions). It is set to the melody of the traditional tune: I had a horse, I had nae mair.

11.Sweet Sweet Love (Katie Davis) 2:30 fiddle, congas, tambourine
I wrote this one for a friend who got married over the summer. I got to play at her fantastic wedding in Park City! That wedding officially serves as my model for future reference.

12.Savannah (Katie Davis) 2:30 voice, fiddle, guitar, electric cello, congas
I wrote the words to Savannah a long time ago, and finally picked up the guitar and plucked out the chords. That's me you hear playing the guitar on this track.

13.See Spot Run (Katie and Liz Davis) 2:30 fiddle, cello, bodhran
Liz and I wrote this tune together one day when we were stranded in California in a rainstorm and had nothing to do but play music. I have no idea why we named it See Spot Run.

14.Improv (Katie and Liz Davis) 2:30 fiddle, cello
The fiddle/cello duet that ends the last track came about when Liz and I were making stuff up on the spot in the studio--something we like to do a lot. Our engineer Steve switched the mics on, so we got it "on tape"!