These are tunes played by the Monday Night All Stars for Monday contra dances in Louisville, Kentucky. Clicking on the song title will open an mp3 in a new window. You can also right click and save to your hard drive. Many thanks to John French for providing these recordings. This page is provided for educational purposes.

Last updated 8/2/2018. New recordings (Tom Cunningham) marked with asterisk *

tunearch= Traditional Tune Archive database

Visitors are advised that where a score is given in the links below, that it may differ from how it is played at our dances in significant ways, so please listen carefully. The keys shown are the ones used by the Monday Night All Stars, and may not be the common key the tune is played in.

Jigs, Hornpipes, Slides, etc.

Athol Highlanders (A)

Scottish, jig [tunearch]

*Cliffs of Moher (A-dor)

(Aillte Motair Ua Ruadain). Irish, Double Jig. A Dorian [tunearch]

Calliope House (D)

Scottish, Double Jig. Dave Richardson (Northumberland) [tunearch]

*Centerville (D)

*The Connaughtman's Rambles (D)

Irish, Double Jig. D Major ('A' part) & B Minor ('B' part) [tunearch]

Geese In The Bog (G/Am)

"The version we play is Scottish (there is an Irish version); I got it from the Tannahill Weavers. It’s in G/Am." - Mark Cannon

Green Fields of Woodford (A)

Irish jig.

I Buried My Wife and Danced On Her Grave (D)

Irish, 6/8 [tunearch]

Jig of Slurs (D/G)

Composed by the Aberdeen piper George S. McLennan (1883-1927) in 1910. [slowplayers]

*Kesh Jig (G)

Irish jig

Lilting Banshee (Am)

Irish jig

Miller's Maggot (G)

Irish jig

*Morrison's Jig (E-dor)

This well-known tune is named after the renowned Sligo-born Irish-American fiddler James "The Professor" Morrison (1891-1947), who recorded in the 1930's. [tunearch]

*Out On The Ocean (G)

Irish, Double Jig. [tunearch]

Ship At Full Sail (A)

An Irish double jig. [tunearch]

*Star Above the Garter (G)

An Irish slide. First recorded on "The Star above the Garter. Fiddle music from Kerry, played by Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford" 1969. "I think of as a single jig although it might also be called a slide." - Mark Cannon

*Swallowtail Jig (Em)

*Tobin's Favorite (Jig) (D)

[tunearch]

Women of the Sidhe (Em)

Bill Whelan, from Riverdance. In the show, it is played as the second part after ‘The Countess Cathleen’.

Reels, Breakdowns, Marches, etc.

*Angeline the Baker (Angelina Baker) (D)

Wikipedia entry

Bill Sullivan's Polka (A)

Composed by the late Terry "Cuz" Teahan [as "Mickey Chewing Bubble Gum"] as a youngster prior to leaving Ireland for America. Philippe Varlet says that Teahan composed the tune while still taking lessons with the great Sliabh Luachra fiddler Padraig O’Keeffe. O’Keeffe liked the composition and continued to teach it after Teahan’s departure, and it eventually circulated among local musicians; hence the name “Bill Sullivan’s” after a local player (by which title it appears on the Jackie Daly & Seamus Creagh album {CEF 057}) [thesession]

Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (D)

Booth Shot Lincoln (G)

Mark learned this from Greg Canote.

Briar Picker Brown (D)

[tunearch] [Youtube - Buddy Thomas recording]

Caliche Creek (Dm)

Jim Mullany, 1986. Pronounced ka-LEE-chee. This tune pairs well with Puff Adder Step Dance. Some interesting comments by the author at session.org

*Dancing Bear (Em)

American, Reel. E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Composed in February, 1978, by piano and accordion player, and composer Bob McQuillan (Peterborough, New Hampshire). As written down by Bob Mcquillen.

Dinah (A)

This is one of many fine old tunes we know through the playing of Henry Reed.
[Henry Reed recording at Library of Congress]

Doon the Brae (Em)

Scottish (originally), Irish; March (4/4 time)

Earl's Chair (D)

reel, Irish [tunearch]. "We play in D (starting on a G chord)." - Mark Cannon

Far from Home (G)

reel, Irish

Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss (D)

[tunearch] This is also fun to sing.

Coffee grows on white oak trees
The river flows with brandy
If I had my pretty little miss
I'd feed her sugar candy

*Forked Deer(D)

*Cold Frosty Morning (A-dor)

aka Frosty Morning, popularly known through Henry Reed, through others as a W. Va. clawhammer banjo tune, also called Cold Frosty Morn, Frosty Morn. However, the tune of the same name from Melvin Wine, also from West Virginia, is not related.

Galway Girls

Adapted from a popular song written by American Steve Earle.

*The Girl I Left Behind Me (G)

[Wikipedia]

Golden Slippers (G)

A minstrel tune by James A. Bland, 1879, written as a parody of a negro spiritual of the same name.

*Growling Man and the Grumbling Old Woman (Am/A)

A Québec reel popularized by Maritime radio and TV fiddler Don Messer. It was taken up by "revival" fiddlers in the early 1970's and became a staple of New England contra dance repertoire, and has since become widely disseminated. The Monday Night All Stars play it in AABB sequence. [tunearch] [Youtube - Apex 26322-B (78 RPM), Don Messer (1950)]

*Johnny Don't Get Drunk(D)

Julia Delaney (Dm)

*Julie Ann Johnson(D)

Jump at the Sun (Dm)

English, jig; Composed in the early 1970's by English melodeon player John Kirkpatrick [1] of Shropshire, England.

*June Apple (A-mix)

One of the most popular old-time tunes, from the Galax,VA area. [tunearch] [Tommy Jarrell - June Apple (youtube)]

*Katyusha (Am)

From a Russian song, ca. WWII

*Kitchen Girl (A mix/dor)

Another wonderful tune collected by Alan Jabbour from fiddler Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia in 1966. We really owe so much to Henry Reed and Alan Jabbour. Henry Reed recording at Library of Congress

*La Bastringue (D)

French-Canadian reel/song

*Le Grand Chaine (G)

French-Canadian, Reel

*Liberty (D)

Widely known. [tunearch][Don Messer's delightful rendition.][Tommy Jackson’s]

Little Rabbit (A)

Very similar to John Brown's Dream. [tunearch] [Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers Little Rabbit 1931(youtube)]

Mason's Apron (A)

Miss McLeod's Reel (G)

Many fiddlers will know this widespread tune as Hop High Ladies. [tunearch]

*Needle Case(D)

Old Joe Clark (A)

tunearch

Ora Lee (G)

Old-Time, Reel.

*Over The Waterfall (D)

This is one of many fine old tunes we know through the playing of Henry Reed.
[Henry Reed recording at Library of Congress]

Pachelbel's (D)

aka Pachelbel's Frolics [tunearch]

Paddy on the Handcar (A-dor)

Pretty Little Dog (A-dor)

Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia. A Dorian. AEae or Standard tuning (fiddle). The source for the tune is West Virginia fiddler Lee Triplett, who says he fashioned it in the process of learning another tune from fiddler Doc White of Ivydale, W.Va. [tunearch] [As played by Lee Triplett and recorded at the Mountain Heritage Festival in Carter County, Kentucky 1973.] Mark Cannon caught it from Fuzzy Mount String Band.

*Puff Adder Step Dance (Dm)

Possibly related to Poll Ha'Penny. On the banjo, this is most easily played in open-G tuning.[ Adobe Brothers (youtube)]

Queen's Polka (Em)

"I learned in Em from James Bryan. In Ireland it’s in Am and it’s called Top of the Maol." - Mark Cannon

*Ragtime Annie (D)

*Red Haired Boy (A)

*Red Wing(G)

Reel Around The Sun

Rising of the Moon (G)

An Irish folk song

*St. Anne's Reel(D)

*Ruby with the Eyes that Sparkle (D)

This is the same tune as "Shove the Pig's Foot a Little Further in the Fire", usually played in G. "I got it from the soundtrack of the movie “Cold Mountain” where they called it "Ruby With the Eyes That Sparkle” after Renee Zellwegger’s character in the movie." - Mark Cannon

Scotland the Brave (D)

*Seneca Square Dance (G)

From a 1926 recording by Ozark fiddler Sam Long (youtube)

*Shenendoah Falls (A)

Clyde Curley and Susan Songer, in notes to The Portland Collection, traces the tune. Vermont fiddler Pete Sutherland learned it from West Coast musician Carol Robinson, originally from Sebastapol, who herself learned it as an untitled reel from a mandolin player named 'Cookie', once a fellow student with her at Sonoma State College.

*Soldier's Joy (D)

Sophie's Polka (A)

by Mark Cannon

*Spootiskerry (G)

*Spotted pony (D)

Star of Bethlehem (D)

*Star of Muenster (Am)

*Tam Lin (Dm)

Waterbound (A)

a popular old-time tune that is also fun to sing

*West Fork Gals (D)

An old-time breakdown from West Virginia

*Whiskey Before Breakfast (D)

This tune comes from Canadian fiddler Andy de Jarlis Andy de Jarlis playing Whiskey Before Breakfast, 1974 (youtube)

Year of Jubilo (D)

aka Kingdom Coming. From the minstrel tune by Henry Clay Work

For Waltzing

*Amelia's Waltz

*Ashokan Farewell (D)

A waltz composed by Jay Ungar in 1982. [Wikipedia entry]

Beautiful Stranger Waltz (G)

A really pretty waltz written by Travis Reynolds of Frankfort, KY. (He was just a kid when he wrote it.). Not to be confused with Beautiful Dreamer.

Butterfly (Em)

An old Irish slip-jig

Charlie Lennon's Mazurka (G)

"I got from Irish fiddler Charlie Lennon. (I think it may have another name.)" -Mark Cannon

*Crested Hens (E-dor)

(Les Poules huppées). French, Bourrée à 3 temps (3/8 time). E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). Composed in 1983 by French national and hurdy-gurdy (vielle a roue) player, Gilles Chabenat, who remarks that some bars of a Debussy composition served as inspiration for the germ of the tune. Was made popular by the Irish band Solas. [tunearch]

Eagle's Whistle (G)

"I heard on the “Thistle and Shamrock” radio show. It seems to be a “souped-up” version of an old Scottish air." - Mark Cannon

Fanny Po'er (G)

or “Fanny Power” was written by 18th century Irish harper, Turlough O’Carolan.

Give Me Your Hand

(Tabhair dom do Lámh in Irish) is a tune from the early 17th century by Ruaidri Dáll Ó Catháin (c.1570-c.1650). It is one of the most widely recorded pieces of Irish traditional music. Wikipedia

Hoekper's Waltz (Dm)

was written by Lars Hoekpers.

Josefin's Waltz (G)

The wildly popular contra dance band Swallowtail (based in Massachusetts) included it on their recording "After the Dance." The liner notes say "Swedish guitarist Roger Tallroth composed this beautiful waltz for his niece’s christening."

Metal Man (D)

This interesting and engaging Waltz was composed by Robin Dransfield. It is named after a 12 foot high, seven ton, iron lighthouse that in 1821 was placed off the coast of County Cork, Ireland, at Rosses Point in Sligo Harbor. [slowplayers]

*Midnight on the Water (D)

A waltz by Texas Fiddler Luke Thomasson

Karis Pers Polska (D)

A Swedish waltz.

Planxty Irwin (G)

by Turlough O’Carolan

*Si Bheag Si Mhor (D)

by Turlough O’Carolan

Sonny's Mazurka (D)

*Southwind (G)

An Irish tune.

*Star of the County Down (Am) or (Em)

We sometimes play in Am and sometimes in Em.

Tom and Sally's Waltz (D/Am)

was written by Ken Waldman in 2001 for the wedding of Tom Kizzia and Sally Kabisch.

*Tom Bigbee Waltz (G)

Named after the Tombigbee River in Alabama.

*Westphalia Waltz (G)