ABOUT US:
Timmy Findlen is a ukulele player based in Nashville,
Tennessee. He is the former bandleader
of Over A Cardboard Sea: Portland, Maine’s premier ukulele novelty act. When in Maine, he plays in The Vododeyos, a ukulele duo with
Joel Eckhaus, with whom he also builds and repairs ukuleles. He also likes ukuleles. He currently plays electric bass with the
honky tonk group J.P. Harris & The Tough Choices. See his work with Over A
Cardboard Sea.
Lindsay McCaw has been playing American old time music for over 15 years. She performs music and calls dances around the country. McCaw plays fiddle, banjo, guitar, accordion and piano. She is also part of several theater and puppet companies, including her own, called The Dolly Wagglers. She has won several musical distinctions such as two-time winner of the Minneapolis Jug Band Contest and four-time first-place winner of the Sheffield Field Days Fiddle contest. See her work with the Dolly Wagglers and The Corn Potato String Band
Matt Bell is a guitarist from New Orleans, where he is the
bandleader and arranger for Bustout Burlesque, a troupe that recreates 1950’s
style nightclub entertainment at the House of Blues. In 2012, he received a Master’s Degree in
Jazz Studies from The University of New Orleans, and he now works exclusively
as a musician and teacher of the guitar and lap steel. Learn about Bustout
Burlesque.
Aaron Jonah Lewis is a
multi-instrumentalist, performer and educator. He has won awards at the
Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival, including First Place Neotraditional
Band in 2008, and at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, including First Place
Bluegrass Fiddle in 2007, and he has performed at major festivals from the US
to the UK and from Italy to Finland. Lewis has appeared on dozens of recordings
from bluegrass and old time to swing jazz, modern experimental and Turkish
classical music projects. He has taught workshops at the Royal Scottish Academy
of Music and Drama in Glasgow and at the English Folk Dance and Song Society in
London. He also plays and teaches banjo, mandolin, guitar, and bass and is
currently based in Detroit, Michigan. Go
to his Website.
Joy Patterson is an
Artist, Musician, Foley Artist, Clown and Mr. T impersonator living and working
in New Orleans. Her mastery of the kazoo
and washboard are rumored to exist, and her fashion sense impresses the world
via her Etsy Store.
Martin Fisher is the Curator of Recorded Media Collections at The Center For Popular
Music at Middle Tennessee State University. He has a B.S. in Broadcast Communications with
a minor in Music from the University of Tennessee. His work includes preserving, maintaining and
augmenting the Center's sound recordings collection, assisting researchers in
locating and obtaining copies of recordings, and conducting acoustical wax
cylinder recording demonstrations as part of the Center's outreach program.
WHAT WE ARE DOING:
“From the first recordings made on tinfoil in 1877 to the
last produced on celluloid in 1929, cylinders spanned a half-century of
technological development in sound recording. As documents of American cultural history and
musical style, cylinders serve as an audible witness to the sounds and songs
through which typical audiences first encountered the recorded human voice. And
for those living at the turn of the 20th century, the most likely source of
recorded sound on cylinders would have been Thomas Alva Edison's crowning
achievement, the phonograph.”
--Cylinder
Preservation and Digitization Project; Donald C. Davidson Library, University
of California at Santa Barbara
Our mission, and our passion, is to perform the weirdest songs from the early days of tin pan alley on the format on which they were first recorded--wax cylinder. Since there are very few people in the world that can accommodate such a desire, we are forced to congregate in the vicinity of one Martin Fisher, who has expertise in this field. Acoustic microphones are odd contraptions when compared to today's hi-fi recording innovations. Take, for instance, how Mr. Fisher directs a band--not with headphones and the careful placement of a microphone, but with a doctor's stethoscope applied to a felt-lined horn. We move around the room as he listens, following directions such as, "Back up two feet, and sing louder--did I say sing?--I mean shout!"
We all share a love of antiquated pop tunes, and we are asking for a chance to record them in the only medium that does them justice. These old songs give a voice to a bygone era and reflect the attitudes of their time, and no matter how silly they seem they are historical documents of their time. We aim to mine the zaniest and most obscure songs from the early 20th century and record them for a new audience to underscore both the absurdity and importance of popular music in American history.
OUR BUDGET:
Our budget includes $400 for each member to help with travel
expenses to and from Nashville, with funds for plenty of wax cylinder blanks
(on order from England), studio time, rehearsal space (and a place to sleep), and supplies for artwork and the
packaging of the recordings.
Travel Expenses (for 5): $2000
Wax Cylinder Blanks (25): $500
Studio Time: $500
Album Artwork: $500
Rehearsal Space / Rent: $400
Photography (Tintype): $100
TOTAL: $4000
If we do not reach our goal, we're going to do it anyway. It will hurt us quite a bit in the old pocketbook, and might take another year to finish, but we believe in this project enough to the point where we'll make it happen no matter what! However, If some of you feel like bringing the donations above our goal, we will use the money to help fund a tour in which we perform these songs live! Since we are all professional musicians, we are always busy and always broke. Any extra money would allow us to plan a series of performances to showcase our take on the numbers of yesteryear. Thank you to all of our family and friends! We appreciate your support!