This week on Double Americana, we learned the old-timey tune, "Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy," which is about a cast iron skillet and nothing else (wink, wink). It's a great old tune that we hadn't known existed before we needed to find a food song to pair with the hot stuff we were cooking up in our camper. You know, Beer-Battered Jalepeno Poppers, (eyebrow wiggle, wiggle). As the old saying goes, "If this camper's a-rockin', there's probably just a folk duo inside working on a food-based folk song to pair with their cooking blog." The song is often credited to Country Music Hall-of-Famer Uncle Dave Macon, a banjo player from Nashville around the turn of the century, though he likely learned it from an unspecified African American mill worker in Kittrel, TN before making the first recording of this song in 1924. It's been recorded by the usual cast of characters and makes for a compelling banjo tune as well as bluegrass number.
Today, we're thrilled to perform it with our friends, Melissa Miles on fiddle and Taylor Donskey on upright bass. Melissa Miles is an old friend who we met on Martha's Vineyard ten years ago when Mallory and I met. She's an outstanding violinist, well-rounded pianist and composer and has written musicals. That's right, musicals. How many of you can say you have a friend who writes musicals? And Taylor Donskey? What can we say about Taylor? Mild mannered ukulele teacher by day, funny-guy by mid afternoon, avid film photographer by right before dinner, and creative upright bassist by night, we met Taylor at a show in Minneapolis we both happened to be playing and have never looked back. We're so excited to be able to work up this tune with them.
So, what's this song about? Come on, (eye roll), you know what this song's about...cooking with cast iron and nothing else (wink, wink).
It's time for Double Americana!
