Camptown Shakers: Band Journal

Saturday Night in the Pinelands.

One of my earliest childhood memories is going camping with a neighbor somewhere in the New Jersey pinelands. I have no idea where exactly we were, but I knew it was very different from where I lived. Recently I was reading a magazine in a doctors office and an article about the area really sparked my interest. I borrowed John McPhee’s book “The Pine Barrens” from the library was fascinated with the stories and information about such a magical place. This past Saturday night I finally got to visit a bit when the band traveled to Waretown to play a set at the Albert Music Hall. The Albert Music Hall is the embodiment of the musical spirit that first sparked to life on the front porch of the Albert brothers and through the efforts of the Pinelands Cultural Society this tradition continues every Saturday night.

It was a bit of a drive for us, just a little over two hours due east with King at the wheel. The driving wind and rain fought us the whole way but finally cleared after we arrived. We had plenty of time to eat at a diner and then get ready for our set in one of the backstage warm up rooms. Here bands play ½ hour sets and the change over goes very quick and smooth with the band that just played leaving stage right while the next band is entering from the left. The sound was excellent, this I know both from the monitors, and from listening to a recording of our set on the way home. I think this may be the best recoding I have heard yet of a live set, usually it will take a few songs for the sound engineer to get the levels right. Here it seemed like they were right before the first note faded. A triple tip of the hat to Ron Capik, the MC, and the stage hands, you folks really do a great job.

After our set we listened to the other bands, and it really struck me how much the spirit of the music was so alive as it passed back and forth from the stage to the audience. During the intermission we got to meet a lot of people and from the comments and CD sales I knew that we had done well. I drove on the way home and only got lost once and besides the little snafu at the toll gate for the bridge the return trip was a lot easier than getting there. I’ll hopefully post a picture here along with some sound files, and we plan on returning to Waretown sometime in the future.

Please continue to contact Tracy for performance bookings, especially any negotiated details but feel free to contact King or myself if you have questions about the band or our music or anything else for that matter. Renny is not currently available by email but I will post something when and if he decides to participate in the 21st century. In the meantime I can forward any messages or fan mail to him him by phone or mail.

Dave Culgan

I’m reading a book, “This is Your Brain on Music” by Daniel J. Levitin about the psychology of music. It was in these pages where I first saw the term “earworm” which is defined as the usually unwelcome tunes or song fragments that get stuck in your head. Well I’m not sure I like the term and I hope someone comes up with a more palatable word. Its too close to earwig, a real insect, and another name that makes me queasy from seeing to many horror movies I guess.

Anyway for the past dozen years or so, how long I’ve been a fan of early blackface minstrel tunes, the tunes I get stuck on tend to be ones I’ve been playing or trying to learn and opposed to unwelcome I actually find them sort of comforting. Right now its “The Congo Prince Jig”, I also find the 3rd part to Dan Emmett’s “Dixie” getting a lot of air time inside the ol’ coconut. As a musician I wonder if I’m guilty of infecting anyone of with an earworm. If so I hope its not a bother. My wife did ask me once to stop playing Ol’ Dan Tucker so much around the civilian camp at a few events. The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out……

Don't you get tired of ads on non-commercial websites. Pop-up ads, embedded ads, ads that won't go away. This space will always be commercial free. Now if I could ask you to move on over to the "CDs" department we have some recordings you might be interested in!

Last Saturday we all got up early to head down to Fredericksburg for the annual battle reenactment. Renny had been hunting during the week and was going to leave from the cabin where he goes and meet us there. Tracy and I were going to meet King at his place in Delaware so we could ride together and save on gas. The trip didn't start out so well when the clutch in my Subaru failed and we had to quickly move everything over to Tracy's car. By the time we got to King's house and started out we had lost some time, but it was a cloudy drizzly morning so far and I was hoping that the day might dry out a bit given some time. In spite of the poor visibility we made great time though ( was it Tracy's driving or my navigating?) and when Renny called to let us know he had made it to town we were almost there ourselves. Within a few miles of town the sun even started peeking out.

Our host's, the 47th Virginia Infantry, really do a great job in putting on this event. I heard them saying later that evening, in discussing how the day turned out that they would like for more reenactors to get involved and start thinking of this event, rather than Cedar Creek in late October as the final event of the season. I agree, its a great place to wrap up the reenacting season for anyone Union or Confederate in the mid-Atlantic region. We found the camp where we going to be set up on the side of a hill (Maryre's Heights) near the University of Mary Washington and the first person I recognized was none other than Dirty Billy, stuck behind Confederate lines with hats to deliver to some Union men. There were several tents set up with living history displays and an artillery piece ready to meet all comers. I was especially interested in an excellent telegraph display since my great grandfather was very much involved with the early telegraph.

It was great to sit down and play, this was the first chance we'd had to play together since October. At one point, for a fiddle tune, King picked up one of Rich's jawbones to play. I thought he did a really good job of it though it got me to thinking so much about Rich that I found my eyes getting a bit blurry. We all miss him so much and its hard to figure out what is the right thing to do when it comes to including the jawbone but I'd have to say that it felt right and sounded great. There were quite a few spectators strolling through the camp and I hope we were able to entertain and provide a little background music for the afternoon, all as a prelude to the battle reenactment happening later. A battle that we unfortunately were not able to see because we had to hustle up the road to Front Royal for the second part of our day.

We set up under the gazebo in the old town part of Front Royal. It was getting late in the afternoon by now, and with the loss of daylight came a big increase in dampness. As usual I was panicking over the damp banjo heads when a reenactor who also happens to operate a shop less than a block away offered to help. He went back to his store to fetch an electric space heater which I was able to employ to excellent effect in keeping the banjo heads tight and dry. I didn't remember his name but I really appreciate the help, it saved the day. Don Warlick was here also, providing carriage rides and giving us a good excuse to play one of my favorite tunes "Old Horse & Buggy" (not to be confused with the Amish flue symptoms of " a little hoarse and bug-gy"). In addition to people stopping to listen as they went about their Christmas shopping we had several reenactors in the audience along with a fellow dressed in an elf costume kicking up their heels and dancing to some tunes. Any musician will tell you that seeing people dance to your music is a treat and this feedback as it were seems to add to the energy of the players and becomes part of the music. Too soon though it was time to say good night and get back into the car for the ride back to Fredericksburg and the final performance of the night - the 47th Virginia's annual Christmas party.

Jan 11, 2008 I just received a note from Zafeer Mobashar that he has posted some video he shot of the band.

From time to time we get requests from the audience and if it's something we know (or ever knew) we'll try to play it. The exceptions of course are "Freebird" (sorry Matt) and "Down the Road" (haha). Seriously for a moment, if anyone has a song or fiddle tune that you think would sound good played in our style I'd appreciate an email, especially if you are sure or can document the song to the Civil War period or earlier. We like doing tunes that the other bands don't cover and a lot of the more common songs of the period don't easily fit the banjo style that I play.

Rich Bauer, our great friend and bandmate, died Thursday, August 30th, 2007 around 4:30 pm after a long and heroic battle with cancer.

We first met Rich at the Ridley Creek Civil War reenactment back in the early 90’s. During the beginning days of our band we were all very active in Company K of the 12th New Jersey Volunteers. Rich had joined the unit and so began a long friendship and the camaraderie of many nights ‘round the campfire. At the reenactments we spent the days participating in military drill and mock battles with the 12th. At night we filled the camp with music, playing songs and tunes of the Civil War period. These camps were sometimes so big they resembled small towns and gave us a chance to live together communally with our friends and families. These treasured weekends camping together were the foundation on which the band was formed. It seems strange but as long as I knew Rich he told me very little of his previous life’s stories. Funny but during these weekends where history was the theme we spent much of our time just living in the moment and the days and nights yielded countless new memories to cherish. It didn’t matter that Rich was not at all an open book, the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face were right there for all to see and shined a light just as clear as the sky on a cloudless day.

Not since Samson in the Old Testament has anybody made such good use of the jawbone of an ass, or cow, or whatever it was. Rich turned the biblical weapon into an instrument of mass entertainment. This slave’s instrument and icon of the early minstrel band was a wonderment frequently depicted of having magical powers. Picking it up and cradling it in his arm Rich made that jawbone talk. For a striker Rich preferred a table knife of just the right balance and weight. Traveling to gigs we’d sometimes stop at a diner for a meal and it made me laugh to see Rich hefting the tableware in his hand, comparing it to the knife he was currently using. If he liked it he would slip it into his haversack. There many special occasions where when we were all playing together particularly well, Rich would loosen his grip a little and start hitting the hollow sections of the jawbone, the ticks and tocks in perfect syncopation with the drumming of the tambourine, as the banjo and fiddle were weaving notes in between. When Rich was playing with the band he always got a lot of attention from the audience. Watching him play the jawbone with such exuberance was in it self very entertaining. After the show we’d often get people come up to ask about our music and instruments. Rich always had folks young and old trying to get a closer look at the jawbone, such was their fascination. Invariably they would want to know what kind of animal it came from.
The Camptown Shakers made three recordings with Rich. He officially joined the band right in the middle of recording our first CD, which is why he’s only featured on four tunes. After several years and countless live performances in front of an audience we decided to make another. You can really hear the jawbone come to life on the second recording. We worked real hard to make sure we all completed the third
CD together knowing it would be part of a legacy he left behind. Although its been a long time since he was able to join us on stage I am thankful that new members of our audience can hear how big a part of our music he was through these recordings. And I can still hear Rich’s jawbone in my mind whenever we play. Magnum bonum rhythm rapping, walk jawbone don’t bite. Click you heels on pigeon wings and dance all through the night. 9-1-07.

I have kept a paper copy of an open email letter that Rich Bauer wrote on 8/18/2000 in which he made public that he had cancer. It is a very emotional note, and considering it was written seven years ago it shows just how long he had been battling the disease. The “lists” that Rich refers to are Civil War reenacting internet forums. Here is the text of the letter:

To all of my reenacting pards,

It is with a very sad and heavy heart that I must give up two of my favorite things, reenacting and the lists. Some of you that know me are aware that I have been fighting cancer for quite awhile. Well, it has gotten the upper hand right now. For the past couple of seasons I was not able to take the field but it did not stop me from at least attending the events. I would stay back and watch the camps and interact with the civilians who didn’t go out to watch and of course the public. Now I can not even do that. On my really rough days I do take solace in at least being able to take out my many photos, passes from events, and other little things that I have collected over the years. It always brings smiles and lately tears remembering all the fine people and good times that I have had. Reenacting enable me to meet so many of you from around the world that there is no way I could mention you all here. It has also meant that I got to see so much of this country that I probably wouldn’t have bothered to go to. In some cases this was a real eye opener to this yankee who is a southron at heart. I will miss the discussions, arguments, information and camaraderie that the lists and events have been able to provide all of us. The lists were the one thing that I really looked forward to doing each morning. I actually would get into work early just so I could read all of your emails before I started my work day. It was a beautiful way to start each day and I will miss it dearly.

DO NOT get the impression that I am giving up the fight. I have fought this back before and I am determined to do it again. I will continue to fight this wretched disease with everything I have. Since it is inoperable a lot of the fighting has to come from within me and in that I remain very strong. I am blessed to have so many close friends and of course my own family that can help me mentally. When I am up for it I have been able to sit in and play the jawbone with some of the guys from my unit. They know how much that means to me and I can walk away from those sessions with a smile on my face and peace in my heart. If you are ever at an event and have a chance to hear them play you should make every effort to. They are called the Camptown Shakers and are a great bunch of guys.

I pray that you and your families will have a safe and fun season. God willing I hope to be able to make it out to at least one more event. traveling is difficult and painful right now so I am not sure if it will be possible but just the thought of it helps to keep me going. God tests us all in so many ways each day and this is one test that I hope I pass.

Once again, thanks for all the memories and fellowship. I will miss you all.
Rich Bauer
12th NJVI
Mifflin Guard

I was pleased to see that Jim Hartel had posted a video clip of us from last fall's early banjo gathering at the Pry House in Antietam National Battlefield Park. My teenage daughter's a real youtube fan so hopefully I scored a few points in the cool department. Thanks Jim.

A few weekends ago we were invited back to Paw Paw, West Virginia by the folks at Avalon Resort to put on a small Civil War living history program in the Municipal Park. This being West Virginia as opposed to a location in ‘Dixie’ we set up a small Union camp and display of soldier’s life. The clear, bright, and quiet morning was soon interrupted by a gun shot then a puff of smoke from the trees. A lone Confederate in grey (and Avalon Resort member) was sniping at us! Our small squad of privates led by Sergeant Bennett soon had him under guard but it was strictly catch and release since we had a number of scenarios to get through that day and no extra Confederates. In between our little skirmishes we entertained the brave people of Paw Paw with some music. These were the people that hadn’t been scared off by the exhortations of the local preacher concerning the sins of the naked Avalon Resort flesh.

Late in the afternoon we struck camp and headed to Avalon Resort to prepare for the night’s performance and to dress for dinner. The other guests at the resort, our dinner companions and audience for the evening, did pretty much the opposite. A small, but prominently displayed sign alongside the driveway to the resort sums it up, “ Warning you will encounter nudity beyond this point”. After a great buffet dinner during which I mostly stared at my food we asked the waitress about dessert. There was but one option, rhubarb pie. Actually we asked for ice cream but were told that it came with the pie. We then asked for the ice cream without the pie. Our waitress gave us a disappointed look and took our order to the kitchen. She came back with plates of pie for all of us telling us that Chef Bob, one of our hosts for the evening and a board-member of the resort insisted that we at least try the rhubarb pie, especially considering it was home made.

There we sat surrounded by a roomful of adult men and women in their birthday suits; they without an ounce of self-consciousness, me staring now at a slice of rhubarb pie. Fans of Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” on NPR radio will be familiar with the axiom that “nothing takes the taste of shame and humiliation out of your mouth like a helping of rhubarb pie”. Contemplating the rhubarb pie, a dessert featuring something I had never before really considered food I considered what else starts with the word combination r – h ? Rheumatism? Rhythm? Rhodium? RH factor? Certainly nothing to eat. Mustering all my courage I thought about Dr. Suess’ immortal “Green Eggs & Ham” and took a tentative first bite. Then another. Hey, this was pretty good! Especially with ice cream. I do like it Sam-I-Am. I finished the pie and started to realize hey, its not so bad here, I just need get used to looking in peoples’ eyes when I speak to them and when not engaged in conversation make a lot of quick glances here and there, no focusing. I can get through this. And so I did. A couple of music sets, a few Virginia Reels and the Electric Slide danced to “New York Girls” and we were packing up and heading back to our room and I did sleep buck naked in my bed that night.

The Shakers were invited to play some music at the McDowell, Virginia, Civil War reenactment this weekend past. For us, living in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware it was a bit of a haul, especially with today’s gas prices, but after a few hours on I-95, and then the Baltimore beltway it was so nice to cross the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry and settle down for a nice cruise down I-81. Even though that highway is much more congested than it used to be when we first started reenacting it sure beats the aggravation of the coastal North-South interstate system. On the way we drove right through Staunton, VA.

McDowell is a small town and inhabited by some truly kind and friendly people in addition to the two armies there for the weekend. It was my second time in attendance, the first was many years ago as a private in the 12th NJ Volunteers. In order to increase my standing with folks (which was not at all necessary) I frequently mentioned that I was born in Staunton, just up the road, which was technically true, but I only lived in that area for about a year before my family moved North to find work. Well actually my dad worked for DuPont and was transferred to Wilmington. It sounds “better” the other way though.

If you ever pass through the area I recommend stopping at the Sugar Tree General Store (hope I have that name right). I don’t know if it’s a regular thing but this weekend they served Brunswick stew and ice cream with maple syrup for dessert. We’ve been doing this long enough to know to search out these local favorites. Oh yeah, the maple donuts can’t be beat with a hot cup of coffee.

On Saturday afternoon we were joined on stage, which was the front porch of the General Store, by Corbin Hayslett.. Corbin had come down for the afternoon with his Dad and Grandad.. We asked him he had his duds and when he said yes we said put ‘em on so he could join us. He played a set of tunes and songs with us and sounded great, like I knew he would. He is a great banjo player, singer, and nice fellow. We met Corbin at the first annual Early Banjo Gathering in Antietam this past fall. Now I know I have some practicing to do! I really want to learn that “Old King Crow” that Corbin said he learned from listening to the Free and Accepted Minstrels of Old New Orleans. I think if you check the internet you can find a video of Corbin doing this song at the banjo gathering.

In spite of the unexpected damp weather and clear but very windy morning that followed we had a great weekend. King’s tent got blown down but fortunately nobody was occupying it at the time and nothing got broke. Except a tambourine head, but I can’t blame that on the wind storm. I always figure banjo, tambourine, and drum heads are meant to be broken otherwise they’d be made out of wood. I also figure they are meant to be toasted before using as anyone would see after watching me get ready to play. The large pot-belly stove (blame it on the ice cream and Brunswick stew) was just right for warming my banjo hide on and off throughout the day and evening. Time to get in shape, our next event is at Avalon in Paw Paw, WV. “Gonna chew my tobacco gonna spit the juice. I’d try to eat less but it ain’t no use…”

Many people have asked about the name of the band over the years wondering if we have any connection to the Protestant religious denomination and whether we play any “Shaker” music. When I was trying to chose a name for our group of musicians and performers I was thinking about the inclination of the early black-face minstrels to caricature all aspects of popular culture, not just African-American culture as is often assumed. Some of their targets were religious groups such as the Shakers, the very name Shaker (as is Quaker) being a caricature. Camptown came not from the town in northeast Pennsylvania, but from the location we inhabited when participating in Civil War reenactments, that is a large civilian camp. At some of the “mega-events” these camps had the population of a small village or town.This tradition of lampooning popular culture was the start of many performance groups from the Mummers to television’s Saturday Night Live and is a tradition I’m happy to continue.

For a graphic representation of an early minstrel troupe’s parody of the traditional Shaker religious dancing see “Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Blackface Minstrelsy” by Hans Nathan.

Greg Mushinski was a great man. He was a member of my CW reenacting unit, Company K of the 12th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. I just learned that he died Sunday morning at his home. Greg (or “Mush” as many called him) was a great lover of the banjo. I learned everything I know about grain measure banjos from him. Greg also taught me to just have as much fun as you can whenever you are playing music and I now know why. May we all play together in the Angel band someday in the hereafter.

On behalf of the Shakers I’d like to wish a happy and musical new year to all of our friends. At this time of year I never know exactly where we’ll be playing, hopefully we’ll find ourselves back to some of our favorite places to play and also to some new locations. Introducing our sound to folks who are not familiar with us if fun and challenging but playing at a familiar venue is satisfying in a different way. Playing a favorite song for someone gives us a chance to share the fun that is at the heart of this music.

As we get our schedule together I’ll post it on the website. No telling what is in store for the upcoming season, will we be traveling far or staying close to home? Hopefully we’ll get a chance to play somewhere in Gettysburg this year, its been over a year since I’ve been there. Regardless, I’ll continue to keep my energy focused on the band and our music and let Tracy worry about when and where we need to go.

Dave Culgan
January 1, 2007

Playing a minstrel style banjo in damp weather can be a bit trying. A clear muggy day is difficult, but even worse is trying to get it to work when its raining. The main issue is the fact that the banjo head, being a stretched piece of animal hide, will keep absorbing moisture until it reaches equilibrium with the air around it. The damper it gets the looser it gets. The looser it gets the worse the sound. Ring ring the banjo, but only on a dry clear day. The performer is left with two strategies. One is to leave the banjo head where the suns rays will try it out, the other is to find some other source of dry heat. Anecdotal evidence says that the early minstrel performers would use the flame of gas lamp or burning newspaper to dry their banjo head. I use a camp fire when its available or a small charcoal brazier I carry just for this purpose. The problem with both of these techniques is that the drying effect lasts only as long as the heat is present, as soon as its removed the banjo again starts to absorb moisture and you are back where you started. Depending on conditions you might be able to get anywhere from one to several songs played before you need to dry it out again.

Another part of the banjo that is also an animal product, are the guts strings. These two will absorb moisture but what I notice most is not a loosening or changing of pitch but the fact that the string begins to deteriorate right where it is stopped on the fingerboard, as well as the point where it is struck by the right hand fingernail.

This past weekend we were invited to come up to the set of “Racing Daylight”, a movie being shot this summer in New York State. Nicole Quinn, the writer/ director , had seen us perform at the Neshaminy event this past spring and thought we might add some authentic music to a scene being filmed on Sunday. We arrived on Saturday and after a most gracious welcome by the cast and crew we spent the afternoon watching them work, playing music, and just enjoying the beautiful location near the Catskill Mountains. With Sunday’s sun moving across the sky cast and crew were indeed racing daylight to get the Victorian garden party scene completed, the one the band was featured in. Again a big thanks to Nicole and everyone, this was a weekend to share our music and contribute to an important project. Check out their website at www.racingdaylightthemovie.com . I’ll try and post some pictures later.

We are proud to annouce the release of our third recording on compact disc, 'Shakedown'.

Spent a nice weekend near Paw Paw, West Virginia playing our music at the (clothing optional) Avalon Resorts Annual Civil War Living History. What could be more Victorian than a community experimenting with alternate lifestyles like Naturalism. We’re hoping to bring more friends with us if we are invited back next year. Dancing to the music of the ‘Shakers’ - it’s the most fun you could have with your clothes off! I still have my farmer tan by the way.

Tum the banjo, pull the notes
From catlines tautly strung
Loud and clear and from the gut.
Lyre from a drum.

Fiddle-bow, dance on strings
Weaving notes between.
Wildcat slumber wake and roar
Backwoods symphony.

Shake and rattle, coil and strike,
Hit the tambourine.
Rolling thunder rhythm tapping
Waken from your dream

Magnum bonum rhythm rapping
Walk jawbone, don’t bite.
Click your heels on pigeon wings
And dance all through the night.