Tim Eriksen sings "Friendship" at the Summit House

[tstlz10]

no way, I live ten mins. from the summit house and i stumbled on this by chance. glad i did, great music and lovely scenery

[veronikamm]

love this song, and it has stayed in my head since saturday, so I was wondering how you tune the fiddle? maybe your songs will get me back to playing...

[batfancy]

@veronikamm Hey Veronika! It was such a nice surprise to see you all in Kromeriz. I tune the fiddle GDgd most of the time. Seems to work for songs like this, anyway...

[yolanthe3g]

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[bradbavarde]

Musically, what is it you do with the violin on the second verse starting Happy the man. It sounds so good, is it a counter melody or just your improvisation? I love it

[batfancy]

Good ear man. It's a counter melody based on the bass line as found in the first publication ca. 1787.

[bradbavarde]

Thanks, it's such a great tune. I'm a Sacred Harp singer, so I guess I pick up the different voices. I got to meet you once at the Midwest Convention, hope you'll make it back sometime - Brad

[mudws]

Great performance, Tim. What's the 1787 source? You mention the American Musical Miscellany of 1798, and I think it's in the 1789 Philadelphia Songster, words attr. to Mr. Bidwell of Connecticut. So there's a 1787 print or MS with a melody and bass?

[batfancy]

Hey Warren! This was a very esoteric slip on my part that I didn't bother to correct. I suspect the song is from a no longer extant play Ezra Stiles did down at Yale that predated Royall Tyler's The Contrast (1787) and I had a persistent enough mental note to check into it that the date got stuck temporarily. I love that we can have this conversation on youtube. I wonder what some drunk guy in Ohio thinks? Perhaps we'll find out.

[karasuhaiku]

Though I've heard this tune before, for some reason today it was as if I was hearing it for the very first time again. As I listened to the lyrics I realized it might just be a perfect addition to the hymns sung at the Quaker meeting I attend. I'm excited to share this with them!

[frailhenke]

Is this lovly tune in standard tuning? or i some crosstuning?

[batfancy]

It's sort of GDgd.

[Accordeonaire]

Thank you, Tim. I'm an accordionist doing music direction for a production of "A Winter's Tale" in Maine, and we're using this for the opening music -- when the two Kings come out as lifelong friends. You've really been an inspiration to my playing.

[batfancy]

great idea. that's a tough play to pull off- I imagine a little music will help it along.

[elendardk]

i must be blind not to have seen it :)

thank you.

have you ever thought about coming to Scandinavia?

[batfancy]

yeah, i'd love to. Closest i'm coming anytime soon is Poland and Czech Republic this summer.

[elendardk]

I love this tune. Is it possible to see all the verses? I haven't been able to find them.

[batfancy]

someone posted them in an earlier comment. There are also slightly different words in the Christian Harmony and other books

[elendardk]

though your verses deviates from the verses found in the jstor artictle. Not that I mind ;)

[batfancy]

probably just cause i've been singing it so long- the words have a life of their own sometimes...

[mobtownblues]

I first heard you sing this in D.C. a couple of years back, and since then, it has become something of an unofficial theme song for the Baltimore weekly sing. We use the seven-shape version out of the latest version of the 'Christian Harmony.' Thanks for introducing us to the song.

[zoeplankton]

I need to learn to fiddle and sing at the same time...guitar + voice is hard enough! But fiddle + vocals= my train wreck wow!I love your stuff...Cold Mountain owes a lot to your fantastic music.

[zoeplankton]

hahaha! I wrote this comment a year ago...

Now I can play and sing this song :)

gracias por todo...

[batfancy]

I'd love to hear it. You do such a nice job on Soldiers' Return.

[zoeplankton]

cool! The thing is, I've been singing semi-made-up lyrics from what i can pick up from this vid:

"friendship to every whaling mine..."

I'm not too sure if that's correct ;-)

[batfancy]

I like it. "Willing mind" is the less picturesque original.

[sholesovsky]

Friendship is such a great tune. my kids and I were happy to get a chance to hear you that day, what a surprise. the music fit in with the mood of the day. always looking forward to your next performance. thanks

[inatangle]

Now people who follow your videos and who live in the area are going to be wandering around scenic spots wondering if, just maybe, today will be the day they will happen across a free performance. Thx as ever for the notes w/the video.