Players:
Jeff Callender
Lee Callender
Blue (Sarun Sanpasiri)

Tune Information:
My son Lee suggested Blackberry Blossom. It has been done plenty, but it remains a favorite of mine and one that we all knew and thought we could handle. I first heard June Apple performed by the youth group that Lee performs with. Lee is actually a fiddle player, but "flatpicks" the mandolin on these two tunes. After I slowly picked out this tune from the sheet music Lee had, I got to where I really enjoyed playing it. Eventually I came across a version of it that Doc did - man, does he's cook on that one! I learned to play it in A. Doc does in A also, but I think he capo's up to the second fret and out of the G position. I need to learn it that way too, especially that cool cross-picking thing he does in the first part.

Instruments used:
I played a 1989 Gallagher G-65 (Sitka, rosewood) on Blackberry Blossom and a 1956 Martin D18 on June Apple. Lee plays a 1999 Tacoma M2 on both tunes and Blue plays a nice 80's Martin D18 Sunburst.

Recording information:
This is our first Plectrology entry and our first recording. Basically, we're rank amateurs that love the music and are grateful to have the opportunity to throw in our contribution to this wonderful recording concept. Both songs were recorded in my small living room on a Friday evening in May. We used a Sharp MD-SR60 Minidisc portable player/recorder and Sound Professionals modular binaural microphones. We did a few takes of each, until we got tired, and picked the best one. It was fun, but we certainly learned a new respect for the recording artist (as if we didn't have enough already!).

Biographical Information:
Lee... is 15 year old freshman at Saline High School and plays fiddle in the talented Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic. The group has performed at the Kennedy Center, the White House, the International Bluegrass Festival, and has toured Scotland. Lee goofs around a little with the mandolin and decided on that instrument for these recordings.

Jeff... I'm 42 and have been playing guitar on and off since I was a teenager. As with most, I'm essentially self-taught, learning my first flatpick tune, Norman's "Randall Collins", from a friend way back in when I was in high school. I drifted around musically, doing the folk-rock thing, blues, etc. and was diggin' Leo Kottke for awhile there. A few years ago I was taking a break from a tough day at work and walked over to the used record/CD store near campus that has just about anything you'd ever want. I came across a CD with this dude on the cover holding a nice old Martin. It had a couple of tunes on it that I recognized from one of my favorite albums of all time, Doc Watson's "Memories". The cool thing about this store is that they let you listen to the recordings before you buy them. I flipped the disc into the player, put on the headphones and dialed it into "Peartree/Double File". The CD was Panorama and the artist was David Grier. Life hasn't been the same since.

Blue (Sarun Sanpasiri)... hails from Thailand. Everyone calls him Blue because that's his nickname and, as he tells it, it's a Thai custom to address people with their nicknames. Blue started working in our office a few years ago and it didn't take us long to discover our mutual interest in acoustic guitar. We pick together now and then, though not enough, and spend our entertainment budgets enjoying the great pickers (Doc and Jack, Norman, Jim Hurst, Richard Bennett, Del and the boys, etc.) that pass through town here performing at the Ark.

Flatpicking is a great hobby and a wonderful community of people. I've made a bunch of friends and have had some great times through this music and look forward to more friendships and good picking in the future.

Jeff Callender
Ann Arbor, Michigan
May, 2001