Mississippi Snag

Traditional Old Time breakdown in G, played in standard GDAE tuning, associated with north Missouri fiddling and carried by Nile Wilson (1912–2008) of Bucklin, Linn County, Missouri. The B part drops into E minor against the G tonality of the A part, which is the feature that makes the tune recognizable. Charlie Walden recorded Wilson playing it at his home in 1987 and again in 1995; both takes have been issued by the Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association, on Nile Wilson: Volume One and Nile Wilson: Tiehacker Hoe-Down (MSOTFA 202D). Wilson lost parts of two fingers on his left hand in a corn shredder accident in December 1930 and rebuilt his technique around the injury, taking first place at a LaPlata fiddle contest two years later.