Also called Old Town Band, this tune from the Appalachian region was originally a fife tune. Variations can be found in Samuel P. Bayard’s Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife (1982), a collection based on fieldwork he conducted in southwestern Pennsylvania from 1928 to 1963, though the tune may have even older origins than this documentation period. I learned this tune as Old Town Band at a Fiddle Hell Online 2025 old-time jam session led by Brad Kolodner, who posted the recording on YouTube. It’s an excellent learning resource since he plays through the tune slowly several times before picking up the tempo.
Key: G major
Tradition: Old Time
Type: Reel