Tripping Up Stairs

Jan Drechsler: piano
Bob Mills: banjo, mandolins, fiddle
John Pranio: fiddle, 5-string banjo

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Tripping Up Stairs was a misnomer from the start. Named for an Irish jig, we became popular playing old-time music for contra dancing. Our recording has some Irish tunes, but the feel of the album is old-time music.

Our style is piano-driven, but before you old-time partisans flame away, ever heard Sandy's Fancy? It features some people you may have heard of: Tommy Thompson on banjo, Alan Jabbour on fiddle, and Sandy Bradley on [gasp!] piano. Playing a bunch of Henry Reed tunes, and pretty well for people who shoulda known better...

We took this style and ran with it for contra dancing. John's fiddling is very back-beat, percussion-oriented; my banjo style grew to match. But the key to the whole thing is the piano; not contra style, you gotta feel where the beat is in old-time music. Jan's piano playing is right on the money, and her chords are just the right mix of stubborn and innovative.

Audio clips in .wav format:
Side 1 Jackie Daley's/Oyster River/Kevin Burke's (3:48)
Frosty Morning/Johnny Don't Get Drunk (3:48) 348k / 0:32
Madame Bonaparte's (2:42)
John Lover's Gone/Buck Mountain (3:07)
Out on the Ocean/The Rocking Chair (3:20)
Hawks and Eagles/Tiller Girl/Three Thin Dimes (3:27)

Side 2 Possum on the Rail/Sally Ann Johnson/Puncheon Floor (3:36) 328k / 0:30
The Stool of Repentence/The Cowboy's Jig (3:26) 300k / 0:28
Dr. O'Neill's/Julia Delaney/The Old Grey Cat (3:58) 203k / 0:18
The Smuggler's Reel (3:49) 383k / 0:35
Liza, Liza, Liza (3:42) 175k / 0:16