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posting for Doc south blog

I had moved to Anchorage from Idaho in 1978 and had been teaching myself how to play fiddle for about a year. I was delighted when I found out Doc South and his family band were regularly playing music at The Bridge. I went for awhile and listened and then I started bringing my fiddle just in case I got brave enough to try and join in. I remember how surprised I was when I thought I could join a tune and then found I still couldn't play it fast enough to keep up.
Those jam sessions finally got me working on one of my most important lessons... how to play music with other people. Doc was always so welcoming and inclusive and encouraging.
It was at those sessions that I met a couple of other beginning fiddlers, Linda Milunzi and Marlene Miller, and we became life-long fiddling friends. We attended the first Talkeetna Folk Festival together and also the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau.
Thank you so much, Doc, for all you have done to spread the joy of fiddling and folk music.

Marsha Schoeffler
Moscow, Idaho

My story of Doc South

Well, I was introduced to Doc only once, at Galway Days which I attended from here in Whitehorse, Yukon, where I came to be invited up to Anchorage by two musicians who had come to Whitehorse over the years to play and attend music festivals that were going on here - Richard Gelardin and Ken Karabelnikoff..... Ken told me many fond stories of Doc.....that he  loves music so much, he shares that passion with so many people in an informative and humble way. There is a spirit in music, I believe, and I have been given to understand, from my distant, yet neighbourly perspective here in the Yukon Territory, that Doc has been one of the true harbingers of the joy  inherent in the playing and learning our music that has provided us with so many gifts over the decades of our lives that may otherwise have been spent in absence of this fun and delight.  Not to mention the many talents he has fostered  and nurtured to flourish by simply keeping music so prominently in his life, his heart and soul. Music is one of the things that keeps the colours in our lives from turning grey, and Doc has been instrumental in promoting the technicolour we have experienced from his efforts in promoting this wonderful enrichment.  Many thanks, Doc South!   From Marg Tatam Musician and MusicTeacher Whitehorse, Yukon Canada

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Doc South blog

    When I first came to Alaska in 1977 on vacation, a friend told me that I really needed to look up Doc South if I made it to Fairbanks.  So I did, and the rest is history!  We've been playing tunes and enjoying comraderie ever since.  In the early 80's, Doc moved to Anchorage to be the head of API, the Alaska Psychiatric Institute.  Most people didn't expect that such a folky looking gentleman could be in such a high-powered job.

    Doc was the magic behind the Monday night dance and music sessions in Mountain View for years.  Every Monday I'd head over to the Mt. View Community Center to play for dances, and hang out with friends.  I was new to dance fiddling, and had a lot to learn.  At the time I thought you had to play the same tune for ten minutes at a time, which could be kind of boring.  But at the sessions I learned about stringing tunes together in a medley, so that both musicians and dancers would be happy.

   Doc was always extremely patient with beginning musicians, and welcomed newbies into the group.  Eventually I played some gigs with him calling.  One of the most fun was down in Homer where the dancers extended the party til the wee hours.  Doc never ran out of dance calls or energy!

   For his 80th birthday, we gathered at the Train Depot in Palmer and ate, drank and were merry to a full house.  His family was there in support; Louise, Kathleen and her son Tyler, and Dan who even played some tunes onstage.

Doc says that when people asked him what brought him to Alaska, he said "insanity".  It took me awhile to realize that his job (working with people who needed psychiatric help) could be defined as that.  Or... like the rest of us, some sort of insanity brought us here and kept us here.  And we're sure glad that Doc has been such a rich part of our lives!

a picture for you

From the early days in Anchorage...

Doc South Family band 1979

Photo taken by Timothy Kendall

a picture for you

 

Doc South at Granite Creek Picker's Retreat 2009

Photo by Deb Wessler

Dear Harold

Dear Harold,

The time draws near for both your honoring and much, much fun at the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau...As you already know, I will not be able to make it, but will be there in spirit (as will Dave, William, and Louise; Karen Rosene, and others who have gone before us).  Of that I am certain.

I trust that you will be encircled by the musical love you have helped to create, and that your influence will be witnessed by yet another generation of musicians, dancers, and callers.

Music is a timeless magic that tells the story of humankind...

Sincerely,

Deb Wessler
Singer, Songwriter, Guitar & Banjo Player
(former and always member of the Doc South Family Band)

PS  For God sakes, somebody please send me the link to youtube or wherever, when all the fun is said and done.

Doc South

I remember a time at the Howling Dog Saloon during the winter of ‘74/’75.  I had met Doc and Louise through Gil Monroe when I was stationed at Eielson.  I wasn’t much of a musician so I mostly benefited from all the great music by being out in the crowd and dancing as often as possible.  During one of those typical 20 below nights at the Dog a whole bunch of young G.I.’s from Ft. Wainwright came in through the door.  I recognized the suspicious looks on their faces as they looked around at the hippie crowd.  I knew that it wouldn’t take much to make them seriously unhappy with consequences that I didn’t want to think about.  Remember, this was a time when soldiers were often treated very poorly.  Anyway, Doc and the band came back from a break and the music started and people started to dance and the regular crowd was having a great time.  Perhaps as a dare, but probably because they really wanted to, a couple of these troops asked some of the young ladies if they would dance, and they did.

They danced very well and really enjoyed themselves.  As I recall, when they left it was in a really happy state.  I would be willing to bet that they remember their time at the Howling Dog that night as well as I do.  I give the credit to Doc and the band.  They always brought people together and made the place and the time something special, something unforgettable.  Thank you Doc.

 

Bruce Erickson

 

for blogspot

I remember when Doc South's Family Band played at the Bridge, a small coffee shop on Northern Lights in Anchorage many years ago.  At the time, there wasn't much happening in Anchorage, and people had to make their own amusement, and bluegrass jams were pretty popular at the Bridge and a couple of other local spots, especially in winter.  Doc was always friendly, reaching out to people, and everyone got a chance to play, whether they were proficient or rank beginners.  Doc used to call square dances too, and play his fiddle at dances.  There wasn't a lot of callers around then, as now.  Hooray for Doc South.  He made a big impression on a lot of people back then, and we are still playing our guitars and banjos.  Ellen Lockyer  Anchorage

Doc South Blog

Thanks, Doc

 

I first met Doc South in the mid 1970s at one of his University of Alaska - Fairbanks music workshops, thereafter followed his playing at places like the old Howling Dog Saloon in Ester and at festivals that started up in the 70's. I think my brother Doug first dragged me along with him to one of Doc's classes. Before moving to Alaska in 1974, I had been learning banjo on my own where I grew up in Pennsylvania, using Pete Seeger's classic book, How to Play the Five String Banjo. That was an OK start for hootenanny – type folk music, but Doc opened my eyes and ears to a much wider universe of old-time and American traditional music and dance.

 

As I recall, Doc was putting together a pickup band for one of the University dances and he saw me standing there in the corner. I was probably 100 times more shy about playing in front of people than I am now, and was undoubtedly hoping in my own twisted way that he wouldn't notice me (and whether or not I could actually play the banjo back then would have been a liberal interpretation of the concept "play").

 

That encounter with Doc went something like this:

Doc: "whataya got in that case?" (an answer he obviously knew).

Me: "a banjo" (duh)

Doc: "Well what the hell good is it doin' in that case? Get it out and play it!"

 

Through one means or another, Doc was great at getting people to play and making us all feel included, regardless of our experience or ability (inclusiveness -- a legacy of Doc's that we all need to remember).

 

Another observation…. After I interviewed Doc last spring for the Old Time Herald article, one thing that struck me was the irony of Doc's move to Alaska in about 1970. As it became very clear during the interviews, Doc had been very active musically in his native Indiana before heading north. He played ("just bring your music" they used to say, referring to all traditional styles, rather than breaking it out as old-time, bluegrass, Irish, or folk as we tend to now), called dances, performed on radio and TV, and spread his enthusiasm through teaching. The irony was that the Indiana music and dance scene took off like a rocket in the early 1970s, just after Doc left (see, for example, John Bealle's 2005 book on the Bloomington music scene, Old Time Music and Dance: Community and Folk Revival). Based on his huge impact on Alaska's traditional music scene in the 70s and 80s, I'm totally certain Doc would've been at the core of the Indiana music revival had he remained there.

 

No complaints, obviously – their loss was our gain.

 

--Pete Bowers

Doc Stories

 
I first met Doc at a jam-session in Anchorage in the early eighties, and we've been  friends since then.
 
Distance and time never allowed us to share as many tunes, songs, dances, and stories
as I would have liked, but I have great memories of the few gigs we played together when Doc was with The Muldoon Ceili Band, and John Walsh invited me along for the
Saint Patrick's weekends.  (I still think of Doc, John, and Kenny when the two jigs,
Tripping up the Stairs and My Darling Asleep are aired.)
 
My warmest congratulations, Doc!  I KNOW you'll enjoy every minute ... just wish I could
be there to celebrate with you, and join the queue for a waltz....
 
Thanks for being wise, wonderful you!
 
Cilla Skrade

The South Family Band at the Howling Dog, Ester, AK 1974

This is the only photo I have of Doc. This is the South Family Band in the winter of 1974 at the old Howling Dog Saloon when it used to be in Ester, AK. Pictured here are Robin Dale Ford (Banjo), Brent Edwards (Banjo), Bill or Danny South? (Guitar), and you can just see a little bit of Louise South's hand on her guitar....and Doc with the fiddle.  This may be the first and only documentation of a band with two banjos. What a wonderful way to spend a bitter-cold winter evening! 

 robin dale ford

Doc Memories

Hanging out around the fringes of the bluegrass music scene in the 70s I couldn't help hearing of and hearing the South Family Band. They always seemed to attract a good crowd of partiers...

 

Years later when I tentatively joined a session group at Meads Coffee House in Wasilla Doc was there, encouraging all who came. He called me by name, recalled stories of my family from the 70's, remembered tunes he had heard me play at obscure times in the past and played along reassuringly as I sawed or plucked away.

 

His warmth and inclusiveness along with an attitude that it is 'only music and s'posed to be fun' are some of the reasons I am active in music today.

 

I am sure Doc has forgotten more tunes than I will ever know, and he doesn't seem to forget much. His mental library expands back through a couple of generations for sure.

 

He is the most generous musician you could ever want to play with (Shonti Elder is on par and we all know it, but we're honoring Doc here....) and for his contribution to the music scene in Alaska he deserves much honor and praise.

 

You're awesome Doc! Enjoy your accolades!! Find some purty gals to waltz with down there and just soak up all the attention!

 

Rose Hendrickson

A-Tunes and a Couple in G

Oh, we’re making lists and checking it twice J  Harmonizing with Louise (RIP) was glorious; and I suppose I remember more of the songs than the tunes—but there were a bazillion of those tunes.  The first two I could remember out of the many, actually differentiate, were Over the Waterfall and 8th of January.   

 

South

Ashes of Love

Louise

I Still Miss Someone

I Know You Rider

Big Ball in Boston

Cotton Mill Girl

Good-Hearted Woman

Love Come Home

Detour

Fast Train (written by Bill South, RIP)

Cluck Old Hen

Another Night

Salty Dog

Devil’s Dream

Flop-eared Mule

Uncle Pen

Egyptian Swing Bop (written by Daniel)

 

 

Wow, what a great and well deserved honor for Doc, although I always called him Harold.  When I ran into Kenny Karibelnikof several years after college he told me about a jam session at The Bridge—I went and that road sent me on a fabulous adventure into music.  What I think is Harold’s best trait is his inclusiveness and encouragement.  He’d always ask people new to the jams if they had a song they wanted to sing or to play; he was always happy to learn a new song; and was always pulling out some song or tune from that amazing memory that he hadn’t played in thirty years!  I was ecstatic when I joined the band to play the washtub base in September 1979—and through the years was inspired to learn the mandolin, banjo and bass, as well as improve on my guitar.  And I’m not the only one—there are many fine musicians who got their start at the Bridge jams. As a band we didn’t just play music—we hiked, went on picnics, cross-country skied, and checked out every 2^nd hand store and dump on any route we travelled! And the stories on long drives up and down the rail belt...rambling topics of all sorts and lots of laughter and some tears.  Being a member of the South Family Band was the best—everything else is gravy.  I am happy and very gratified to see ‘Doc” get the recognition he so richly deserves.   

 

Stephanie Bissland

 

The State Fair Photo was taken by a photographer from the Frontiersman.  The other by a friend of mine.

 

 

energizer bunny of old time music

It was the early 70's and I was a lonely folk singer in Fairbanks.  I tried to stay lonely but people like Clyde Boggan introduced me to the Pine Hill Ramblers, and the Doc South Band.  The place to be was definitely Ester at the Howling Dog.  Hot Subs and rampaging bluegrass.  And if you could play, you were dragged to the stage for a song or two. 

 

Many a night, after closing the place, we would gather under the Northern Lights (always out in those days) and decide where to continue the jam.  One night, my cabin seemed the place.

 

The Dog closed about what -  3, 4 am?  So by 5 am we were still jamming in my cabin. It was a mite crowded, but by 7am it was just me, Clyde, and Doc.  I would drift off and just listen to Clyde and Doc. Clyde would nod off at his violin.  Doc would still be going strong.  By 10 am I would have to ask Doc and Clyde to leave. I think they would then go over to Clyde's and continue.

 

When I moved to Anchorage and we would have jams at my house, Doc would always out stay us all.  And with such vitality and energy.

 

And I have not even touched on how kind he was to us beginners.  He was kind.  Thank you Doc for including me in the music, as you do everyone you meet.  You made a great difference in my life.

 

 

 

Marrianne Bacon

NSG Network Administrator III

Office - 868-6459

Cell - 230-0710

 

 

Re: Doc South blog

Early '80s Memories (as best I can remember for now)

Kenny Karabelnikoff was my first connection to Doc. I loved sitting in with Doc, Kenny, Jim Wright, Ken Roy, Louise, Danny and many others at George's Market and at the Sourdough bar. I tried to go every chance I got. I remember missing one week and I asked Kenny if I
missed anything. He told me about a woman who started dancing to "Ring
of Fire" at the Sourdough Club and then she took out a can of lighter
fluid and made a ring of fire on the wooden floor. I guess that got
her kicked out pretty quick.

Then one day I saw Kenny at the Warehouse (a restaurant and folk music venue) and he invited me to bring my mandolin to the Mountain View Recreation center in Anchorage. Doc was there playing fiddle tunes
and calling dances with Kenny, Shonti, Sally Kabisch and others.
Every week I would try to learn at least one new tune. It was really
hard to play that fast. The Monday night test was to keep up with the
gang.

The Monday night sessions were a great place to meet other musicians,
form bands and go on to make 10s of dollars.

It was also where young cubs went on to grow into Dancing Bears -- an
organization that owes much to Doc for giving them a place to meet
each other and discover and learn traditional music and dance.

Jim Kerr

Doc South memory

I never did master that banjo o' mine, but I did come across Doc South and his Family Band back in the late 70's when I arrived on the scene in Anchorage, as a wide eyed young'un.

Drawn to the magic music being played at the Soup Cauldron (is that what that hippy kitchen was called-----used to be on G street down from Darwin's Theory---where Rhythm Ramblers and those 2 beautiful sisters used to play and sing?).

I bought his album (with the beautiful pink alpenglow on the Alaska Range), wore it out playing air banjo and singing solo to it, with noone around, always dreaming that one day I too, might play like Doc and all those amazing musicians that sprouted from him.

Am still trying, 30 years later....you're a constant inspiration, Doc!

Shoo Salasky

About Doc South....

I was in my twenties when I first encountered Doc South; not sure when
exactly, but it was at George's Market on the Old Seward Highway. Never
heard of playing at a market, but it was definitely the place to be! I also
remember Louise being there. That's where the tunes were, and I recall the
warmth and welcome. Long time ago, but the memories linger; I think you
were a legend before your time, Doc! ~ before, during and ongoing ~
Here's to ya!
Mary Wagner La Fever

Monday nights in Mountain View

When I found out about the live music and dancing scene back when I came to Anchorage in 1983, the Monday Nights in Mountain View was the place to go if you wanted to work on either your dancing, or playing, or sometimes both. Like many others, that was where we cemented friendships, learned new tunes, or just tried to catch the eye of that pretty dancer who always seemed to be in the other line...

There was never any doubt that everyone at any level of skill was not only welcomed, but encouraged. After all, we learned early on that everyone makes mistakes, but real dancers/musicians are the ones who recover smoothly from them. From Mary Topalski(sp?) and her merry mixers, to Doc South and the Mountain View All Stars, they provided a huge anchor to the traditional music and dance scene in Anchorage, and indeed throughout Alaska. When I have traveled outside, there are always people who are surprised that Alaskan's not only are aware of old timey and other traditions, but are also completely familiar with the tunes, dances and folk traditions that were kept alive by Doc South, and certainly are being kept alive by those posting here!

Thanks for everything!
Bob French

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Another Doc story comes to mind.

I can remember Doc and his family playing at the Howling Dog in Ester
and later in Fox. One of the songs that I remember most is one called
"Ole Slewfoot," a song about a bear. For those that don't know the song,
the chorus goes,

"He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump
Runnin' ninety miles an hour takin' thirty feet a jump
Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been tree'd
Some folks say he looks a lot like me."

Doc would often engage the crowd by singing the last line, "Some folks
look a lot like" and there he would insert someone's name. It usually
got a reaction from the people in the crowd. Doc always made other
musicians and the dancers feel like they were part of the music.

I learned that old time music is a very social music. It works better
with friends and dancers. That is something we all learned from Doc. He
shared his music with us and we are sharing our music with up and coming
musicians. I look forward to sharing more tunes with Doc at this year's
Alaska Folk Festival. Thanks Doc.

wolf

where it all began

I think it was the winter of '74 that I shared a cabin with a
friend who was learning banjo from a guy, Bruce Erickson, who would come
out from the army base to give a lesson in exchange for a meal. I think
he also cherished momentary freedom from the military (it was his last
year), and a bit of Real Life with two sorta-hippie gals. He told us
there was live music and square dances every weekend at The Howlin' Dog
Saloon in Ester, where we could hear and move to the tunes she was
learning, the way they were meant for. We started going pretty
regularly, kickin' through the sawdust and laughing a lot. Through the
smoke and distance of the long room, I remember Doc towering in the
middle, handling his fiddle like he was playing with a kitten or a
ferret -- no effort -- such economy of motion to make the music for us
dancers; his son playing washtub base; his wife, Louise, steadfast in
her bluegrass-style pickin' and Robin Ford clawhammering beside her, as
neat as you please... what I cant pull out of memory is who played
guitar for them that winter. Was it Tom Hart? Danny Consestine?
Anyway, it worked just great. Before long, I was hearing the tunes in
my head all week long, between dances, so when my roommate got herself a
nice banjo at christmas, I took up the clunker and started connecting
the black dots to the notes in my head, via my fingers. I watched the
band as much as I was dancing, they were so picturesque -- the visual
backup for the culture I was being led into.
After familiarizing with other cultures of music and dance, with
many other people over 30-plus years, its Doc's quality of ease, warmth
and give-away that I see as the most important step stone to
understanding any music of the folk. I remember him saying,"you know
the difference between a fiddle and a violin?" Pause... "one you carry
in a case and the other in a flour sack." Big ol' grin behind those
thick glasses. I would think to myself, "wow, and this guy's a shrink?"

Romany Wood

my first Quest...

my first Quest...

...i remember, very clearly, the first time i met Doc South. it was in the old
Howlin' Dog Saloon in Ester, in the fall of '72. danny and kent had already gone to
his office in fairbanks and invited him out to play with our string band. what
would a 40-year-old psychologist think of this scene, i wondered. for him, it must
have been like walking into a chaotic dress rehearsal for the musical "hair"...

...imagine this dimly lit, fallen down building full of hippies and crazies. the
place was cabin-like, funky and cozy. if i remember the smell of wood smoke, wool,
a bit of grass, i can't say, but the place was packed. then there was the band he
was about to play with, looking no different than anyone else, maybe a little worse
and a bit high to top it off. there was no rehearsal, no set list. most of the band
he was meeting for the first time. and there stood Dr. Harold South and his wife
Louise in the middle of all this, looking totally at ease. amazing...

...what happened next isn't as clear. we all introduced ourselves, i imagine, tuned
to someone, mounted the six-inch-high stage (that put you dangerously close to the
already low ceiling), sound checked our one-mike sound system, and proceeded to
tear into a crash course in old time fiddling and dance that continues to this
day...

...Doc was then, as is today, a wonderful ambassador and curator of a traditional
form of music that goes back hundreds of years in this country of ours. his open
heart and fiddle has pulled scores of young, and not so young, people into a world
of beautiful melodies and country dance. this is community building done right. a
meeting of a magician and people hungry for magic. Doc wasn't the first, but he was
the first to come along. his music and guidance spawned scores of fiddlers and
banjo-ists, singers and dancers. besides our sincere thanks, our debt to him can
never be repaid, nor his debt to his mentor, Jimmy Campbell, of Bloomington. it is
because it's not a debt, but an investment in a musical road trip, a quest, that
goes a thousand years in the past. a thousand years in the future. thanks, Doc, for
stopping and picking us up, making room, and giving us a ride. with you...

thomas hart
ester, ak

The Friday Night Jam Sessions!

I was just a kid with dreams of playing the banjo when I landed in Fairbanks in 1973. All that first summer I heard tales of a local stringband called The Sidewinders who were on a tour of Southeast Alaska. When they returned home, I was told that I would be able to hear them at a regular Friday Night Jam Session in the home of Doc and Louise (bless her soul!) South. I hitchhiked across town that Friday to the South's home off of Chena Hot Springs Rd., and met Doc, Louise, their kids and a few other pickers, but no Sidewinders. I was just learning the banjo, had never played with others, and had just come to listen. Well...evidently, "just listening" wasn't part of the program, and Doc took a spare banjo off the wall, handed it to me, said "G,C and D" and off we went through an evening of tunes. For me it was like hanging on to the back of a speeding fire truck. What fun! 

Doc and Louise always made me feel like one of the family, and I even enjoyed a stint with the Doc South Family Band...my very first band...before joining The Sidewinders! So, thank you Doc and Louise for hurling me into the big, fun world of music. It has made all the difference.

(I'll add "June Apple" to Danny's list of tunes learned from Doc. And for me, "Old Molly Hare" will always be Doc's song).

robin dale ford

Thanks Doc!

On the pegboard above my workbench I have a small photo taken at an outdoor festival somewhere in Alaska during the early 1980s. Doc South is calling a dance with his hands stuffed in his pockets, Jack Fontanella is laying into his guitar, Wolfie is sawing away on the fiddle and I am chunking away on the banjo. I think Jim Hack is in the back on bass, and Kenny Karabelnikoff is wailing away on his harp. It's summer, so Scotty must have been out counting fish, and there is no telling where Alex Scala was that day.

The picture has a thick layer of sawdust on it and has suffered other damage over the years. But I love looking at the picture and remembering how good the music must have sounded. In particular there are three things that I really like about the picture:

1. I can tell from the way that Jack and I are standing that we are playing fast and hard. The train has left the station and is highballing down the line. This ain't no pointy toed waltz we're playing.

2. Jack, Wolf and I are all looking at Doc, waiting for his cue to switch to the next part. The band is in synch with the caller, just the way we should be.

3. And Doc isn't watching the band, he is looking at the dancers. How many times have you been to a dance and the caller is looking at their shoes or the ceiling, or talking to the band? It sounds elementary, but the caller needs to watch the dancers closely, to observe what is working and what isn't, and to give the band a sign when the dancers are ready to start the square again. And that's Doc- a solid caller who is humble enough to take his cues from the dancers and not force his calls on them. It was always fun to play for one of Doc's dances.

When I moved to Alaska in the late '70s, I was really surprised to find musicians who not only knew the good fiddle tunes, but knew them in the right keys and liked to play fast. That list of D tunes Danny C. has on this blog could have been a set list from a North Carolina band I played with before heading North. In those days West Coast string bands played completely different tunes and styles than the Southern bands I had played with- but these guys had the right ideas and played the right tunes. And playing in Alaska was fun.

I kept hearing from everyone about this guy in Fairbanks who taught them how to play- Doc South. And as someone who enjoyed playing all those D tunes around Alaska with his students- thanks Doc!

Steve Roberts
sjr at ix dot netcom dot com

Jams with Doc

A couple years ago there was a weekly jam session at the University.  There were only four or five of us that got together.  We'd sit around the fireplace at the Commons and play a couple tunes, then Doc would tell a story, then more tunes, more stories, and so on.  We all agreed there was no better way to spend a Friday night.  

One night we showed up, and there was an "open mic night" in the Commons.  We played a small set and had a blast.  The crowd seemed to love it.  Someone played a war protest song.  Doc noted that the war protest songs never change - same chords, same rhythm, same college crowd - only the wars change.

May the music never end!

I still have set lists from the early/mid 80's South Family Band rehearsals buried in my office.  No doubt Stephanie does as well.  "Over the Waterfall", and "Sugar Foot Rag" come to mind...Kenny K and John Walsh would also be a great source of info here from when Doc started getting into Celtic music mode during Legal Pizza days...Great to see so many shining faces this weekend in Talkeetna from the eons of acoustic and traditional music we have played in Alaska.  What a tight knit and fabulous community we have and are!

 

Deb Wessler
Homespun Productions
www.homespunproductions.biz
www.myspace.com/debwessler
                                     

EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me

D tunes

I think we could add Black Eyed Susie to the list of D tunes.

And a short side note that these tunes are stilled played quite a bit. I
was in North Carolina for a few months this last summer and these tunes
are still an important part of the repertoire Some bands play these
tunes exclusively. They are important regional tunes.

A lot of people think these tunes are beginner's tunes. Well as Doc
knows, and I now know, the reason we learn these tunes is because they
are traditional tunes. So in learning these tunes from Doc I was well
equipped to play with the musicians at numerous fiddler's conventions in
North Carolina and Virginia. Doc helped keep the traditional tunes alive
in the north country and for that I am thankful. Thanks Doc!

wolf

Thanks and best wishes

Doc, it's been a few years since we last played together, but I'll always remember your enthusiasm for music. It was an honor and a privilege to share stages with you.

Scott Kiefer, bass, Matanuska Thunder Pluckers

Tunes I learned from Doc

Thought I would start a stream here and see how many tunes we can list that we identify with Doc.  At this year's folk fest, we will have some time to play dances at the hall.  I'd like to get a good list of tunes that we can use.  Doc will be there to call, play, or just hang out.  But wouldn't it be great if we played all of Doc's "greatest hits?"

 

Many of these old classics may not sound as cool as the newest, hippest, obscurest tunes playing on today's old time tune circuit, but they were fresh and exciting to me, when Doc would just say, "This one's in D" and rip into one.   I played banjo for many years, and would just try to hang on and catch the changes and maybe some of the melody, just soaking it up, thrilled to be playing with a real fiddler.   He was the real thing.   He was the first fiddler I ever played with. 

 

OK.  I don't think I will get very far with this list.  I will need some help.  But I'll start with the D tunes, and hopefully the rest of you will chime in.  These are tunes I learned from Doc.

 

Soldier's Joy

Arkansas Traveller

Mississippi Sawyer

Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss

Eighth of January

Liberty

Chinese Breakdown

Ragtime Annie

Fisher's Hornpipe

Angeline the Baker

Sugar Hill

Old Molly Hare

 

 

Danny

Don't Stop on the Bad One

Another Doc story comes to mind. We were talking about playing and Doc
told me, "If you play a wrong note, don't stop on it just keep going."
From that I have taken that a step further, "If you play a weird note
and just do it once it is a mistake. If you play it again, it will seem
like a variation."

Thanks Doc for opening up the music world to me. It has provided me with
lots of fun and I have tried to follow in your footsteps and turn on
others to Old Time music. Your influence will be felt for many years and is an integral part of Alaska's folk music tradition.

Wolf

Monday night Dances

I remember the Monday night Dances in Mt View
Thank you Doc . for being so encouraging to all of us beginning
fiddlers ,who were just starting out .
Richard Gelardin

Memories of playing and dancing in Mt View

Doc used to call the dances in Mt. View back in the early 80's. He was
very encouraging to beginner musicians such as I was at the time, and
I sure learned a lot from him. He taught me that you didn't need to be
perfect to play for dances, and that to do so on a regular basis is
great practice, because you get to play the tunes over and over.

Doc told me the words to the tune "Cuckoo's Nest" were really filthy,
and he sang it for me once and it was true! Now it's hard for me to
play that tune without thinking of Doc.

Denise Martin

www.dulcimerdiva.com

friendsofdocsouth at gmail.com

I am also hoping for my memory to be jogged by other posts, but right now I remember two things.

One of Doc's sayings that has never left me: "Square dancing is the most fun you can have with your clothes on."

The other thing is a tip on learning how to frail I was trying to do the "bump-ditty" and it just was not coming. Doc suggested I think of it as a "boom-ditty." And I do not know why but this tip was the door that started me, for better or worse, playing the banjo. Thanks, Doc  

Jack Fontanella

Alaska Music Institiution

Doc South is widely regarded as the "Father of Old Time and Bluegrass
Music" in Alaska. He started teaching traditional music and dance in the
early 70's in Fairbanks and later in Anchorage. The people who have
learned from and been influenced by Doc is like the "Who's Who" of
Alaska Folk Music.
Because of Doc, the music and dance scene in Alaska is vibrant and
alive. This year the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau is honoring Doc for
his past and ongoing achievements in spreading traditional music all
over the state. "Thank You, Doc!!!"

Doc probably did more for mental health in Fairbanks with his music than
his work as a Psychiatrist for the State of Alaska. I know for sure that
he touched way more people in the community thru his music. So in
reality, his music was not only his lifestyle, but an extension of his
reaching out and helping people. "Thank you Doc!"

Doc has been a big influence in my music life and that of many of my
friends. Now with the Old Time Herald article by Pete Bowers more people
have come to learn that Alaska has it's own music heroes.

FW

In honor of Harold "Doc" South

Doc,

Apparently our paths were destined to cross long ago because I have a photo
taken by my San Franciscan boyfriend in 1979 that shows me sitting
at the front of a small stage at Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival watching
a band called the "Doc South Family Band" playing.  I thought it such a
gift that a family could and would play music together.  I had no idea
then what was to be my fate for many years to follow...


I cannot tell you how great it is to still see your smiling face.  We go back to 1982 when we were first neighbors, although your reputation had preceded itself all the way down to Washington State University where I was then in grad school - You a Staff Psychiatrist at API, me a student intern Psychologist who later fell in love with one of your sons and also began her dream of becoming a performer.  Louise was always inviting shy, little ole' me to come over and jam.  I was so scared and sure I couldn't do it.  But you all welcomed me anyway...

I continue to remember the gigs at the Willow Trading Post - (one time Mary Carey showing up), Montana Creek Lodge, many festivals (Anchorage and Fairbanks Folk Festivals, Renaissance Fairs, Sutton, Talkeetna, Chitina, Seward Fourth of July parade, a square dance out on the Glenn Highway and lodge where Libby Riddles showed up), and particularly the time KSKA held a fest attended by thousands of people.  I was absolutely terrified and never could have sung or played a lick were I not a member of the Doc South Family Band. 

Then there were the tales, times, and road trips when Dan, Bill, Stephanie, and I carried on the family band tradition for a while...

Because of your many shared stories I feel a part of the history of what was happening in traditional music in Fairbanks before you came down to Anchorage and continued to spread your influence there.  (Your musical time in Anchorage is a book in and of itself).

You and the family welcomed me like one of your own...You have influenced so many people in so many ways, be that through music, lending a hand to someone in need, a shoulder to cry on, encouragement to a novice player, teaching others to dance and get along with each other through the gift of music. 

I hope to honor your son William's talent and legacy by playing some of the many fine songs we wrote and performed together after the Family Band broke up.

You have truly lived a life of service to others and may those many blessings given be returned to you until your last day on the planet and beyond...

Sincerely,

Deb Wessler

Homespun Productions
www.homespunproductions.biz
www.myspace.com/debwessler

Pete said...

I just talked to Doc today and he is really looking forward to seeing all his old friends in Juneau!

What music is all about.

I remember when I was first learning the banjo (in Fairbanks in the early 70's) that I was taking Doc's workshop in Old Time Music on Tuesday nights and as part of the workshop we were supposed to go to the Thursday night square dance workshop and play for the dancers.

Well I arrived hoping to get to play with some other musicians. Well, when I got there I was the only musician. Doc said something like this, "OK, Wolf, they are ready to dance." I looked around and was hoping to see a fiddler or even a guitar player show up. There was no one else there. I told Doc I could only play one tune and not very well. He looked at me, as to say, so. He told me to get after it. They needed some music to dance to. So I picked away at June Apple. I don't remember how long I played it, but I was scared to death. But he did put across the point. The dancers needed music and that night I was the music.

wolf

Got any good Doc stories!!

If you have any Doc South stories go ahead and post them and we can use them for honoring his contribution to Alaska music.