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Cluck Old Hen: The Sad Story of the Hen That Stopped Laying Eggs

from LITTLE BIRDIE: Birds, Beasts & Banjo Blues by Marc Nerenberg

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This is a fairly extensive reworking of the traditional tune "Cluck Old Hen", enlarging the story and making the banjo part more varied. I call this new version "Cluck Old Hen - The Sad Story of the Hen that Stopped Laying Eggs". I tried here to be very varied in the use of right hand banjo techniques, ranging from clawhammer phrasing influenced by Wade Ward's playing in the A part, to a heavily brushed B part, as well as an alternate, up the neck, B part that mingles clawhammer brushes with thumb lead two finger picking, and I've also added a little C part, a kind of turnaround that I play using two finger picking. As with almost all traditional songs I play, I've also tinkered with the lyrics, including adding two stanzas of my own at the end that deal with the sorry fate of the unfortunate hen that stopped laying eggs. I like to think I'm giving the song a little extra emotional content, a little pathos, if you will.

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from LITTLE BIRDIE: Birds, Beasts & Banjo Blues, released November 10, 2020
Traditional: Arranged and adapted by Marc Nerenberg

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Marc Nerenberg Montreal, Québec

Marc Nerenberg is a veteran Montreal folksinger who plays old time banjo styles and blues harmonica. He has a narrative- centric repertoire, recounting stories in song and wrapping stories around songs. You may “be drawn in by a combination of Marc’s mastery of traditional banjo styles, his idiosyncratic singing, and [his] richly detailed ballads.” (Mike Regenstreif – Folk Roots/Folk Branches 2019) ... more

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