Rattlebrained

About 3 years ago, wanting to make my own rhythm bones from scratch I got a few rib bones from a local butcher. I don’t have a garden so I left them on a southern facing window sill – 3 stories up – for about a year since it wasn’t clear I could stink up the place by putting them to macerate in some water. But with time it seemed obvious that just drying in the sun wasn’t going to get the grease out even with the help of a bugs.

So I covered them with water in a bucket in my workshop, put something on top of the bucket and forgot them. I wasn’t in my workshop very often at the time so maybe 4 months went by before I thought to check them out. I uncovered the bucket and found a horrible black swill which I flushed down the toilet as fast as I could… Yuck!

The bones had turned green, stunk, and still seemed pretty greasy.

Keep Reading...

The fact that I’ve been playing with Floyd Beaumont and the Arcadelphians for a year now but have never posted anything just shows how much a mess this blog has been. This is hopefully a thing of the past as I’ve spent the last week overhauling it. I’ve really been thrilled to be playing in an acoustic band again, just washboard, rhythm bones (as seen here) and getting some rubboard playing in too!

Keep Reading...

Pretty bad that my last post was over 2 month ago… but at least it gives today’s post a link of sorts since the concert I went to last Friday was organized by the Vully blues club and was the club’s thanks to all the members and volunteers who had helped out during the festival mentioned below.

And an enjoyable concert it was, given by French bluesman Cisco Herzhaft who played a variety of acoustic blues styles while also explaining a bit of the history…

Keep Reading...

Updated to add:

Well, once again for whatever reasons two of these videos have been removed. :-(
One can only hope that they will become available somehow, somewhere.

Check out this one while it still up!
Nursery Rhyme Blues

Keep Reading...

In November 2008 I acquired a pair of Nautical Style Bones. One thing that became obvious in the weeks after I received them was that I should have bought two pairs to be able to practice with both hands so, curious as to what wood rhythm bones would sound like and interested in the challenge, I decided to make some…

Keep Reading...

Last week I fond some old plastic Joe Birl rhythm bones on Ebay in perfect condition and inside their original packaging. They came yesterday and I was able to remove them without damaging anything. I HAD to try them!

They have a grove at the top of the bones to keep them from sliding out of your fingers, a unique design to which Joe Birl held the patent. Although smaller than I would have though (6×1 inches), they have a nice feel and sound. I’m impressed and immediately regret the days when these could pretty much be found at most corner stores…

The Rhythm Bone society has put the story of how Joe patented these bones on their website.

Found on Mother Earth News; a quick overview of rhythm bones playing that also explains how to “recycle” your evening’s beef ribs…

Keep Reading...