Bluegrass Birthday
All BackBlasts BackblastsJune 1st, 2021
15 hard-drivin, rootin, tootin, PAX came out for a hootenanny, rip-roarin good time to help Banjo Boy ring in 38 years of livin. We wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it? Here it goes…
First we moseyed from the cars, mixed in some high knees and butt kickers. Circle up (and do-see-do) for Warmarama in cadence, with feelin:
- Windmill x10
- Penny Picker x10
- SSH x20
- Hillbilly x20
Then we turned on the boombox and got to cloggin. You will either really enjoy the pickin or it will add to your sufferfest. Both are acceptable outcomes for a beatdown.
“Hold Whatcha Got” by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Jimmy Martin. Plank variations for 2:54.
“Mountain Dew” by The Stanley Brothers. Mountain Climber variations for 2:42.
Train songs… (“The Train that Carried My Girl From Town” and “Orange Blossom Special”) Indian Run up and down the parking lot to the practice field and line up for a COVID-friendly Cackalacky Choo Choo. PAX makes the tunnel and the guy at the end bear crawls to the end. I think everyone got two turns.
Mosey to The Ridge for “Flint Hill Special” by Flatt and Scruggs. Burpee at the bottom, run up, Burpee at the top.
Mosey to the ticket booth for “Pig in a Pen” by Ricky Scaggs. This is a Banjo Boy original variation of the Burpee. Go all the way to the ground on a burpee, roll left, push up and jump. Go back down, roll right, push up and jump. Repeato for 1:56.
Mosey to the posts on the practice field for “Muleskinner Blues” by Tony Rice. Donkey kick at the posts, sprint to the wall, donkey kick. Repeato for 4:21.
Mosey to the LP, circle up. In Bluegrass tradition, each instrument gets a turn to take the lead and this is highlighted across time in the instrumental tunes. If you have any kind of soul in your body, you will want to move. Having a decent guess at the dancing skills of this crowd, an exercise was assigned to each instrument. When it took the lead, the exercise changed.
Mandolin = LBC, Banjo = Lunge, Guitar = Squat, Fiddle = Drydock, Dobro = Merkin, Everything = Hillbilly
We did this on “Black Rock” by The Infamous Stringdusters and “Whitewater” by Bela Fleck for a total of 6:43.
Went straight to Mary with “New Son/Burnt Iron” by Trampled By Turtles (which could be the name of the Clydesdales Runners of Harrisburg). Low flutter, WW2 Situps, Freddy Mercury for 4:22 (2min overtime).
Announcements and COT
Moleskinner blues:
- Thanks for playing along and birthday wishes. @Deadhead had some great tunes going a few months ago and I thought it could be a fun idea to make y’all listen to bluegrass for 45 min.
- We may have made history with this workout because who would be dumb enough to set a beatdown to bluegrass. I figured it could go a few ways. You either 1) thought you hated bluegrass because the cool kids said you should but now know how great it is and have already bought your Merlefest tickets and ready to start banjo lessons, 2) confirmed that you hated bluegrass and knew that all those hipsters were dumb, OR 3) were already a fan and were happy to have some foot-stompin music to workout to.
- Lots of the greatest pickers come from NC. The musical heritage of our state runs deep. If you didn’t want to stab pencils in your ears, take a listen to the playlist on Slack. It might make you happy.
- Next time we will cover Murder Ballads, Claw hammer style of banjo pickin, and cloggin.
- Avett Bros are not Bluegrass. Neither is Mumford and Sons. They will not be a part of any future beatdowns.
“I hate to say goodbye so I’ll just say so long”