Birdwatching (All Day Long The Cat Dreams Of Freedom): A Song History

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"Birdwatching (All Day Long The Cat Dreams Of Freedom)" appears in A Long Way From Shady Grove, the Fingers Of Steel book that transcribes Butch Ross's CD of the same name, where it is given in DAD tuning and marked ©2009 by Butch Ross.[1] According to his DulcimerDownloads biography, Ross is sought after as both a performer and an instructor at folk and dulcimer gatherings at home and overseas.[2] His Bandcamp page dates the album to May 9, 2009, and lists "Birdwatching" as its seventh track.[3] In a short note on the track, Ross credits his own cat as the inspiration, "sitting at the window and well... birdwatching."[4] The sources consulted here say nothing more about the piece.[4]

Color print of a cat beside a rock below a long-tailed bird on a flowering branch

Picture of a Cat, a Bird, and a Crabapple, multicolor woodblock print, 1662–1735. Shown for its cat and bird; it has no connection to the tune.

Our book that contains the song "Birdwatching (All Day Long The Cat Dreams Of Freedom)"

Sources

  1. Fingers Of Steel: "Butch Ross, A Long Way From Shady Grove".
  2. DulcimerDownloads: "Butch Ross".
  3. Butch Ross (Bandcamp): "A Long Way From Shady Grove".
  4. Butch Ross (Bandcamp): "Birdwatching".
  5. Image: Picture of a Cat, a Bird, and a Crabapple, multicolor woodblock print, 1662–1735. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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