Fishy Finley: A Song History

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"Fishy Finley" is the first title in the song list of DulciWhistle, a Fingers Of Steel book of duets for mountain dulcimer and pennywhistle (also called tin whistle) by John Keane and Karen Keane, whose complete PDF runs to 33 pages.[1] The same list also has entries named "Fishy Finley 2" and "Fishy Finley 3," and the listing says nothing about how the three relate.[1] The listing presents all fourteen titles as original tunes by the Keanes, without crediting this one to either of them individually, and the download comes with MP3 recordings of each song.[1] Both Keanes, who are from Shreveport, Louisiana, earned degrees in music education, and their compositions for mountain dulcimer and Native American flute appear on several of their books and CDs.[2][3] The sources consulted here do not say who or what Finley is, and they document no recording of the tune outside the book.[1][2][3]

Fan-shaped Japanese woodblock print of two carp swimming among green water weeds on a blue ground

Katsushika Hokusai, Carp Swimming by Water Weeds, color woodblock print (fan), 1831. Shown for its fish; it has no connection to the tune.

Our book that contains the song "Fishy Finley"

Sources

  1. Fingers Of Steel: "John Keane And Karen Keane, DulciWhistle".
  2. DulcimerDownloads: "John Keane".
  3. DulcimerDownloads: "Karen Keane".
  4. Image: Katsushika Hokusai, Carp Swimming by Water Weeds, color woodblock print (fan), 1831. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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