The Leaves Of Shongaloo: A Song History
"The Leaves Of Shongaloo" is a duet for mountain dulcimer and Native American flute from DulciFlute, a songbook by John and Karen Keane published by Fingers Of Steel.[1] The book's listing describes all sixteen of its pieces as the authors' own compositions, not adaptations of old-time material, with the flute part written out in notation, chord symbols for the dulcimer, and a recording of every tune played by the Keanes themselves.[1] A getting-started page shown with the listing explains that the tunes are written for a Native American flute in B minor and that the dulcimer chord fingerings given are for D-A-D tuning.[1] Shongaloo is a village in Webster Parish, Louisiana,[2] and in the book the tune sits among titles that mention Caddo Lake, Bayou Bodcau and Natchitoches.[1]
Dish with Maple Leaves in Waves, porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze color enamel (Hizen ware, Nabeshima type), late 1600s–early 1700s. Shown for its leaves; it has no connection to the tune or to Louisiana.
The Keanes come from Shreveport, Louisiana, and both earned music education degrees at what is now the University of Louisiana at Monroe; between them they play mountain dulcimer, Native American flute, ukulele and cajon, and they have written a number of dulcimer-and-flute books and albums.[3] The sources consulted here do not say which of the two wrote this piece or when, though both sample tunes shown with the book are credited to John and Karen Keane jointly.[1]
Sources
- DulcimerDownloads: "John Keane And Karen Keane - DulciFlute".
- Louisiana.gov: "Webster Parish".
- DulcimerDownloads: "John Keane".
- Image: Dish with Maple Leaves in Waves, porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze color enamel (Hizen ware, Nabeshima type), late 1600s–early 1700s. The Cleveland Museum of Art.