Reverend
Hi, I'm Pete Strickler. I'm a plectrum instrument (tenor banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, tenor guitar) player and teacher around the Denver area.
I also do some restoration and setup of instruments, mostly tenor banjo. My Instrument Acquisition Syndrome has gotten the better of me, and I have several nice instruments, including a B&D Silverbell #6, a Paragon with a Tom Cussen reproduction 17 fret neck, an Ome Juggernaut, a Fletcher Brock 5 course bouzouki/cittern, and a custom made arch top tenor guitar from Herb Taylor.
When I'm not playing music, I spend my time as a software developer.
Give me a shout if you're ever coming through Denver. We have a burgeoning Irish music scene, with plenty of sessions, house concerts, and festivals for your Irish traditional music needs.
More about some of my music projects below.
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PORTAL IRISH MUSIC FESTIVAL
I am involved in a new week-long teaching festival in Portal Arizona. The inaugural festival was held in October, 2011. It was immersion in the music at its finest. Everyone there had a fantastic time, and we're all looking forward to doing it again in 2012!
More information here: http://portalmusicweek.com/
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ABC SEARCH ENGINE
I built an ABC search engine that uses fuzzy logic to match tunes, and can even search in different keys for you. Check it out at http://abctunesearch.com, and make sure you read the instructions, as it may not be completely intuitive!
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ITM-RELATED PRODUCTS
I have a hobby website, where I've designed tee-shirts and other products related to playing Irish Traditional Music. Most of the shirts are funny, and most are inside jokes that only your fellow player will understand, but that's kinda the point :-)
http://ITMgoodies.com
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ORIGINAL TUNES
I go through phases of authoring tunes. Sometimes they just pop out unexpectedly. As Will Harmon might say: "the tune already exists, but I was the one that channeled it into this world".
Since there is a policy about putting original tunes into the database, I decided that maybe this is a good place to share some of my compositions, along with stories about them.
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I've always been a cat person, but I have come to know a very lovable little dog named Licorice. She really is pretty sweet. I hadn't written any tunes in a few years, and I didn't sit down to write this one - it just appeared while I was watching breakfast being prepared in my kitchen, and Licorice was sitting at my side, pawing at my leg. (Because she hadn't been petted in something like 30 seconds. And being petted is much more important than anything else I might be doing, like noodling out tunes on the tenor guitar…)
X: 1
T:Sweet Licorice
C: Pete Strickler
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|A,2DF Adfd|ecAc ecAG|FGAd cdef|gecd eddF|
|A,2DF Adfd|ecAc ecAG|FGAd cdea|aecd edd2|
|d2fd Adfa|ecAc ecAG|FGAd cdef|gecd edd2|
|d2fd Adfa|gece gecB|Aceg fge^g|aecd eddF|
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A tune that just popped out one afternoon. It wasn't my intention to mimic the A part of the Corner House reel, but that's what popped out in my noodling. Thus the name...
X: 1
T:Cornerstone, the
C: Pete Strickler
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Ador
|:EAA ABc|edc BAG|EGG AGG|BcB AGD|
EAA ABc|edc Bcd|edc BAG|BAG A2B:|
|:cde a2a|baa bag|edB GBd|ged BAG|
cde a2a|baa bag|edc BAG|BAG A2B:|
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I have a local session at a place near my home called the Colorado Coal Company. The town I live in was originally a mining town, and as with a lot of mining towns, there were a lot of Irish people living here in years past. This tune appeared one night after I got home from a particularly rousing session at the CCC. It just came out, fully formed. The alcohol consumption that evening only greased the wheel...
X: 1
T:Coal Company, The
C: Pete Strickler
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: D
ADFe f2 ed|cdBc ADFA|BcdB ADFA|1 BAGF E2 A2:|2 FGEF D2 e2||
fdd2 gfed|cdBc ADFA|1 BcdB ADFA|agfg e3g:|2 fddz geez|faef d2 A2||
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Barkley was a great cat, she got lung cancer and had to be put to sleep at the age of 16 (probably related to the fact that I smoked for the first 10 years of her life). I was grieving her loss, and looking for a way to memorialize what she meant to me. It's a strange tune, but it still makes me smile and remember my friend.
X:1
T:Barkley's Jig
C: Pete Strickler
M:6/8
R:jig
K:G
|DEG ABd|gfe d2B|~c3 cBG|E3 GEE|DEG ABd|gfe d2B|~c3 BGF|1 G3 G3:|2 G3 G2A|
|~B3 dBd|gba gdB|~c3 cdg|f3 fdA|DEG ABd|gfe d2B|~c3 BGF|G3 G2A|
|~B3 dBd|gba gdB|~c3 cdg|f3 fza|bgg aff|gfe d2B|~c3 BGF|G3 G2E|
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A trip to Ireland for two weeks with my friend Roger Landes had me all excited. About two weeks prior to departure, I wrote this tune. We were set to fly to Dublin from Chicago - but this was a much better title than "O'Hare to Dublin".
X:1
T:Midway to Dublin
C: Pete Strickler
M:6/8
R:jig
K:D
|:EAd cAF|GAB A2F|GAB cdA|FGA E2D|A,DD EDD|GFE D2G|FED B,DD|EDC D2D:|
|EAd fed|fed A2f|edA Bcd|faf e2A|def aaa|baf a2g|fed Bcd|edc d2A|
|def fed|fed A2f|edA Bcd|faf e2A|def aaa|baf a2g|fed Bcd|edc d2D|
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One of the greatest nights while Roger and I were in Ireland was an evening with friends in Craughwell. There were a number of singers and players there, and our wonderful hostess made a great dinner, with an apple tart for dessert. One of the great people I met that night, Tony Callanan (formerly with Stockton's Wing), has a fantastic sense of humor. And his fondness for the apple tart was a big part of the evening fun that lasted til the wee hours. This tune is dedicated to Tony in thanks for a memorable evening. (To make it more session-friendly, it can be transposed up to D, and still works great. But I am a banjo player, and love the growly G string on this tune...) On another note, John Carty commented that he liked this tune, and that I should "put it out there", and people would play it.
X: 1
T:Tony's Apple Tart
C: Pete Strickler
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: G
G,A,|:B,DDB, CDE2|DGFD C2B,C|DGBA GDB,2|B,CDE A,2G,A,|
B,DDB, CDE2|GFDB, C2B,C|DGBA GDB,2|1 B,CDB, G,2G,A,:|2 B,CDB, G,A,FG|
|:ADD2 FGAB|c2cB A2GA|BEE2 BAGF|G2GE D2FG|
ADD2 FGAB|c2cB A2Bc|d2dc BGGA|1 BGGF G2FG:|2 BGGF GG,|
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On a week-long trip to Montana to visit friends, I got to spend some time with trad2nz from thesession. Doug & Jane are great! At one point during a session, Doug pulls out a flask to offer some scotch to the parched banjo player. I commented that I needed to get one, because they often come in handy. Doug suggested a store in which I might find one, but I looked there and didn't see anything I liked. I told them this the day before I left, and the next day, wouldn't you know it, they had made a present of their beautiful flask! So to repay them, I wrote a tune... In G mixolydian... For a flute player... LOL (Sorry Doug!)
X: 1
T:Hip Flask, the
T:for trad2nz
C: Pete Strickler
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmix
|:Adc BGG|AFF AGG|Adc BGG|B,CD G^FG|
Adc BGG|Bcd AFF|Adc BGG|1 fec d2G:|2 fec d2A|
|:Bcd ~g3|ag^f g2B|Bcd fed|efe dcA|
Bcd ~g3|ag^f g2a|bag ^fed|1 cA^F AGA:|2 cA^F G2G||
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Tunes in Reverend's tunebook: 340