Pine Grove Furnace is a tune I wrote in 2008 while staying in Pine Grove Furnace, Pennsylvania. It was written as a duet intended for my buddy Will Kimble. Will and I still perform this song whenever together and it was a featured track on the Butch Baldassari tribute, The Road to Home. The Road to Home is still available on iTunes. It is also on my album In-Tuition: Mandopoly, also on iTunes, Amazon, and other streaming outlets.
It’s a straight-forward tune that acts a bit like Flop Eared Mule. The B part moves in key from G Major to F Major but basically the melody is the same with some variation. Then there is a figure that’s doubled on guitar and mandolin to get back to the A part. A fun tune.
Here is what Bluegrass Today said about the Road to Home when released May 20, 2009 (https://bluegrasstoday.com/the-road-home-butch-baldassari-tribute-cd/):
A new CD has been released from Sound Art Recordings as a tribute to the late Butch Baldassari, who founded the company, and ran it until his death earlier this year.
Butch was a true leader in the mandolin world – as a player, composer, instructor, entrepreneur, and fierce proponent of musical literacy for mandolinists. He had performed with seminal bands like Weary Hearts and Lonesome Standard Time and was instrumental in the formation of the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble.
He was diagnosed with an inoperable brain cancer in June of 2007, and fought long and hard against what would be a formidable and ultimately invincible foe. Butch’s wife Sinclair continues to run the company and manage Butch’s musical legacy, and she was very pleased to be able to announce the release of the new CD.
The Road Home – A Tribute To Butch Baldassari contains 20 tracks of music from Butch’s many friends in the bluegrass and mandolin worlds. There are contributions from Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Sam Bush, David Grisman, Tim O’Brien, Mike Compton, Roland White and many others.
Proceeds from the sale of this album will go to a college fund for Butch and Sinclair’s teenaged son, Blake.
Tablature is available free to everyone at Patreon
