What a year! Four ukulele books and two banjo books, each with a CD and TAB, plus a banjo download album (on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, etc) and a recording of 17th-century Scottish music with baroque guitar and viol. The final two uke books have just appeared. Check out the links (the author info needs updating!).

Mel Bay Publications have just brought the second of my two banjo books, this one is the Early Irish-American Banjo:

This one has music by Irish Americans of the 19th century, played on a gut-strung banjo. The TAB is for 5-string banjos, plus two tunings of tenor banjo: GDAE and CGDA. Click the photo for a link to the Mel Bay site. Available as hard copy with CD, or download with mp3 files.

My first banjo book has just emerged into the light. It consists of 27 tunes from 19th-century sources.

Check the info, contents and some samples HERE   

It comes with a CD of my performances on a gut-strung banjo, played with the flesh of the fingers (not metal picks). The sound is very different from the banjo of today, but the music can be played on modern banjos. Some great music in there!

From the publicity blurb:

Here is the Forgotten Heritage: Great Banjo Music!

Discover the birth of the American fingerstyle banjo in this collection of 28 of the finest tunes culled from banjo publications between 1860 and 1887. Learn amazing banjo music by some of the early leading players, James Buckley, Albert Baur, and the great Frank B. Converse, the greatest virtuoso of his day. From folk-style dances to parlor dances such as the Polka, Mazurka and Schottische, to advanced Romantic-period classical-style solos.

Can be played on modern banjos or period-style instruments. The CD recording by Rob MacKillop features a gut-strung banjo, and is played with the flesh of the fingertips, in the old American tuning. For modern instrument players, Rob has provided TAB and a Standard Notation stave at modern banjo pitch. Clawhammer players will find many of the pieces in the book suitable for their technique, and bluegrass/fingerstyle players will be able to play all the pieces.

Rob MacKillop provides a fascinating introductory essay, placing the music in its historical context, while his CD of performances can be viewed as a stand-alone recording by a leading player in the revival of this great American banjo heritage.