Dry and Dusty is a popular Old Time tune said to be from the Arkansas/Missouri Ozark area. This tune is often played in alternative fiddle tunings such as AEae (Arkansas fiddler Lon Jordan playing in A), DDad (Eck Robertson, Benny Thomasson, the Morrison twins – Apsie Sherdon Morrison and Abbie Sherman Morrison), ADad (Benny Thomasson, Morrison Twin Brothers String
Band), as well as the usual GDae.1
At one point the tune was so well known in the Ozark region that Ken Perlman, noted folklorist and clawhammer banjoist, claimed that the tune was played whenever the fiddler wanted tell the staff that they were “Dry and Dusty” and wanted a drink.
The version transcribed is a blend of a few different versions, as tunes learned in jams or at festivals often are.
https://youtu.be/tmV-i84Ztmw
Featured image: “Tumbleweed” by Jez Arnold is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Last modified: November 1, 2021
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Good choice. I remember listening to this tune on a Library of Congress record playing on my parents old monaural record player. That has absolutely no relevance to anything else here. But it is good to hear the tune again.