It's been just over a year since the dulcimer world lost one its greatest talents and advocates, David L. Schnaufer,  to a battle with cancer.  He left behind legions of friends, admirers, and inspired dulcimer players who mourn his loss, and celebrate his life.  His music especially is in all of us who ever had the privilege of meeting him, hearing him, and learning from him, and his influence continues to spread as we continue to share what he taught us with others.  For more about David's life, check out the "Remembering David" page which you can get to from the Nashville Dulcimer Quartet's website.

September was David's birth month, and last year I posted an arrangement of a song he co-wrote with Herb McCullough called "Starry Lullaby" (still available for downloading from the Tab Archive section of this website).  Continuing in the tradition of using the monthly tab for September to remember and honor David, this month's tune is an arrangement of a song called "Blackberry Jam", which was written by a friend of David's named Rocky Alvey.  Rocky is the superintendent at Vanderbilt's Dyer Observatory in Nashville.  Since David was an astronomy enthusiast, he spent lots of time on the observatory grounds, an idyllic oasis-like hilltop in the middle of downtown Nashville, and quickly struck up a friendship with Rocky.  David used to say you "can't swing a cat in Nashville without hitting half a dozen song writers" (must be something in the water there!), and as it turned out, Rocky is also a talented songwriter.  Click on the link above to download the complete set of lyrics (.pdf format).  I'll let Rocky tell the rest of this story in his own words:

Oh yes, Bag balm salve is a cream we used on the udders of dairy cows. Farmers found that it was good for their hands as well. The old folks caught on to it and the salve became a cure-all. Grandpa said it would cure chiggers, which always attacked your delicate parts while pickin’ blackberries. You can still buy it today if you have chiggers or raw cow udders!

The encouragement from our dear brother Schnaufer meant the world to me. Were it not for David, my songs may never have seen the light of day.  I knew David through Vanderbilt and had asked him if he would give me some advice on what to do with some songs I had written. We sat down in his office, instruments scattered about, and I sang through two or three--one of the songs was Blackberry Jam... Now, that was really something for me to sing in front of him as I hadn’t sang in front of another soul since a church solo gone bad when I was twelve, but I trusted David. When I finished singing, David sat back and said “I’m stunned.  “You’ve got to get with a friend of mine, T.J. Larkin and cut these songs.”

On the day of the Blackberry Jam session, David came in to lay banjomer and Jaw Harp. Having him in the studio are some of my treasured memories. The sessions with him were always joyful times. David’s humorous running commentary and anecdotes kept us chuckling. His mastery and intuitive skill while playing was mesmerizing. I remember grinning a lot that day.

 The original cut from the recording session of this tune that Rocky mentions is now available on a wonderful compilation CD called "Dulcimers for David" that was the brain child of Debbie Porter.  Her idea is to continue David's legacy in the dulcimer world by putting dulcimers into the hands of children.  100% of the proceeds from the sale of this recording go to purchase dulcimers for school-aged children.  There are 21 tracks on the CD, with contributions by many of David's closest friends, as well as a number of previously un-released tracks that David had recorded himself.  Click on the link above for more information, download some sample mp3 samples (including a clip from the original "Blackberry Jam" recording session), and to order your own copy to support this very worthy endeavor.

I'm indebted to Rocky Alvey for his permission in making this tab available, and also Vince Farsetta for using his photo of David at the top of this page.

Enjoy the tune, and as David would say, keep on pickin'!

Cheers,

--Tull