Here’s a solo fiddle piece by Floyd County fiddler, Sam Connor, who was from the Copper Hill section towards Roanoke, Virginia. I visited him in his home one time with Jay Griffin and Susie Crate back in the mid 1980s. He was not able to play any more, he said then, but we talked quite a bit and I think we may have played a few tunes for him. Nice fella.
On this number and in general his style is a bit “free meter” where he adds a beat occasionally and generally holds the last note of each phrase. It’s just enough to drive a banjo or guitar player crazy!
I would say he mostly played at home by himself with no one to back him up. When he was young he got around a lot more in the community and was associated with the Floyd County banjo player, Dent Wimmer. They collaborated on a few excellent banjo and fiddle duets in the Old Originals LP project that I have drawn some numbers from for my Tune of the Week ‘local’ old time effort. I will feature one sometime soon.
This number was recorded by Englishman Mike Yates back in the early 1980s I think. It’s a part of the collection called Appalachia. I suspect Sam learned it from a 78 RPM recording of the Skillet Lickers.