The Pandemic Sessions: New Tunes in the Old-time Style (mostly) comprises a series of recordings of compositions by old-time fiddler Larry "Friar" Edwards — aka the Fiddlin' Friar (an ironic, if not irreverent, moniker he acquired as a mountain man re-enactor).
The book (58 pages) contains the sheet music of these compositions, as well as explanatory notes (and asides). Available from Amazon.
The companion CD features the 16 tunes in the book, with separate vocal and instrumental tracks for Got the Pandemic Blues. The 17 tracks may be downloaded individually — available from CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, Gracenote MusicID, Spotify, and other outlets. (June 2021)
The recordings include Friar playing the fiddle (because he couldn't afford to hire a Nashville pro — beaver plews, apparently, no longer being as good as gold), as well as bass and (very little) guitar. The accompanists and featured soloists — The Virtual Strangers — include virtual guest artists (a number of whom are Nashville pros), although one tune has a live, in-person accompanist — Richard Chance, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The virtual recording sessions.
Although the compositions span more than two decades, all but one of the recordings were made during the Great COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020-21, when live music and jam sessions became a thing of the past, and "virtual" became the word of the day.
The original plan called for this to be completed in 2020, but life (and work) intervened, and since the Pandemic continued raging, it was released in early June 2021.
Some of you may recognize a few of the earlier tunes, and the collection includes a number of newer tunes, some written during the Pandemic.
Tunes and Songs
And let's not forget Bob, as in Bob T. Parrot, the overbearing, pie-eyed associate producer and recording engineer who oversaw every session (at least in spirit, so to squeak). That's Bob to the right, stealing a nip of tuning fluid from Friar's cup.