Plank Road Folk Music Society

Plank Road String Band

Plank Road String Band Monthly Practices

The String Band practice sessions are open to newcomers, and are held monthly on the second Saturday of each month, September through April. Those who are interested in playing with the band should be able to play their instruments at an intermediate level.

Folks who would like to play with the band at barn dances and in performances should attend the monthly practices regularly, become familiar with the music and practice at home.

If you have any questions, please call Jen at 630-518-2619 Or email: j.shilt@comcast.net

Every second Saturday 2-4pm (September through April)
First Church of Lombard
220 South Main Street in Lombard, IL (next to Maple Street Chapel) (Map)

Things to Bring:

  • Instrument
  • Tuner
  • Music stand
  • Chord sheets and/or sheet music downloaded from our tune list
  • Paper and pencil recommended
  • Optional but strongly recommended: Hand-held recording device

The String Band performs at Plank Road barn dances and has performed for many community groups such as Lombard Historical Society and other living history museum events, barn dances for church groups, local area folk festivals, the Danada Fall Equestrian Festival, Civil War reenactments and more.

The music we play draws mostly from the traditional tunes of North America, which includes music from New England, Southern and Midwestern United States, Eastern Canada and the British Isles.


A little String Band history...

The origin of the Plank Road All-Volunteer String Band began with Cathy Jones, Mark Dvorak, Marianne Mohrhusen and Marvin Lensik. Marianne wanted to learn how to call dances, so Mark and Cathy decided to have a volunteer band with whoever wanted to play. It grew from primarily Plank Road members to incorporating many of the Jones Family Music School students.

String Band Leader, Betsy Anderson
String Band Leader, Betsy Anderson
String Band Founder, Cathy Jones
String Band Founder, Cathy Jones

Additionally, "barn dance dynamics" classes and workshops (that included Plank Road members) were held by Cathy for students who wanted to get more involved in the specifics of performing old-time music as a band. Over the years, as the Jones Family Music School started to wind down, the band began meeting at the First Church of Lombard.

Today, the String Band remains, a passionate, committed group of musicians whose common goal is to perform traditional old-time music. Our leader is Betsy Anderson.


Below are tunes that we play or are working on: Sound files for listening and chords or sheet music for learning. This symbol indicates tunes we are currently working on or play regularly. So now, rosin up the bow or get a grip on your pick, and get to playing.

Search:
Tune Key
Tune Key Listen Chords Sheet Music
Addie On the Sandbar - Willow On The Lake G
Angeline the Baker D  
Arkansas Traveler D
Ashokan Farewell D  
Bass Runs      
Bass Runs - Waltz      
Battle Cry of Freedom Medley- Seneca Square Dance - Nail That Catfish G
Battle Hymn of the Republic G  
Beeler or Peeler Creek Waltz G  
Big Scioto - Bigfoot G
Billy in the Lowground C    
Black Cat in a Briar Patch G/C  
Blackest Crow D    
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine - Dixie - Eighth of January D
Bonnie Blue Flag G  
Bonnie Blue Flag (lyrics) G  
Booth Shot Lincoln A
Booth Shot Lincoln - Tippin' Back the Corn A  
Boys of Bluehill D
Buffalo Gals G  
Bumblebee in a Jug C
Cajun Fiddle A
Camp Meeting on the 4th of July D
Carolina Sunrise D
Cherokee Shuffle A
Chicken Reel D    
Colored Aristocracy G
Dennis Murphy's Polka - John Ryan Polka D  
Devil in the Haystack A  
Did Ya Ever Meet the Devil Uncle Joe (Miss McLeod's Reel) - Stump Tailed Dog G
Dinah - Colored Aristocracy - Girl I Left Behind G
Dog Treed A Possum Up A White Oak Tree D  
Eighth of January D    
Fields of November G
Fishin' Limber A
Frosty Morning Am    
Frosty Morning - Kitchen Girl - aka Frosty Kitchen Medley A
Frosty Morning - Squirrel Hunters - aka Frosty Squirrel Medley am/A
Gallopede G  
Girl I Left Behind Me G
Golden Slippers D  
Golden Slippers - Spotted Pony D  
Greasy Coat Am    
Green River Waltz G
Greenwood Tree D  
Hard Times Come Again No More D    
Harvest Home D    
Haste to the Wedding - My Darling Asleep D    
Hay Mow A    
Hobb Dye G
I'll Reap What I Sow Am  
I'll Reap What I Sow - Greasy Coat Am
I'm Going to the West G    
Italian Waltz G  
Jambalaya D    
Jenny Lind Polka G  
Jesse James G    
Jesse James - Rock the Cradle George G    
John Ryan's Polka D  
John Short's Tune D  
John Short's Tune - John Ryan's Polka D
Jump in the Well My Pretty Little Miss A  
Jump Jim Crow D    
June Apple - Red Haired Boy - Old Joe Clark A  
Katie Bar the Door D    
Katie Bar the Door - Little Betty Brown D
Keep on the Sunny Side G    
Kesh Jig em    
Kingdom Coming D    
Ladies Choice Waltz A
Last Letter Home D    
Liberty D  
Little Betty Brown D    
Little Rabbit A  
Lorena G    
Lost Hornpipe D  
Lover's Waltz G    
Magpie G  
Midnight On the Water D  
Millers Reel G  
Millers Reel - Stranger On the Mule G
Mississippi Sawyer - Liberty D    
Mississippi Sawyer D  
Montague Processional D    
Morrisons Jig em    
Morrisons Jig - Kesh medley em  
My Cape Breton Home G
My Darling Asleep D    
Nail That Catfish G  
Never Mind the Weather G  
No Corn on Tygart G  
Off to California G    
Oklahoma Rooster D  
Old Joe Clark A    
Old Plank Road D    
Old Yeller Dog - Shenandoah Falls - Fishin Limber medley A    
Old Yeller Dog Come Trotting Through the Meeting House A    
Ootpick Waltz G  
Over the Waterfall D    
Peacock Rag D    
Peekaboo Waltz D    
Petronella D    
Pig Ankle Rag D    
Polk County Breakdown A    
Pond Creek Polka D/G    
Possum On A Rail G  
Pretty Little Widow A
Rally 'Round the Flag Boys G  
Rally 'Round the Flag Boys - Seneca Square Dance - Nail that Catfish G  
Red Lick D    
Redwing - Possum On A Rail G    
Redwing G    
Road to Lizdoonvarna G    
Road to Lizdoonvarna - Swallotail Jig em      
Road to Westfield A      
Robinson County D    
Rock Andy am/A    
Rock the Cradle George G    
Rocky Mountain Goat - Forked Deer - Whiskey Before Breakfast - Drunken Animal medley D  
Rocky Mountain Goat (Cowan Creek version) (D) D    
Roscoe G    
Rose In the Mountain D    
Rose Of San Antone D/A    
Rosebud of Avonmore A    
Sailor's Hornpipe A    
Saint Anne's Reel D  
Saint Anne's Reel- Over the Waterfall D  
Sally Ann Johnson D    
Sally Gardens G    
Salt Creek A      
Salt Creek - Jump in the Well My Pretty Little Miss A
Sandy River Belle G    
Santa Annas Retreat - Ducks on the Pond am/A  
Shenandoah Falls A  
Seneca Square Dance G  
Snake River D    
Snake River - Dog Treed A Possum - Walk Old Shoe D
Soldier's Joy D  
Soldier's Joy - Too Young To Marry D    
Spanish Waltz - Melody G    
Speed the Plough A      
Spinning Jenny G    
Spootiskerry G  
Spotted Pony D    
Squirrel Hunters am      
Staten Island D    
Stones Rag C    
Stranger On the Mule G    
Stranger On the Mule - No Corn on Tygart - Millers Reel G  
Stump Tailed Dog G    
Swallow Tail Jig G    
Swannoanoa Waltz D    
Sweet Bundy D    
Sweet Bundy - Mississippi Sawyer - Liberty D    
Tarantella C      
Tennessee Waltz G    
Tippin' Back The Corn A  
Tom Bhetty's Waltz G
Tom Bhetty's Waltz - Tennessee Waltz G    
Too Young to Marry D  
Turkey in a Peapatch D    
Turkey In The Straw Variation G    
Twin Sisters D  
You Are My Sunshine C/G  
Valse de les Petites Filles D  
Virginia Reel Medley em    
Walk Old Shoe D  
Walnut Gap G  
Waynesborough G    
West Fork Gals - Needlecase - Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss D      
When Johnny Comes Marching Home am      
Whiskey Before Breakfast D    
White Rose Waltz C  
Willow On The Lake G  
Winder Slide D  
Wise Old Friend A      
Yankee Doodle G      
Year of Jubilo - Dixie - 8th of January D  
Yellow Rose of Texas D  
Yellow Rose of Texas - Oklahoma Rooster D  

(Return to top of tune list)

For those of you who want the entire repertoire, we have compiled our current tunes into 2 zip files, one for Sheet music and one for the Chords. Latest Updates: Chords - April 2023; Sheet Music - April 2023. We will update this page whenever we add new tunes!

Currently, the Chords Zip file is about 8 mb in size and the Sheet Music Zip file is about 58 mb. When you extract the contents of each you will have a separate PDF file for each tune so you can just print off what you need at the time. The individual PDF files can also be imported into sheet music apps like forScore for iPads or MobileSheets for Android tablets.

NOTE: The zip files currently contain a few tunes that we are not currently playing as well as multiple versions of a few of the tunes. We are working on separating out the duplicates and unused tunes to pare down the size of the zip files; in the meantime, apologies for any confusion. Please refer to the Tune List web page if you have questions on which is the current version of a tune.

 Download ALL Chord Sheets  Download ALL Sheet Music