“No more the moon shines on Lorena” on 1848 W. E. Boucher banjo replica by Terry Bell

Trigger Warning:
This song and paraphrasing quote talks about slavery, oppression, and inequality, among the Native Americans, Irish, and Black Americans in our country's dark past. Beautiful music often comes from pain.
I learned this song watching a recording of Jerron Paxton perform it at The Arc, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a legally blind, black folk musician from the Watts District of Los Angeles, California. His grandparents were a huge influence on his music and brought their southern roots to California, from Louisiana in the 1950s. I can't describe in words how incredible he is. I'd love to watch him live, someday. For now, I'll just settle to struggle to capture an ounce of the soul of his music.
I'm playing on a replica 1840s W. E. Boucher banjo, which would've originally been made in Baltimore, Maryland. This replica was made by Terry Bell, in Caro Michigan. I hope to own a real one, one day.
This is an excerpt of most of what Paxton told the audience about the song:
“Blues is a meditation, and it’s been around for a long time. It didn’t make you feel better, it makes you understand. It’s true! It’s the medicine of my people. We went through a lot, you understand. We were educated about a lot… I’ll play you a song on this here banjo. This model of banjo I’m playing here is (a replica) from 1848, and the song is from the same year. It’s written down in that year.… Here's a song that combines a couple different cultures. On the year 1848 there was a terrible famine in Ireland, and a lot of Irish people immigrated to the states. Around the same time, the Choctaw side of my family, my mothers side, was put on the tail of tears.... my peoples was a servant class and they played this.. they were forced to play this music, it's the best way of putting it. They brought this instrument from Sinagambia, called the banjo, which was in the native language meant papyrus. The jig is popular across Ireland, it's also popular across sinagambia. It's a bit of a cross cultural jig while I tell you the story of Ms Lorena, in song and poem. The only that's not mentioned in the song about Ms Lorena is she liked to dance the jig, and this is the only way you could protest in 1848. It was the only way you could tell your story, and hope somebody realized it wasn't right...."
-Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton
The original video:
• Blind Boy Paxton: No M...

[@CliftonHicksbanjo]

Very cool. Great banjo.

[@baningobarge]

🔥 🔥
This song is awesome

[@TheSharp2500]

how does one find a banjo like that? Any way to get one of those online?

[@blainechappell5383]

there are some reproductions. Try Gardner's Dulcimers or County Banjos

[@chrisalton1]

awesome

[@moffphc9864]

will have a jug of my homemade sugar shine and listen to this

[@blainechappell5383]

I like the sound of that!

[@seancline8130]

🔥🔥🔥

[@dondert8741]

Wow…

[@waltzingpeter]

Absolutely love it. You happen to have the tab?

[@blainechappell5383]

Thanks. I learned this from watching and listening to Jerron's version several times. He got this song out of a book written in 1848 which i think you can Google. I'm not sure which book though. He talks about it in the original video, which i have posted in the description.
As far as a tab? There's not one that I know of.

[@cemkarayalcin6102]

@@blainechappell5383 The Jig that is played as the intro of this arrangement can be found in Frank B. Converse's Banjo Tutors, in his 1865 publication 'Banjo Instructor, without a master.' sometimes reffered to as the little yellow book it is titled Bully For You

[@blainechappell5383]

@@cemkarayalcin6102 thank you! I couldn't remember off the top of my head, and I haven't had the time to remember to go looking it up.

[@easternkentuckyoutdoors8092]

That’s a tuning I haven’t heard

[@blainechappell5383]

It’s relative gCGBG

[@zachb8012]

Blaine, Cliff, and Aaron all play Ol' Tar River out of this same tuning. Another great old time tune.