Summary: FAIR WARNING: Not Bluegrass. Not Old-time. A traditional sea shanty, with some original arranging and lyrics. Recording from my current music project. Despite disagreements in the folk community about where this shanty was used, it's near unanimous that the Rio Grande referred to is not the controversial one between the USA and Mexico, but rather the one in the southernmost part of Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul). That Rio Grande is not strictly a river, but a 24-mile long channel through a sandbar, enabling ships to reach some inland lagoons and several navigable rivers beyond them. The city of Rio Grande is the oldest city in the state, founded in 1737, and is cited as Brazil's second busiest port today. Banjo is my 1924 Vega Style F conversion. Alternating 3-finger (sans picks) and clawhammer. Guitar is a 90s vintage D35. Concertina is a very nice VST plugin by Best Service audioand upright bass is from the Kontakt 5 basic library. Both played on a MIDI keyboard by yers trooly. Most tracks recorded in GarageBand, remixed in Reaper, mastered with Izotope Ozone 7. I have fun doing this and it keeps me mostly out of trouble.
