Had some time to kill on a rainy afternoon, and so I spent the day picking. . . Hobart Smith's Chinquapin Pie is probably the first banjo tune that I fell in love with. There is something both hypnotic and something so physically satisfying about playing it, more so than any other tune I know. Sometimes I go on for hours with it, either experimenting with variations and improvisations, and other times keeping close to the original.
I often pick the banjo in a local park here in Tokyo, and when I play this particular tune, passersby often stop to ask me what country's music I'm playing, and seem really surprised when I say that it's American. Doesn't happen much with other pieces.
Tuning is sawmill, capoed on the 2nd (but the banjo is below concert pitch)
Anyway, please give it a listen.
Jeff