Jay Ungar & Molly Mason: Ashokan Farewell

Since it is Traditional/Roots Tuesday, here's a nice instrumental written in the style of a Scottish lament. Performed by husband and wife Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, many of you may remember “Ashokan Farewell” as the recurring theme to Ken Burns' first PBS special – “The Civil War.” This is kind of fitting the day following Memorial Day.

Civil War Captain Charles William Owston of the Pittsburgh Rifles

Company A, 9th Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps

This rendition is beautifully done by the tune's composer and his accompanist. I like to use this waltz to warm up on the mandolin as it is not only beautiful, there is an interesting addition of a C chord during the song's bridge that makes this tune written in D even more fun to play.

Jay Ungar talks about writing the song

While often wrongly credited as a traditional air, this song was actually written in the late 1980s.

Martin Gross’ Dobro® Instrumental