Pretty Polly
For quite a while we’ve wanted to remake our first forum post from eleven years ago. It’s a complete “start over” with Peter on guitar and Janice’s new vocals and her cajon playing. The tune is based on a 250 year old English murder ballad “The Gotsport Tragedy” later known as “Pretty Polly.” There are literally scores of verses and variants on the theme. We performed this with our bluegrass band back in the day in the typical uptempo style. So does reggae + hillbilly = reggaebilly? smile

Our objective was to make the song sound as haunting and melancholic as are the many folk versions. Variations of the tune have been recorded in "mountain modal" tuning with the banjo being the prominent instrument. To try and approximate this we ended up doing the song in Bbm. We rested the temptation to add chords as it has been performed for hundreds of years with just the two. Also we hoped to pay homage to its roots with Peter’s acoustic guitar and brief fiddle bits.

Thanks to Peter, PG Music and to you for your time to listen and, as always, comments are welcomed and appreciated - even if reggae isn’t your genre smile

If interested here’s some of the tune’s history:
Wiki Article

Janice: lead/harmony vocals, cajon & arrangement

Peter: guitar solo/fills - Variax emulating a Martin D28.

Bud: mix, mastering, arrangement, photo, etc.

lead/harmony vocals > Rodes NT1 mic > Scarlett Interface > Logic Pro X > Nectar

Bass: RealTracks 1157 Reggae > Waves Bass Rider > Neutron 3 (pieced together from multiple tracks)

Drums: RealDrums Reggae Classic > Waves ClA Drums
(includes bits from multiple tracks)

Cajon > MXL Mic > Scarlett Interface > Logic Pro X > Waves CLA Drums

Rhythm Guitar: RealTracks 1158 Rhythm Reggae > Chromaverb

Organ: RealTracks 1159 B3 Rhythm Reggae > Logic Pro X Direction Mixer > Chromaverb

Fiddle: RealTracks 624 Soloist George > Waves CLA Unplugged > Ozone Imager

Mastering: Ozone Dynamic EQ > Ozone Vintage EQ > Ozone Imager > Ozone Maximizer > Izotope Tonal Balance > Logic Pro X Loudness Meter

Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more.
If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks!
Our Videos are here on our website.