The Original Shepherd's Pie Dixieland Band is a group of serious amateur musicians, located west and north of Boston, who enjoy playing Dixieland music together, with digressions into blues, swing, ragtime, and jazz.
We're more interested in
music than in money. Most of our performances are freebies for
nonprofit community and charitable events, but if anyone else is paid
for their services at a given event, we expect to be paid too. We
use the proceeds of paid gigs to buy
new charts for our library, to contribute to charities of the
band's choice, and occasionally to treat ourselves to a concert
featuring our idols, the New
Black Eagle Jazz Band.
Book the Original
Shepherd's Pie
Dixieland Band for your next festival, business function, wedding,
party, or benefit! See the sections below for much more
information about
the band.
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Clarinet, sometimes doubling on saxophone (soprano, alto, or tenor) |
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Usually we have a second reed
player (alto, tenor, or baritone sax) and sometimes a third |
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Trumpet |
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Trombone |
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Piano (either a real one or a
synthesizer) |
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Usually a banjo or guitar |
 
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Tuba (or
acoustic or electric bass) |
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Drums |
A couple of us will grab a
microphone and sing occasionally, but we're mostly an instrumental band.Even in our smallest,
6-person configuration, we take up a fair amount of space. We
aren't as loud as a rock band, but we're louder than a string quartet!
Unlike traditional
Dixieland bands, we' re at least partly a reading band. Some of
us are most comfortable playing from entirely written-out charts; some
like to improvise solos, but read well too; and some can fake it
all. We maintain an extensive library of well-arranged charts,
plus some less formal lead sheets.
Depending on which personnel turn up for a gig, you'll hear a
very different band every time.
The following alumni are
no longer
active in the band. We remember them fondly, we're grateful for
the
traditions they have passed along to us, and we would welcome them back
at
any time:
Do you play a Dixieland
instrument? Would you like to sit in with the band sometime?
It could happen, if you'll just let us know.
As an outlet for his interest in this style of music, Pastor (and clarinetist) Bill Heuss of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Acton recruited members of his congregation to play the various instruments required. The word "original" in the band's name is now ironic, since every founding member of the band has moved on and been replaced, in some cases three or four times over -- and in most cases by musicians who have no affiliation with the church.
The relationship between
church and band remains a mutually beneficial one. The band plays
several gigs for the church each year, including a summertime Dixieland
worship service (with traditional hymns arranged for the band's
instrumentation) as well as the annual Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)
pancake supper. The church provides
rehearsal space, and a loyal and enthusiastic audience.
Selected past gigs:
1. When My Sugar Walks Down The Street ("all the little birdies go tweet, tweet, tweet")From Dixieland Beat: a folio of Dixieland Orchestrations, arranged by Bill Howard, a publication of Edwin H. Morris & Company, Inc.
2. Dixie Down Beat (in the absence of a sax, cut F, i.e. take 2nd ending)
3. Who's Sorry Now?
5. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
8. New Orleans Masquerade (tag: drum break, then repeat last 8 bars)
10. Coney Island Washboard
12. Basin Street Blues (optional vocal at C, continues at D first time)From Dukes of Dixieland, Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp.
13. High Society
17. When the Saints Go Marching In (optional vocal and extended solos at D) (Encore: drums lead in to pickup to G) (short version: start 4 before C, no pickup)
18. Weary Blues
19. Maple Leaf Rag
22. Tin Roof Blues
24. When You're SmilingFrom The Heart of Dixieland Combos New Orleans Style, arranged by Steve Mashburn, Hansen House
28. Farewell BluesT (omit E, G, I, and K)
30. The EntertainerFrom Exciting Dixieland: Original Arrangements for Dixieland Band, Columbia Pictures Publications
33. Muskrat Ramble
34. Peacherine Rag (take all 2nd endings unless you need a clock-eater)
(nothing from this book is in our active repertoire)(Not quite sure where these came from:)
59. Wabash CannonballTFrom Combo Sounds of the Big Band Era, in two volumes, CPP/Belwin, Inc:
60. Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home (optional vocal, using Allan Sherman's lyrics, at A)
61. Johnson RagFrom Hal Leonard Dixieland Combo Pack #1, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
62. In the Mood
63. A String of Pearls
66. Moonlight Serenade (play 1st ending; 2nd; 1st with turnaround to lead back in; 1st; 2nd; coda)
67. Tangerine (intro middle of bar 27; D.C. to 1st ending; 2nd to middle of bar 27, then D.C. again; 1st; 2nd and out as printed) (note that 1st ending is very long, 11 bars) (optional vocal)
68. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (play 1st ending; 2nd; 1st; 1st; 2nd; coda)
70. To Each His Own (move coda skip from bar 7 to bar 15)
78. Elmer's Tune (play the whole thing twice)
79. Georgia On My MindS (play the whole thing twice)
80. In a Mellow Tone (loop on 1st ending)
84. 720 In the Books (optional vocal, 3 verses)
1011. Alabama JubileeS (ad lib solos bars 35-50)From Hal Leonard Dixieland Combo Pack #3, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
1012. Down By the Riverside (optional vocal, using Allan Sherman's lyrics) (ad lib solos bars 55-70, marked for Clarinet, then Trumpet)
1013. Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (solos bars 38-63 written out first time, ad lib after)
1014. St. James Infirmar (ad lib solos bars 35-42; twice through equals one solo)
1031. Royal Garden Blues (solos bars 44-55; each soloist takes two choruses)From Hal Leonard Dixieland Combo Pack #9, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
1033. Lazy River (take second ending at bar 59: it's plenty long enough without this very long repeat)
1091. I've Found A New Baby (ad lib solos bars 31-62)From Hal Leonard Dixieland Combo Pack #12, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
1092. Sadie Green, the Vamp of New Orleans (ad lib solo bars 57-60 for Clarinet)
1093. Sugar Blues
54. MameFrom Hal Leonard Dixieland Combo Pack #14, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
55. Way Down Yonder in New OrleansS
58. Under the Double Eagle
1141. Chinatown My Chinatown (ad lib solos bars 41-72)Custom arrangements by David Larrick (sorry, these arrangements are not available to other bands due to copyright restrictions)
1142. Mississippi MudS (ad lib solos bars 36-57)
3001. Cabaret (optional vocal bar 9)Hymns transcribed by David Larrick. Most of these are now available for free download.
3002. We Sail the Ocean Blues (with apologies to Arthur Sullivan)
3003. The Muppet Show ThemeM
3004. Rubber DuckieM
3005. Put Down the DuckieM
3006. The City of New OrleansT (optional vocal)
3007. The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa FeT (optional vocal)
3008. Back at the Chicken Shack
2001. Just a Closer Walk With Thee (intro: pickup to last 2; four verses)M = part of our "Sesame Street set"
2002. Shall We Gather At the River? (intro: last 4; four verses)
2003. I Love to Tell the Story (intro: pickup to last 4; four verses)
2004. Precious Lord, Take My Hand (intro: pickup to last 4; three verses)
2005. The old rugged Cross (Dixie version)
2006. In the Garden
2007. Amazing Grace
2008. What a Friend We Have in Jesus
2009. When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
2010. Guide my feet Lord
2011. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
