Uncle John Hamilton's Fairfield Rag Two Finger Banjo Version

John Hamilton was Hiram Williams maternal uncle known as "Fiddilin' John" in Nelson County, Ky because there were so many John Hamiltons in the area. He was a ne'er-do-well, never having a job and in jail some of the time for bootlegging in spite of the fact that the sheriff was both his cousin and the chief bootlegger in the county at the time.

He was an inspiration to John and Hiram as he was a good fiddler and built the first banjo and guitar for the duo. After a bout in jail, he moved to Nashville, IL where the family eventually followed him after Hiram's father Zeke abandoned them. Mary Frances Hamilton Williams, the brother's mother, reluctantly moved with them but warned the boys to stay away from Fiddlin' John due to his tendency to drink and lay about. They ignored her.

This is a tune that John supposedly composed. It is unclear if he did, mostly because it sounds just like all the other rags around at that time, but it is a fun tune to play. As usual it is in double D tuning and the key of D. John liked to play it in the key of D because "It is much harder to play in C."

It was also called "Turkeytown Rag" (which was the actual name of Fairfield, KY before they changed it) but never published under that name. (In fact it was never published.)