"Snowbird" - Crosspicking Mandolin by Jeremy Stephens

Описание: I got totally obsessed with Jesse McReynolds' instrumental version of this Anne Murray song after my wife, Corrina Rose Logston Stephens, and I were privileged to be involved with the Jesse McReynolds tribute portion of the AFM Local 257's annual benefit concert called "For Those We Lost." That night, we shared the stage with Sam Bush, Jim Buchanan, Mike Bub, Ronnie McCoury, and our old bandmate Garrett McReynolds, Jesse's grandson; all playing together on a pile of wonderful Jesse tunes.

Midway on the set there was a vintage video feature from the late 1970s showcasing John Jorgenson playing "Snowbird" as he had learned from Jesse's recording of it. I stood on the stage with my jaws dropping and I knew I had to learn it!! After I noodled on it around the house for a couple months, I decided I would make a quick recording of it. I laid down all the rhythm tracks first and then played the mandolin to them. I finished the track December 10, 2023 and that is the recording that you hear on this video.

I've been posting a lot of vintage content on my channel lately and still have lots more to post, but I wanted to include something new, so I decided to do a video of myself playing mandolin to this recording. Alot of folks have asked me about Jesse's crosspicking style on the mandolin, so I hope this video will be education to those folks. I was inspired to learn the song by Jorgenson, and I've incorporated some of his licks in the C part, but I went back to Jesse's recording to get everything as close to what he did as I could. Jesse only plays the sections of the tune that are in A, because when it goes to C on his cut, the guitar takes the lead, so there is some room for personal interpretation, so I hope you like what I did with the C part.

Also, please forgive me on anything that doesn't look exactly right with matching the recording. Its hard to get it all perfect, but I think it is close enough for anyone that is wanting to figure out whats going on! Enjoy!

Audio Track Recorded December 10, 2023
Video Sync Captured October 25, 2025

Jeremy Stephens - mandolin, guitar, banjo, upright bass

Here's a link to Jesse McReynolds' 1972 recording of the song from his "Mandolin Workshop" LP.
   • Snowbird - Jim & Jesse