A number of writers have, in fact, observed how the Serenaders' style and repertory reflected to a great extent that of the burgeoning Western Swing genre evolving in the state around the time of their first session. There is clearly some truth to the observation, but I think the assessment has been somewhat overstated. If Playboy fiddlers Bob Wills, Jesse Ashlock and 'Sleepy' Johnson had indeed been influenced by any previously recorded version of Beaumont Rag , for example, it must surely have been the relaxed tempo, high register fingering and bluesy inflections of the Smith band. Unlike, say, the Humphries Brothers, the East Texas Serenaders never recorded the more hackneyed waltzes such as After the Ball or Over the Waves . Blues influences may be found in the stylistic nuances of numerous recorded Texas fiddlers, with Prince Albert Hunt's Blues in a Bottle perhaps the best-known example.
Classic ragtime demands the frequent use of modulation and flattened tones also.
He is well aware, however, of its inappropriateness in tunes such as Shannon Waltz , whose B strain features lush sweet bowing in second or third fingering position. Here, if anywhere, may be heard the formal techniques he had learned from local music teacher Ellen Cannon. Of the supporting musicians, guitarist Cloet Hamman has a good line in single string runs. You , where he replaces the fiddle as melodic lead. Henry Bogan saws away at his three string cello, underpinning the whole and propelling it along nicely.