Maplecrest Hoedown is an instrumental tribute to the square dances that used to take place in the first half of the 20th century in and around Maplecrest (Big Hollow) and Hensonville, at which, I have been told by numerous people, my grandfather Otis Planck used to play fiddle.
He passed in the 1950s, when I was young and in elementary school, and I'm not sure if I ever heard him play an instrument or not. I do remember his compass, however, which he let me hold to see the steadiness of my hand. I believe he played a variety of instruments when he was younger, and I know that the generation that followed him certainly did.
My father Everett Planck loved playing barn dance and gospel music around the house on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, and mouth harp, although the opportunities were often far and few between.
He and his brothers, Uncle Bob, Uncle Clifford, and Uncle Sterling also all played some or all of those instruments, so Maplecrest Hoedown is a tribute to America and the Saturday night square dances of the pre-WWII era, when family farms were as common as mail boxes.