The Frontier Fiddle Band Circa 1992. L to R Herb “The Tahlequah Kid” Dreasler, “Montana” Dave Hearn, SS “William Buffalo”, and “Colonel” David Parker. Photo by Debbie Smith.
During the nineties I had the pleasure of working with the Frontier Fiddle Band all over the state of Iowa. We put the band together as a way to entertain folks at The Fort Museum in Fort Dodge and played a mix of oldtime and original acoustic music. We were affiliated with the Iowa Arts Council, who helped fund many of our gigs around the state. Dave Hearn and I would bring our original songs to the group if they had that “oldtime” sound and would fit with the rest of our repertoire of fiddle songs, folk songs, and older country stuff. In 1994 he came up with a beautiful instrumental on the piano and had some lyrical ideas started….thinking it should be called the Iowa Waltz.
When he asked me to help with the lyrics I listened to the melody, and suggested that we add the word “old” to the title…to better follow his melody line, and also to differentiate the song from Greg Brown’s wonderful Iowa Waltz which had been released many years before. As we were juggling words and trying to “tell the story” we decided to pattern it after other state waltzes like the Tennessee Waltz and the Kentucky Waltz.
The Old Iowa Waltz
INTRO:
Verse 1:
I fell in love with an Iowa girl, and she fell in love with me
We met at a dance in an Iowa town, like it’s supposed to be
We danced to the fiddles from dusk until dawn, since then we’ve not been apart
Because the band played that one special song, and she waltzed away with my heart
CHORUS:
The Old Iowa Waltz….that was a moment I’ll never forget
The Old Iowa Waltz….brings back the feelings I have for you yet
The Old Iowa Waltz….
REPEAT INTRO:
Verse 2:
The moon was as bright as a lantern that night, the breeze so cool in our hair
We swayed to the music, out feet were so light, we thought we were waltzing on air
Into the shadows we slipped for a kiss, stars shining down from above
We felt the earth moving under our feet, and knew we were falling in love
CHORUS:
BRIDGE:
And when I’m away from the state that I love….I know wherever I roam
I’ll always remember the Iowa Waltz….and my beautiful Iowa home
CHORUS / REPEAT LAST LINE
The Old Iowa Waltz…..the Old Iowa Waltz
In 1995 we made the first vocal recording of the song at Dave Haldin’s studio in Fort Dodge. Dave Hearn played piano and accordion, and I played guitar and mandolin. We convinced Scott Dorman from Manson to try singing it.
He did an excellent job and we released this version on cassette in 1996, just in time for the Iowa Sesquicentennial.
Dave Hearn also used his computer skills to prepare a piano-vocal-guitar arrangement which we had printed and sold a few copies. This version found it’s way into the hands of band director/musician Reggie Schive, who created a concert band arrangement for the Karl King Band. They traveled to Washington, DC in 1996 with a condensed version of the group to perform a Sesquicentennial concert at the Smithsonian. They included The Old Iowa Waltz with lyrics sung by Reggie’s wife Donna.
In 1998 Dave Hearn produced and released a whole album of piano instrumentals which is one of the most soothing CDs you will ever come across. The Old Iowa Waltz became the title song of that project. ( See YouTube link above )
About this time I tried singing it too….but never liked my version as much as Scott Dorman’s. I did release it along with a bunch of other originals on an “album” CD I called Tunesmith in 1999…which is still available to stream online. We played the song at many of our Frontier Fiddle Band gigs around the state, including one at Tom Latham’s farm in 2002 where he joined us on stage to sing it. Becky Mounsdon videotaped that performance.
The song was arranged for barbershop quartet by Stu Martin from Fort Dodge, and performed at the Fort Museum Opry House by the Harmony Brigade. It was also performed by the Humboldt Big Band in one of their popular community concerts. The coolest thing was in 2019, when Karl King Band director Jerrold Jimmerson unearthed the Reggie Schive arrangement from the archives, and had the band perform the song at one of their summer concerts with the vocal sung by Shari Netz.
The Karl King Band conducted by Jerrold Jimmerson. Vocal by Shari Netz.
Dave Hearn & Shadric Smith at Olson Park Bandshell, Fort Dodge, Iowa in 2019. Photo by Debbie Smith.
So that’s the story of The Old Iowa Waltz….so far anyway. Please contact Dave Hearn Music for the sheet music, or a copy of his Piano Solos CD. Feel free to create your own version of the song if you like. We’d love to hear it!