David, there was a banjo player from Arkansas named Carlos "Bookmiller" Shannon.  Alan Lomax recorded some of his tunes in the late 1950s.

My guess is that someone learned a tune from Bookmiller but couldn't remember the name and just started calling in "Bookmiller's Tune" or something like that.

I just looked on Spotify and the only tune by Bookmiller Shannon is "Eighth of January."  But those Lomax recordings must be around somewhere. Maybe there's some other stuff, too.

P.S.  I could probably tab it out based on the recordings, but I won't be able to get to it for a couple of days.

--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
updated by @dusty: 04/07/26 03:51:16PM

Here's someone else playing the same tune

Do any of you know a dulcimer song by the name of Book Miller's Song or Bookmiller's Tune?
I am looking for a friend who first heard it at a jam in Mountain View, Arkansas several years ago. He is wanting to know the background/history of the tune and where to get the tabs.

I did find this on YouTube "Bookmiller's Tune" which my friend is the song he is looking for:

This may or may not be the same tune, I can't tell because I can't get the volume loud enough to hear
https://soundcloud.com/omareastwind/bookmiller-39-s-tune

Any info would be appreciated.