Consolation Prizes

The sold-out-in-faraway-Charlotte (for most of us, anyway) Carolina Ragtime Contest is tomorrow. If you’re like me and wish you were there to see Ethan, Bill, Martin, and Russell rock that joint, perhaps you can take solace in a couple more tunes from the 2010 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest in Peoria, again courtesy of Ragtime Press.

Here’s a gorgeous, swoon-inducing “Rockin’ Chair” from Carolina Ragtime host Ethan Uslan:

Or how about “Maple Leaf Rag” from “Perfessor” Bill? Guaranteed as a “Maple Leaf” you ain’t never heard before: