Bluegrass & Old Time Music

[Gurn Blanston]

It is frustrating, I know, I feel the same way, i.e. wanting straight bluegrass without mixing in songs or styles not traditional.  It is something almost all bands from the 1990s forward all do.  But generally the earlier the better.  I've been posting about country singers doing bluegrass records, and I like them since they are good singers singing great songs in a bluegrass setting.  But when it comes to a bluegrass band, I just want the old sound. 

Too Late to Cry (1987) was her debut record (she was 16 I think) with Union Station and is pretty much all bluegrass (although there's still the sense it's not completely pure), and her Rounder Records contract required her to alternate a solo record for every band recording, and I think they also wanted her to do more cross-over material.  Her first solo record was Two Highways (1989), and is less bluegrassy, there's a couple of country songs and a bluegrass version of "Midnight Rambler", the Allman Brother's song - but also two or three traditional songs.  1990 she released another solo record, I've Got That Old Feeling, and by now she's moving more away from straight bluegrass, less than 50% BG.

By 1992 she was getting Grammy awards, and then she was on the path to crossing over more and more, e.g. using drums.  That said, Alison Krauss at least offers cross over done with pretty good taste.

It's an old story.  The Osborne Brothers started adding electric instruments in the '60s.  They say so they could be heard at the big festivals - but of all the older groups, they are my least favorite because they always seemed to be drawn away from the straight traditional sound.  But in their defense, once Rock & Roll hit in the mid '50s most bluergrass bands had a hard time getting gigs and many had to choose between changing their sound or leaving music altogether.

Which is why I was happy to see the bluegrass revival get a surge of energy after O Brother was a hit.

Thanks. Interesting monologue. I was afraid this is what you were going to say anyway, but I was hoping for maybe having missed something while I was shopping around.    But I'll shop for that first album and take it from there. Maybe she will get a wild hair one day and do "The Bluegrass Album", like others have done.

[Old San Antone]

Thanks. Interesting monologue. I was afraid this is what you were going to say anyway, but I was hoping for maybe having missed something while I was shopping around.    But I'll shop for that first album and take it from there. Maybe she will get a wild hair one day and do "The Bluegrass Album", like others have done.

I forgot to mention her Live record, came out in 2002 thereabouts.  She mixes it up with a god dose of bluegrass, and what's interesting is the crowd seems to react stronger to those songs.  It was recorded at a concert in Kentucky and I guess the audience also wanted her to play more bluegrass.  It capture probably her best band with Ron Block, guitar, banjo, vocals; Dan Tyminski, guitar, mandolin, vocals; Jerry Douglas, dobro. 

[Old San Antone]

Listening to this Bear Family box of Flatt & Scruggs: 1948-1959



For anyone wishing to collect Bluegrass, Old Time, Blues and Country the Bear Family editions are the best.  They are produced using the highest standards and come with well researched and comprehensive booklets (sometimes hardcover 100+ page books) as well as pristine reproductions of the original recordings.

(4-CD LP-sized box set with 36-page book) The 5-star reviews for this set showed that Flatt & Scruggs are far from forgotten since they split up in 1969. Here we have their complete Mercury recordings as well as the Columbia recordings from 1950-1959. Of course, this set includes the original version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown, but it's no exaggeration to say that every one of the 112 tracks is a gem. Titles include Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms, Jimmie Brown The Newsboy, Tis Sweet To Be Remembered, Earl's Breakdown, Flint Hill Special, Dim Lights Thick Smoke, Foggy Mountain Chimes, and 'Six White Horses'. Bluegrass music comes no purer or finer. (Amazon editorial comment)

[Old San Antone]

Doc Watson on Stage, featuring Merle Watson, 1971



Watson had many fine accompanists over the years, but none better than his son Merle, who was always on Doc's wavelength. Ever modest, Doc always claimed that Merle was the better player. He was, of course, wrong about that, but Merle was a great picker in his own right. Recorded live at Cornell University, this is an excellent version of the old spiritual that also appeared on Circle. "I Am a Pilgrim" would remain an evolving onstage set piece for Doc over the years. After Merle's tragic death in 1985, Doc would customize the lyrics in performance: "I've got a mother, a sister and a brother and a son, they done gone on to that other shore."

https://www.youtube.com/v/wTaftQjvb3E

Writing for Allmusic, music critic Matthew Greenwald called the album "One of Doc Watson's finest later records" and wrote "His feel and command of the instrument is truly incredible... A timeless slice from one of the fathers of modern country music."

    "Brown's Ferry Blues" (Traditional) – 2:43
    "The Wreck of the 1262" (Traditional) – 3:13
    "Spikedriver Blues" (Mississippi John Hurt) – 3:02
    "Deep River Blues" (Traditional) – 3:39
    "Life Gits Teejus Don't It" (Carson Robison) – 4:36
    "Lost John" (Traditional) – 3:32
    "Hold the Woodpile Down" (Bob Johnson) – 2:58
    "Billy in the Low Ground" (Instrumental) – 1:46
    "I Am a Pilgrim" (Traditional) – 2:42
    "The Clouds Are Gwine to Roll Away" (Carson Robison) – 2:51
    "Movin' On" (melody by Hank Snow, parody lyrics written by Homer & Jethro) - 2:15 (not on the CD)
    "Windy and Warm" (John D. Loudermilk) (Instrumental) – 2:32
    "Doc's Guitar" (Doc Watson) (Instrumental) – 1:35
    "Open Up Them Pearly Gates for Me" (Traditional) – 3:11
    "The Preacher and the Bicycle" (Traditional Folk Tale) – 1:28
    "Jimmy's Texas Blues" (Jimmy Rodgers) – 3:47
    "Banks of the Ohio" (Traditional) – 3:45
    "Roll On Buddy" (Traditional) – 3:04
    "Southbound" (by Merle & Doc Watson) – 3:16
    "Wabash Cannonball" (Traditional) – 3:07
    "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Traditional) – 3:42
    "Little Sadie" (Traditional) – 2:37
    "The Quaker's Cow" (Traditional Folk Tale) – 1:38
    "Salt River/Bill Cheatham" (Instrumental) – 2:38
    "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" (Traditional) – 4:08

    Doc Watson – guitar, harmonica, vocals, banjo
    Merle Watson – guitar

[Old San Antone]

The one pictured above got me started on a Doc Jag.  We've talked about Doc Watson before, but sometimes I can't get enough of his singing and playing.  Last night I jumbled some of my favorites of his records:






Doc Watson (1st) - Live at Club 47
Live at Gerdes Folk City - Portrait
Old Timey Concert - Southbound
Doc and Gaither Carlton - On Stage

Continuing today, playing on random - all day.

[Gurn Blanston]

The one pictured above got me started on a Doc Jag.  We've talked about Doc Watson before, but sometimes I can't get enough of his singing and playing.  Last night I jumbled some of my favorites of his records:


Doc Watson (1st) - Live at Club 47
Live at Gerdes Folk City - Portrait
Old Timey Concert - Southbound
Doc and Gaither Carlton - On Stage

Continuing today, playing on random - all day.

Been thinking about this one since you posted it the other day. Much like with Classical music, I lean hard towards fiddle. Other instruments are all tied for second.


Like this came yesterday, although I haven't had time to listen yet. I have high hopes:

[Old San Antone]

Been thinking about this one since you posted it the other day. Much like with Classical music, I lean hard towards fiddle. Other instruments are all tied for second.


Like this came yesterday, although I haven't had time to listen yet. I have high hopes:

Wow, she's pretty obscure.  I knew of her from the band High Fidelity and didn't know she had a solo record.  Good fiddler.  If you like fiddling, and if you haven't already heard him Michael Cleveland is simply phenomenal.



https://www.youtube.com/v/5VorB7OQLUI

[Gurn Blanston]

Wow, she's pretty obscure.  I knew of her from the band High Fidelity and didn't know she had a solo record.  Good fiddler.  If you like fiddling, and if you haven't already heard him Michael Cleveland is simply phenomenal.



https://www.youtube.com/v/5VorB7OQLUI

Actually, found it on that website you pointed me to the other night. I read a few reviews which were all highly favorable. Listening to it right now, in fact, and have to say she is pretty damned good!

Thanks for the Cleveland tip, I'll check that out.

[Old San Antone]

Erynn Marshall

It hardly gets better than this: Erynn Marshall and her husband Carl Jones, and sometimes with other excellent old time musicians like Chris Coole, make music that I can listen to over and over.  Half of the songs are traditional and half originals, but written as if they were as old as the hills.




Check 'em out.

[Papy Oli]

Would Gillian Welch and David Rawlings be considered suitable for this thread ?

There something about the clarity of her voice and of his guitar playing that hits me every time i am in the mood for one of the few albums I have (although i confess i loved them most in the darker tracks like "Revelator" and "I Dream a Highway").

"Red Clay Halo" at 16'18 or "Caleb Mayer" at 45'04 on this one would fit here i believe ?

https://www.youtube.com/v/9eF7gywHMxw

"Revelator" starts at 27'23 for a different mood 

[Old San Antone]

Would Gillian Welch and David Rawlings be considered suitable for this thread ?

There something about the clarity of her voice and of his guitar playing that hits me every time i am in the mood for one of the few albums I have (although i confess i loved them most in the darker tracks like "Revelator" and "I Dream a Highway").

"Red Clay Halo" at 16'18 or "Caleb Mayer" at 45'04 on this one would fit here i believe ?

https://www.youtube.com/v/9eF7gywHMxw

"Revelator" starts at 27'23 for a different mood 

Absolutely!  They are more Old Time than Bluegrass, but no matter what label they make some really fine music.  A favorite of mine, too.  Gillian Welch is notorious for releasing music slowly, kind of like that old Robert Mondavi wine commercial, "only when it's ready."

[Papy Oli]

Absolutely!  They are more Old Time than Bluegrass, but no matter what label they make some really fine music.  A favorite of mine, too.  Gillian Welch is notorious for releasing music slowly, kind of like that old Robert Mondavi wine commercial, "only when it's ready."

Phew 

I lost track after Soul Journey (2003) as I got properly into classical music around '05-'06. It turns out she only released one more album since (The Harrow and the Harvest in 2011). I have earmarked this and Dave Rawlings' own album on Qobuz, will have to listen to them soon.

Thank you for the various recommendations in this thread. I did enjoy the Doc Watson's "Pilgrim" track and the Molly Tuttle/Billy Strings video.

[Old San Antone]

Dan Gellert

I first stumbled onto Dan Gellert because he is the father of Rayna Gellert, a fiddler that I have followed for a few years.  Dan plays fiddle and banjo both in the old Appalachian style, one of the best.

https://www.youtube.com/v/EgdSxNqm_V0

This rough style is what I really like about mountain fiddle playing. e starred in a pretty good movie, The Mountain Minor, and it has a lot of music in it as well as a good story.

I only know of one recording he's released, which is a DVD/CD of a live performance at the Old Time Tiki Parlour:

The Old-Time Tiki Parlour is the online musical headquarters of Tiki Parlour Recordings. It is an atomic-era destination complete with wooden tikis, strange folk art, weird curios, palm trees and a variety of old-time string instruments. Since 2009, it has served as the concert, workshop, jam, film, internet and instructional epicenter for old-time music around Los Angeles and beyond. Past artists have included Bruce Molsky, Dan Gellert, Kirk Sutphin, Paul Brown, Rafe & Clelia Stefanini, Joe Newberry, Val Mindel, David Greely, Suzy & Eric Thompson, Joel Savoy, Jesse Lege, Nadine Landry, Sammy Lind, Scott Prouty, Tom & Patrick Sauber, Bob Carlin, Sausage Grinder, Bertram Levy, Howard Rains & Tricia Spencer, Emily Miller & Jesse Milnes, Ben Townsend and Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod. And many more to come...

[Old San Antone]

This arrived today:



The Music of Bill Monroe (Music in American Life)
by Neil V. Rosenberg and Charles K. Wolfe

Each chapter contains an well-researched and documented history of a span of years, and then concluding with a complete discography of all the sessions during that period:

1936-38
1939-41
1942-45
1946-49
1950-56

And so on ...

Neil V.Rosenberg wrote the standard history of Bluegrass and compiled the Monroe discography.  Author of 19 books, Prof. Charles K. Wolfe wrote exhaustively about Country music and related genres. Upon his death in 2006 Wolfe was lauded as being a highly regarded musicologist working in a field that is normally not rewarded with much respect.

Though country music itself is old, the serious study of country music is not, and it is no exaggeration to say that Wolfe, together with a handful of colleagues, was instrumental in the construction of country music history as a worthy and viable subject. Yet while his research was as thorough as possible, his work was aimed not so much at other scholars as at those who were involved or interested in the music, or who could be persuaded by a blend of passion and knowledge to become so.

More a reference book than a straight-through read, but I am very much looking forward to enjoyable hours poring over the text.

[Old San Antone]

Rachel Baiman is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Baiman grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She has described her father as a "radical economist" and her mother is a social worker. When she was young, her parents took her to meetings at the Ethical Humanist Society of Greater Chicago. She moved to Nashville at age 18 and held a number of odd jobs over the years including "serving lunch to the tech elite, and reading turn of the century novels involving the labor moment (a research gig for a sociologist)." She became an Illinois State Fiddle champion at age 17.

Baiman is the co-founder of Folk Fights Back, a musician-led national organization that puts together benefit concerts and awareness events in response to the Trump administration. She also performs in the fiddle duo 10 String Symphony with Christian Sedelmyer.

Her 2017 album Shame was produced by Mandolin Orange's Andrew Marlin. (Wikipedia)

I could do without the political stuff - but Baiman is an excellent musician playing traditional roots music, with more than a little old time/bluegrass running through.  Actually her work with 10 String Symphony is how I first came to hear her work, and that remains my favorite stuff she's recorded.

Named for their unique instrumentation of two five string fiddles alternated with a five string banjo, 10 String Symphony is the collaboration between GRAMMY nominated fiddle player Christian Sedelmyer (The Jerry Douglas Band), and acclaimed songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Baiman. Since their inception in 2012, the duo has gained the attention of NPR's Jewly Hight, who listed them among "The Newest and Best Voices in Americana" for their unique and compelling vocal and string arrangements, which are at once traditionally informed yet completely avant garde. Their new album, "Generation Frustration", produced by Scotland's Kris Drever, digs even deeper into the potential for experimentation with stringed instruments while highlighting new depths in the pair's original songwriting. Unafraid of pushing boundaries, the resulting songs are as challenging as they are beautiful. ([urlhttp://10stringsymphony.com/about/]Website[/url])

https://www.youtube.com/v/L3paZqnNuw0



Bluegrass has always been about instrumental virtuosity, along with playing the old tunes or originals written in the mountain style - all the best known players were exceptionally gifted instrumentalists.  What I am leading up to is a post about some of the more "progressive" groups who are categorized as bluegrass but who only fit that distinction because of the instruments they play.  I am thinking mainly about Chris Thile and his various groups.  The Punch Brothers are a good example.

Punch Brothers is an American band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). Their style has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the structures of modern classical" as well as "American country-classical chamber music."

The band's most recent album, 2018's All Ashore was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album at the 61st Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019. (Wikipedia)

https://www.youtube.com/v/nzzBBU3D094

[Old San Antone]

I am posting about this recording since it presents Appalachian music in a rather unique manner. 

Folk Songs - Kronos Quartet with Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens and Natalie Merchant (2017)




    Oh Where (feat. Sam Amidon) - Traditional, arr. Nico Muhly
    Rambling Boys of Pleasure (feat. Olivia Chaney) - Traditional, arr. Donnacha Dennehy
    The Butcher's Boy (feat. Natalie Merchant) - Traditional, arr. Jacob Garchik
    Factory Girl  (feat. Rhiannon Giddens) - Traditional/Rhiannon Giddens, arr. Gabriel Witcher
    Last Kind Words - Geeshie Wiley, arr. Jacob Garchik
    I See the Sign (feat. Sam Amidon) - Traditional, arr. Nico Muhly
    Montagne, que tu es haute (feat. Olivia Chaney) - Traditional, arr. Jacob Garchik
    Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier (feat. Natalie Merchant) - Traditional, arr. Jacob Garchik
    Lullaby (feat. Rhiannon Giddens) - Rhiannon Giddens, arr. Gabriel Witcher

Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Sunny Yang, cello

Sam Amidon, vocals, guitar
Olivia Chaney, vocals, harmonium, percussion
Rhiannon Giddens, vocals
Natalie Merchant, vocals

When Nonesuch Records celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014 with festivals at London's Barbican Centre and New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Kronos Quartet joined forces with four label-mates Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant to perform a concert of traditional folk songs. This album collects recordings of many of these songs.

https://www.youtube.com/v/FhDpnZ5x8tk

I listened to the whole thing this morning on Spotify and was pleasantly surprised, since I am usually skeptical of these kinds of smash-up recordings.  But I knew all the artists involved, I have especially enjoyed the work of Olivia Chaney, whose traditional Celtic singing is fantastic, and her tracks are the best, IMO.  Rhiannon Giddens is a somewhat problematic artist, her work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops was where I first heard her and was immediately intrigued with her banjo playing and their song choices and entire orientation.  However, since she went solo, her operatic vocal style has grown tiresome for me and she has often ventured far afield from the Old Timey place where she began. 

Sam Amidon's solo recordings are altogether too "artsy-Pop" for my tastes.  However, his parents were bonefide folkies and provided him with a solid traditional grounding, and on this recording he is bound by the Kronos's theme hence he is unusually restrained - which is good.  I was least interested in Natalie Merchant because of her straight Pop artist history, but she has done some pretty good stuff in the broad Americana style since leaving 10,000 Maniacs and acquits herself nicely on this disc.

The arrangements are well done, with the Kronos Quartet assuming a rather conservative approach to transcribing a mountain string style to the classical quartet.  For me this is one their best recordings, but others may not love it as much as I do.

[Old San Antone]

I'm With Her is a "super group" made up of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O'Donovan, all with successful solo careers and for two of the three former members of some very successful roots groups: Nickle Creek (Sara Watkins) and Crooked Still (Aiofe O'Donovan).  Their music is very much informed by traditional Appalachian music but there is also a strong folk aspect - plus they are all wonderful singers and their vocal blend is near perfect.

They've only made one record which came out in 2018 -



- but here's a mini-concert recorded at a venue with great acoustics, showing off their excellent sounding instruments and voices.

https://www.youtube.com/v/Av5h1GDwmSU

All of their solo recordings are in a similar style and worth checking out.  Sara Watkins often performs and records with her brother Sean.

[Old San Antone]

Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves

These two young women partnered up in 2019 to release a record of fiddle & banjo music, some traditional, some newly composed. 



https://www.youtube.com/v/QiJuc20cUgY

"Allison de Groot combines love for old-time music, technical skill and a creative approach to the banjo forming her own sound – unique and full of personality.  Her collaborations with Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, Bruce Molsky's trio Molsky's Mountain Drifters, The Goodbye Girls and Nic Gariess provide spaces to explore the role and depth of clawhammer banjo (artist website)."

"Over the past eight years, Tatiana Hargreaves has been on the forefront of an up and coming generation of old time, bluegrass and new acoustic musicians. Since releasing her first solo album "Started Out To Ramble" in 2009, Tatiana has toured with musicians such as Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Laurie Lewis, Darol Anger, and Bruce Molsky. From placing first at the Clifftop Appalachian Fiddle Contest, to her bluegrass fiddling on Laurie Lewis' GRAMMY-nominated album The Hazel And Alice Sessions, Hargreaves shows a musical fluency that flows between old time and bluegrass worlds with ease. She currently tours with banjo extraordinaire Allison de Groot and teaches bluegrass fiddle at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (artist website)."

Good stuff.

[Old San Antone]

Laurel Premo and Michael Beauchamp of Red Tail Ring create lush, intricate arrangements of original folk music and traditional ballads with banjo, fiddle, guitar, and close harmonies.

They have out out four albums, sadly the most recent was several years ago, but they are still performing and had twenty of so shows cancelled this year. 

Anyway ... here's their recordings to date (all information comes from the artist's website):

FALL AWAY BLUES (2016)



'Fall Away Blues,' the fourth full-length studio album from Red Tail Ring, is the culmination of years of writing, arranging, rewriting, and recording by Beauchamp-Cohen and Premo. Tracked by Ian Gorman of Kalamazoo's beloved La Luna Studio, the album features eight original songs, three traditional interpretations, and one blistering tune. Woven together by RTR's signature instrumental variety (with guitar, fiddle, and both open-back and gourd banjos) and close harmony singing, the album spins tales of hard times, changing love, and the challenge of finding a place in the world. 'Fall Away Blues,' the title track, exemplifies the artistic thrust of the album by functioning both as a declarative command and as a hopeful prayer for better days ahead.

THE HEART'S SWIFT FOOT (2013)



'The Heart's Swift Foot' is full of new songs from two years of the band's creative work, spanning 2011-2013. Mournful heart ballads, upbeat bluegrass-influenced riffs, and fierce old-timey fiddle instrumentals tie this new project together in Red Tail Ring fashion.

As Jasmine Zweifler, of iSpy, puts it, "it was Beauchamp-Cohen and Premo's intent to create a record that sounded as close to their live performances as possible, with simplicity and intuition playing central roles. And they succeed mightily. 'The Heart's Swift Foot' is an album that is remarkable for what it isn't just as much as what it is. It isn't flashy, it isn't self-conscious. . . for that reason it feels like a life-giving breath into the stale and stagnant lungs of radio approved ubiquity."

I. MIDDLEWEST CHANT (2011) & II. MOUNTAIN SHOUT (2011)



In 2011, Red Tail Ring released two studio recordings featuring a unique two-way connection between old and new- I. Middlewest Chant showcases the duo's original songs and II. Mountain Shout features the duo's favorite traditional tunes. These projects blend the loving attention of revivalist fervor with the raw creativity of brand new sounds. Whether rendering a traditional tune or one of their many original compositions, the duo infuses each song with musical imagination, haunting harmonies and instrumental artistry. As Premo states, "The albums are companion pieces that stand alone but also complement one another. The crossover between old and new is constant in the music Michael and I write and play."

https://www.youtube.com/v/JS67q11jywk

[Old San Antone]

The Music Of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics 1927-37



These two volumes of rural music from Kentucky in the '20s and '30s constitute a valuable collection, containing some real classics like fiddler W.M. Stepp's great recording of "Bonaparte's Retreat".

https://www.youtube.com/v/1yeQucos9-M

You may recognize this as one of the tunes Aaron Copland adapted for Appalachian Spring the How Down movement from Rodeo.