Artist:The Clements Brothers Hometown: Gloucester, Massachusetts Song: “As the Crow Flies” Album:Dandelion Breeze Release Date: August 25, 2023 Label: Plow Man Records
In Their Words: “’As the Crow Flies’ is a tune written by George and finished by Charles. George came up with the Celtic-inspired tune on the guitar and brought it to the band. Then we played and improvised around on it until we had something we thought was exciting and interesting. The metric modulation and build in the middle of the tune was something George had conceived-of from the initial demo, but it took some playing around and experimenting with until the current progression and bass solo with the fiddle weaving around it emerged. The great fiddler Jenna Moynihan lent her beautiful playing and creative energy to the fiddle part, which we think really tied the tune together in the end. In terms of the tune name, we thought the melody had a kind of soaring and darkly quirky quality to it, so the title “As the Crow Flies” seemed to fit the mood and spirit of the sonic journey. Our late father, who passed just before the album was coming into shape, always loved crows with their intelligent and family-oriented qualities, so it also serves as a little memory capsule to him.” – The Clements Brothers
Artist:Birds of Play Hometown: Telluride, Colorado Song: “Breathe” Album:Birdsongs of the American West Release Date: August 25, 2023
In Their Words: “‘Breathe’ was written as a response to witnessing my wife navigate a somewhat tumultuous time, rife with hard questions about meaning and purpose and her place in life. I was also wrestling with some of the same sentiments at the time and wrote this song as a friendly reminder to us both of the impermanence of all of our states and experiences and how much agency we have to reground with a simple breath. We worked this song up specifically for this album as it was one of the only songs in this group that we hadn’t played before recording Birdsongs of the American West. We’ve only started to play this live during our most recent tour around the PNW and it’s been really moving to see how deeply it’s resonating with our audiences.” – Alex Paul
Artist:Birds of Play Hometown: Telluride, Colorado Song: “Stargazer” Album:Birdsongs of the American West Release Date: August 25, 2023
In Their Words: “‘Stargazer’ is the first song I ever wrote, and it’s been such an incredible experience bringing it to life with the band. I initially didn’t care much for it, but my bandmates thought it had a lot of potential, and I came around to appreciating it more as each of them added their own sounds to it. It has grown quite a lot since we first started performing it, and it’s an exciting part of each tour to see how it will continue to grow and change.” – Anneke Dean
Artist:George Jackson Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Alhaji” Album:George Jackson’s Local Trio Release Date: July 18, 2023 (video); August 18, 2023 (album) Label: Adhyâropa Records
In Their Words: “I feel a much stronger sense of identity with this record. In many ways, it’s still working with the concepts that I was getting at with Time and Place, trying to be a part of something with a long history while also trying to bring myself to the table as an outsider, but now there’s a lot more confidence in bringing together the different elements I’m interested in and continuing to form my voice with less fear of ‘doing it wrong.’
“(Banjoist Frank Evans) can go very deep in old-time as well as bluegrass music, and also has an interest and proficiency as an improviser and with jazz concepts. He just feels like such a natural fit for me musically. (Bassist Eli Broxham) has such a fearless spirit in the way that he approaches music.
“Fellow fiddle player John Mailander (Bruce Hornsby, Billy Strings) produced the record, collaborating closely with the trio to achieve this boundary-pushing vision. Something that I’m proud of with this record is that it doesn’t sound like music that has been made before — we were able to push old-time in genuinely new directions using arrangements, samples, and recording techniques.” – George Jackson
Artist:Painted Mandolin Hometown: Santa Cruz, California Song: “Shine On” Album:Sweet Rain Release Date: August 1, 2023 Label: Blender Logic Arts
In Their Words: “‘Shine On’ was the first song I wrote for our record, Sweet Rain. Written early during the pandemic, there is a sense of those times – a collective consciousness of the unknown, being alone and wondering what’s to come; lots of questions. I tried to answer those feelings with a sense of hope, beauty, and what brings us together. A deep confidence that we can survive and thrive, with the help of our community. Nature really comes through and I was inspired by that beauty during these times. It was quieter, so the bird songs seemed louder. I remember gathering outside that fall to see the comet together – that was uplifting – and spending time on my friend’s land, and swimming in the creek, that reminded me: ‘Talk to me, shed your fears, shine on.'” – Larry Graff (guitar, vocals)
“Larry’s eloquent description and interpretation of the lyrics of his song ‘Shine On’ sets a stage of images, hopes and dreams, framed by the music we created. A tender and optimistic groove provides a happy cadence to the improvised solos of mandolin and guitar, only to modulate at the end into a conversation with overlays of musical thoughts towards a positive resolve, as we all navigated our feelings throughout the pandemic.” – Joe Craven (mandolin, violin, percussion, vocals)
Artist:Stillhouse Junkies Hometown: Durango, Colorado Song: “Never Going Back Again” Album:Small Towns Release Date: September 9, 2022 Label: Dark Shadow Recording
In Their Words: “‘Never Going Back Again’ was always on our short list of cover ideas and it felt like a natural candidate for the lone cover slot on our Small Towns album. The 1977 Lindsey Buckingham song was a fun challenge to arrange for the trio since it’s essentially just a fingerpicked guitar riff to start with. We changed the groove and added some melodic interplay between the fiddle and guitar over Cody’s backbeat bass line and came up with what we think is a fresh take that still honors the spirit of the original.
“Given the source material, it only seemed appropriate to make a video that looked and felt unlike anything we’d ever done before. Our amazing creative team of Hanna Irene (Hanna Irene Motion Pictures) and Renee Cornue (Renee Cornue Studio) came up with a concept that captured the funky, retro vibe of the song and used a stop motion technique to create a unique aesthetic that fit our reworked two-and-a-half minute arrangement perfectly. We shot the video in one day in an old gymnasium in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, as part of an artist residency at Green Box Arts. We’re absolutely thrilled with the outcome and can’t wait to share it with the world.” – Stillhouse Junkies
Artist:Hog-eyed Man Hometown: Currently based in Athens, Georgia Song: “Paddy on the Turnpike” Album:Kicked Up a Devil of a Row Release Date: July 14, 2023 Label: Tiki Parlour Recordings
In Their Words: “There are many great versions of ‘Paddy on the Turnpike,’ but this is the best one to blast with the car winows down when you’re sitting in bumper-to-bumper interstate traffic at 5:15 p.m. on a sweltering Friday. Jason got it from his Yancey County, North Carolina, neighbor Bruce Greene, who recorded it from Sammie Dyer of Macon County,Tennessee, in the early 1970s. Dyer was near 80 at the time and had a unique repertoire of regional tunes from the upper Cumberland Plateau. Reportedly, he lamented the commercialization of traditional music and loss of the old ways. This resonates with Howard Rains’ incredible cover art for our album, which depicts a rainbow dragon swarmed by modern aircraft.
“One of the joys of playing old-time music is forging and maintaining connections with the musicians and tunes of the past even as the contexts and communities around the music continue to evolve. We typically play as a duo or trio and rarely incorporate guitar, so it was fun to go for a slightly fuller string band sound on this one with Max on banjo and David joining on his 1959 Martin D-18.” – Hog-eyed Man
Artist:Bonnie & Taylor Sims Hometown: Longmont, Colorado Song: “Texas Again” Album:Bonnie & Taylor Sims Release Date: September 15, 2023 Label: BonTay Enterprises
In Their Words: “‘Texas Again’ started out to be an epic, Grapes of Wrath-esque story of the Sims family, but it soon turned into a love story for the motherland. The diversity of Texas geography has always been in my heart and you can see it all – if you’re willing to drive 18 hours. I love Colorado, but nostalgia is a helluva drug and Texas will be forever home… it will get these ashes when it’s done.” – Taylor Sims
Artist:My Brother’s Keeper Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio Song: “The Edge of the River” Album:Field Guide Release Date: July 6, 2023 (vide0); May 26, 2023 (album) Label: Robust Records
In Their Words: “‘The Edge of the River’ is a lively song that combines elements of bluegrass, folk rock, and quartet gospel. The river in the song is a simple metaphor of feeling stuck and lost in a personal journey. The song was recorded at Neon Cactus Studio in Cedar Grove, Indiana, and it opens our latest album, Field Guide, released on Robust Records. The music video was directed by Joseph Cox (Average Joe Films), who was instrumental in bringing our ‘music video meets indie film’ vision to life. The hilarious ‘Harmonica Man’ was played by Judah D’Amico.” – Benjamin Luckhaupt
I love a great fiddle tune as much as the next person, but sometimes their names simply do too much. It’s not hard to imagine how these titles might have been changed and twisted over the years, in the game of telephone that inevitably exists in oral traditions. Some tunes, like “Shove That Pig’s Foot a Little Closer to the Fire,” have multiple rumored explanations for their names. Clawhammerbanjo.net discusses some of these possibilities in this lengthy explanation. We may never know for sure where these names come from, but here are 10 tunes that exhibit old-time at its most absurd:
“Jaybird Died of the Whooping Cough”
This may be a slightly traumatizing title for a post-pandemic society, but it’s still scientifically interesting. Can a jaybird, indeed, contract whooping cough? Here, the fabulous Foghorn Stringband research the situation.
“Dick’s Handspike”
What exactly was “Dick’s Handspike”? Do we even want to know? Hilary Burhans demonstrates, with a beautiful tune undeserving of such a blunt (or sharp?) name.
“Bullfrog on a Puncheon Floor”
Reportedly from the fiddling of Estill Bingham, Mark Gilston plays this lovely tune on mountain dulcimer. According to the University of South Carolina, a puncheon is an Appalachian term meaning “A split log or rough timber having one face smoothed by an adze, used for flooring, benching, siding of log buildings, etc.”
“Sal’s Got a Meat Skin”
In addition to meaning a literal meat skin, the term can also be used as an insult, according to Urban Dictionary. If you want to know more, you’ll have to Google it. Here, the Snake Hollow Stringband from old-time hot spot Floyd, Virginia, performs “Sal’s Got a Meat Skin.”
“Soapsuds Over the Fence”
Taking its place in a longstanding tradition of “naming the tune whatever is actively happening within eyesight at the time of writing” we have “Soapsuds Over the Fence.” Played in this video by the equally wonderfully-named renowned fiddler, Harry Bolick.
“I’m a Nice Old Man”
Nothing says “I’m not a nice old man” more than proclaiming, “I’m a nice old man.” This tune is credited to the playing of Melvin Wine. No shade on Melvin! He just played the tune, and allegedly was a nice old man. Here we have it reimagined on Leicestershire smallpipes by Moira Bracknall.
“Don’t Drink Nothin but Corn”
I feel that this tune’s title is missing its last word – “liquor” – but as a Midwesterner, I can’t put it past folks to drink straight corn. Nevertheless, this tune somehow made its way all the way to Sweden, here we have the Hot Corn Band performing it.
“Shove the Pig’s Foot a Little Closer to the Fire”
Perhaps the best-known of these outrageous tunes, “Shove the Pig’s Foot” has become a classic. Here is old-time royalty Bruce Molsky’s recording of the tune.
“Big Footed Man In the Sandy Lot”
This tune sounds like a clue in a murder mystery. Why exactly was that big-footed man in the sandy lot? Here’s a beautiful rendition from Lukas Pool.
“Hell and Scissors”
What is it about Hell and scissors, they just go together like bread and butter! Here we have The Moose Whisperers featuring BGS favorite Jake Blount playing a great version at Clifftop.
Background image by Wes Hecks via unsplash.com
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