This was our second square dance at the Mercy Lounge, which is a predominately rock music club here in Nashville.  Our main goal in promoting these events is to bring people from varied backgrounds and lifestyles together to bond over traditional music and dance and – while I wouldn’t say that we have anything specific to prove by hosting square dances at such a venue- partnering up with the Mercy Lounge certainly helped us along with that mission.  I have to admit that it was a proud moment hosting such a diverse crowd at a square dance in the Music City on a Friday night.  Thank you Mercy Lounge!

Though old time music has experienced a surge in popularity amongst musicians over the past dozen years, this square dance revival we are in the midst of certainly seems to get more folks involved and interested in the music.  Members from the Hogslop String Band (along with friends) absolutely killed it with traditional dance tunes that evening as the Rev. Daniel Allen Frazier Jr. kept the crowd energized with his dance calls. For those unable to join us, our friend Mark Tucker posted a nice little recap (with photos) of the evening over on his blog.  I strongly encourage you to check it out for a small taste of the vibe shared.

After several hours of do-si-doing, the legendary guitarist, Kenny Vaughan, entertained those still on their feet with his rocking power trio.  It was a pleasure having the Kenny Vaughan Trio on the bill and I’m glad so many folks stuck around for their set.  Their amped up rendition of ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown’- in honor of Earl Scruggs’ birthday- was a highlight of the evening for me and well worth the price of admission alone I’d say.

Thanks again to the Mercy Lounge and for everyone who came out to support the evening.  We hope to host another event such as this soon.  In the meantime, there are a couple more square dances coming up that you should know about:

This Thursday, January 19^th- The Hogslop Stringband and Westbound Rangers are hosting a square dance at Robert’s Western World.  There is no cover charge and the event is scheduled to go from 10pm to 2am.

Next Thursday, January 26^th- As part of the ‘Fourth Thursday Monthly Square Dance Series,’ the Rev. Daniel Allen Frazier Jr. will be calling a dance at Charlie Bob’s Restaurant.  Dance music will be provided by Quickfoot and The Slow Downers and an early evening dinner performance will be given by Rachel Baiman and Friends.  This event is scheduled from 8pm til midnight.  There is no cover charge but tips for the band and caller will be greatly appreciated.

This podcast is definitely worth your time it’ll take to listen from start to finish, so crank it up and enjoy!

The Edge Of Americana airs live every Tuesday evening from 7-9PM ET on Richmond VA’s community supported radio station, WRIR.  In Richmond it can be found on the radio dial at 97.3 FM and throughout the world it can be streamed here.  You can also check out the archives of the show here.

WRIR is one of many community supported radio stations throughout the country that support and program old time music.  I would like to take the chance now to formally encourage our readers to check out and support some of the others, most notably WDVX in Knoxville, TN, and WMMT in Whitesburg, KY.  Without active listenership these stations would not exist.

After the unceremonious announcement this August of the Old Crow Medicine show’s hiatus, many of us were left wondering as to whether the band would ever grace the stage again. As the next four months wore on with no additional announcements from the band- and no rescheduling of their annual New Year’s Eve concert at the Ryman Auditorium- the buzz amongst fans was that this might be more than just a temporary respite.

This feeling was substantiated even further by the Ketch Secor & Friends show at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn on November 30^th. While this was not booked as the Old Crow Medicine Show specifically, it featured most of Old Crow’s most recent lineup, with the notable exception of founding member Willie Watson. Interestingly enough, at the very same moment in time- nearly two thousand miles away in Los Angeles- Willie was performing as part of the Watkins Family Hour (featuring Nickel Creek’s Sara and Sean Watkins along with John C Reilly, Fiona Apple and more.) Add in the fact that Ketch just recently announced a ‘reunion’ tour with original old crow member, Critter Fuqua, and a lot can likely be read between the lines here.

While I didn’t attend the Ketch & Friends show myself, Red Eyed Rooster correspondent Roger Blanton* was present and reported back to us. Among the highlights were a new song written by Ketch titled ‘Streets of Nashville,’ reminiscing on times past when being a string band busking for tips was a lot simpler; a cover of Billy Jo Shaver’s “I’m Gonna Live Forever” sung by Kevin Hayes; Gil Landry’s haunting performance of ‘Little Sadie’; and a mashup of Dierk’s Bentley’s “What Was I Thinking” with the Old Crow’s “Alabama High Test.”

According to Roger, “This definitely was a true ‘Ketch & Friends’ show rather than a ‘half of Old Crow’ show. It was more of a mature, more high-brow and about listening than getting rowdy. It felt more like a great night at The Bluebird Cafe rather than a Station Inn show. Laid back and mellow, it made me want to see a true Old Crow Medicine Show concert all the more- which we may never see again. Ketch and Critter have a reunion tour coming up though which is very exciting but man… I miss those old days of Old Crow on the ‘Streets of Nashville.’”

Sadly enough, it seems more and more as if the old days of Old Crow may be a thing of the past.

Set list- Ketch & Friends at the Station Inn- November 30^th 2011

“Pretty Boy Floyd” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig

“One Side of the Street” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Phil Madeira

“Caroline” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Phil Madeira

“Reap What You Sow” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Phil Madeira

“Dearly Departed Friend” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Phil Madeira

“News From the Front” Spoken word

“Streets of Nashville” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Phil Madeira

“Lillian”Emmylou Harris cover featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig, Phil Madeira and Shelley Colvin

“Way Down in Columbus Georgie” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Phil Madeira

“Hey Good Lookin Country Gal” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Kevin Hayes

“I’m Gonna Live Forever Now” Billy Joe Shaver cover featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Kevin Hayes

Set break

“Evening Sun Go Down” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Gil Landry

“Little Sadie” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Gil Landry

“Mississippi Saturday Night” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig and Gil Landry

“Deep Dark Grave” Hank Williams Sr. cover featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig, Phil Madeira and Dierks Bentley

“Basics of Love Waylon” Waylon Jennings cover featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig, Phil Madeira and Dierks Bentley

“What Was I Thinking?/Alabama High Test” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig, Phil Madeira and Dierks Bentley

“Meth” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig

“I Hear Them All” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig

“Hey Coleena” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig, Chuck Mead, Kevin Hayes, Dierks Bentley, Gil Landry and members of the Whiskey Shivers

“Wabash Cannonball” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig, Chuck Mead, Kevin Hayes, Dierks Bentley, Gil Landry and members of the Whiskey Shivers

“Wagon Wheel” featuring Ketch with Morgan Jahnig, Chuck Mead, Kevin Hayes, Dierks Bentley, Gil Landry, Shelley Colvin and members of the Whiskey Shivers

*Roger also hosts a weekly internet radio show, Delicious Elixr, which streams Wednesdays at 1 pm on wrvu.org and is archived on mixcloud.com. He also runs the Old Crow Medicine Show fan-site, oldcrowfans.com

But it is the holidays, and its important to remember that some people don’t even have a car to drive. Or food to eat. Or warm clothes to wear. Case and point:

I decided, on behalf of the Rooster, to adopt a family this christmas through St. Lukes Community House . I thought to myself: I got it! I’ll ask for a family that’s musically inclined, then I can find some Rooster friends to donate musical instruments and what not. It’ll be great! So I ask Christie the volunteer for a musically-inclined family. She responds by saying that none of the families have musical requests. “Are you sure? Don’t we live in Music City?” was my knee jerk reaction. “What could these families be asking for?” After being paired with a family and opening their wish list, I was humbled. Clothes. Shoes. A winter jacket. A doll for the 3 year old. I was humbled.

Freinds, we would love you to help out our family! Between now and Christmas, any and every donation made to our site will go to help out or family. There is no such thing as too small a donation. 1$ is great. 100$ is great too. We will be spending around $300 for the family, and if we get more donations, we will adopt a second family. As of late last week, there were still 35 families without sponsors. If you’d like to buy the family presents, you can help me personally deliver them to the familes’ house on the morning of Dec 16th.

<——– CLICK ON THE DONATION BUTTON TO THE LEFT TO HELP OUT A FAMILY IN NEED!

Dad: Shirt Medium
Pants 32×32
Shoes 8

Mom: Pants 8-9 (w elastic)
Shoes 7-7.5
Shirt MEd-Lrg

Daughter
shirt 4-5T
pants 7-8T
shoes 8-9

We love you! a woman shouts.

And Gillian Welch and David Rawlings break into “Scarlet Town,” the lead song on The Harrow and the Harvest.

Between songs, there’s a bit of tuning to be done. Welch blames a draft for the wayward strings. Rawlings jokes that he’s been anxious about taking this stage for weeks, and now his guitar won’t stay in tune. (“It really is a nightmare!”) But when Rawlings says something’s a nightmare, you grin in response. Sweet Tooth, indeed.

He wears a plain white cowboy hat; Welch, a simple sundress that appears from my vantage point to be denim, scattered with stars. (I’d need a front-rower to fact-check.) Her pale, lithe arms glow beneath the spotlights, cradling her guitar.

So beautifully minimalist, this show: Two singers, four mics, a couple of guitars and a banjo. No drummer to hide behind (say, if the guitars went out of tune, Welch jokes); none needed. Just these two, and their voices woven in perfect complement, Rawling’s tenor a shimmery layer against Welch’s unwavering alto—a warm drawl, steady and assured on each note, an arm around the sometimes-bleak visions it conjures. Melancholy? Yes, the best kind. The kind you wrap around you like a wool shawl, tip a whiskey back to.

(This world needs this; my world needs this.)

But here’s the thing about Welch: though she writes and sings these ache-inducing songs about the hardest of times, the dark turns of mind, she seems so far from sad—yet never dishonest. The effect is balance: she tempers the sorrow without stealing its grace. (Rawlings has a firm hand in this too, of course.) The word zen comes to mind, but zen is not a word I can use to describe Gillian Welch.

I suppose that what she radiates is simply an acceptance, a kind of faith, with which much old-time music is imbued. She’s internalized that, maybe, and sends it back out to us. You’ll have to tell me if that’s right.

“You like our table? We stole it from Roy Acuff’s dressing room,” Welch quips.

The first set hits some of the best dark notes from the album: “The Way It Will Be,” “Dark Turn of Mind,” “Tennessee” – but there are plenty of lighter, toe-tappy moments, too.

There is something about their total lack of pretense, their easiness with one another, their low-key, we’re-just-making-music vibe; their lack of display for the sake of display. They don’t put on a show, they just play. And that is more than enough.

This night, it is transcendent. Boots thrum the century-old floors in time with Rawlings’ guitar. (No drummer needed.) Surely a solid 90% of the audience is wearing boots of some stripe. (It is a night to keep the gaze low between sets. During the sets I want binoculars for one thing only, really, and that is to get a better bead on Gillian’s pair.)

To everyone in the room, Welch and Rawlings are stars, shining bright in our personal cosmologies of music that means something dear to us. But their groundedness, their complete lack of artifice (such a tiresome staple of contemporary country), gorgeously belies that status.

Which is not to say they their presence isn’t magical.

They flit off stage at the end, as if suddenly struck shy. But you know they’ll be back, ever gracious.

***

Second set. Before too long, we are treated to the career-defining glory that is “Revelator.” Those first few twangy-flat notes that can nearly flood your eyes on their own…Oh, here it comes again…Yeah, bring it on. I’ll just sit right here and take it.

What can I say about Rawlings’ guitar and where he took us? It’s impossible to conceive that he’s been doing this kind of thing nearly every night for the past six months.

At one point the two are bathed in a buttery yellow light. Before “Six White Horses,” Welch explains that when they’d put this arrangement together (“at our studio just a few miles that way”), she’d never considered doing it on a stage “in front of all y’all.” But she does, slapping her thighs and clapping, playing harmonica. She even treats us to a little dance, some kind of old-time shuffle, raising her skirt just a little… Purely unscripted—authentic—or convincingly so in appearance.

Welch jokes that she loves the second set; it’s always more relaxed.

Watch her tap the toe of her right boot as she plays. Welch’s slip-of-a-girl stature serves her and her music well, of course – those dresses and boots, that luminous skin bared — but again, it never feels put to work. She’s a simple girl. Who happens to sing pretty good and play the guitar.

For an encore, they do “I’ll Fly Away,” and we need no coaxing to join in. But Rawlings raises the stakes, exhorting us: “One more time, one more time…”

The Ryman is full of voices…as it once was.

When I die, hallelujah by and by, I’ll fly away.

The next day, a concertgoer posts her thanks to Gillian Welch’s Facebook page:

“I only knew 2 of your songs when I came to see you at the Ryman last night,” she writes. “It was my first time at the Ryman and I have lived here my whole life. I was in tears for most of the show…You really did take me to church last night and you have a fan for life. Thank you.”

Just a quick reminder for those of you in and around the Nashville area that WE GOT A DANCE COMING UP! Monday night at the Mercy Lounge at 7.30. Come on down and expect to dance in a square! For those of you who don’t live nearby, please let us know if theres a dance happening where you are, and we will be glad to give it the attention it deserves.

Our dear friend Woody Pines (who now lives in our neck of the woods when he’s not out touring) just so happend to be around for Thanksgiving and will be performing a short set between dances. It’s a good thing too–I’ve had a recent hankerin’ for some viper jazz! Here’s a video he did earlier this year for the Portland/Atlanta/Knoxville outfit Live & Breathing.

See you Monday!

Photo by Mary Lindsay

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Westbound Rangers at Station Inn

Title

Westbound Rangers at Station Inn

The Don’t Tell Darlings’ first album, Fix Your Wagon, is a treat, packed with lush harmonies, pitch-perfect intonation, and the seamless intertwining of two voices meant to sing together. It is a parfait of alto and soprano, going down so smoothly that one longs for a bit of roughness now and then—a syncopated beat or a note sung slightly out of pitch.

In Sugar for Sugar, the vocal stylings of the Charlottesville-based Megan Rose Orwig and Camilla “Millie” Ammirati are no less assured, but the two add texture in the form of fiddle, steel guitar, washboard, and a broader exploration of genre. Their first album demonstrates their mastery of old-time and country, their singing supported by spirited work on guitar (Orwig) and banjo (Ammirati). In Sugar for Sugar, they recruit Lew Burrus on bass and Liam “Old Man” Kelly for the additional instrumentation, creating a wider tone palette. The scratch of Kelly’s fiddle in particular provides a satisfying contrast to the voices, with their fluid timbre and deep vibrato. More than half the songs are also originals by Ammirati, tilting the CD away from Appalachian roots and giving it a saucier, swingier feel.

In the first song, the knockout James Alley Blues, Orwig and Ammirati scrap all instruments, letting the interplay of their voices stand on its own. The result is a virtuosic musical flight: their voices swoop and dive, sometimes falling into dissonance, sometimes coming in at different times, and always aligning for surprising and stunning displays.

Orwig and Ammirati follow this up with Blue Moon Special, another of the CD’s standouts. This minor-key offering oozes world-weariness, kept going by hip-swinging rhythms on guitar and washboard. A banjo solo provides a resonant interlude, and the uplifting of some of the vocal phrases gives rise to near-harmonics that catch at the listener’s ear, evoking a sense of urgency. Ammirati’s lyrics sizzle:

Well, there ain’t no water in my whiskey

There ain’t no sugar in my tea

Ain’t nobody gonna make you say please

But if you want,

Come on honey baby I’ll fix you a plate

Don’t you know mama’s kitchen is open late

Around here, you get just what you see.

Songs such as Blue Moon Special, infused with longing and a hard-lived sexuality, may appeal to some more than the higher-concept offerings (I Miss the Man I Thought You Were; Canary in the Mine of Love). The lyrics of these are clever, and the songs are every bit as well-executed as the others on the CD, but the emotional honesty of Blue Moon Special and Black-Eyed Baby, another of Ammirati’s originals, evokes a more visceral response. Black-Eyed Baby rollicks with smoky vitality, a two-step that conjures a big band sound while ornamented only with banjo, guitar, and rough-hewn fiddle. Orwig and Ammirati need only the barest acoustic scaffolding to support their vocal synergy, certain to be the showpiece of any album these two produce.

Sultry honky tonk notwithstanding, some of the loveliest tracks on Sugar for Sugar are from the traditional canon. Of particular note is Wild Bill Jones, with soaring harmonies overlaying a foundation of banjo and fiddle. Ammirati’s spare clawhammer plucking and Kelly’s haunting intonations convey the sense of desolation this song needs.

If you get a chance to see the Don’t Tell Darlings in concert, the experience is highly recommended. Not only do Orwig and Ammirati shine musically, they are hilarious in between songs. Don’t let the soulfulness of their voices fool you; these gals will entertain you as well as appeal to your senses. For those who live within driving distance of Charlottesville, a concert is well worth the trip—and one hopes the duo will attract the fan base it deserves by taking the show on the road.

Sugar for Sugar features the following musicians:

Millie Ammirati, vocals and banjo

Megan Rose Orwig, vocals and guitar

Lew Burrus, bass (The Jim Howe Jazz Ensemble)

Liam “Old Man” Kelly, fiddle, washboard, resonator guitar, pedal steel guitar (Jugbusters; also described on Don’t Tell Darlings website as a “one-man sea shanty band”)

Sugar for Sugar was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Joseph “Joebass” Dejarnette.

You can purchase Sugar for Sugar and listen to tracks here.

You can check for shows and learn more about the band (and buy the CD) here.

Soundwagon recording “Give The Fiddler A Dram”

Imagine yourself at a dark house in the Ithaca woods. You walk through the door, and find yourself in the midst of a party. A fiddle is wailing, a bass is thumping, arms are whirling, feet are stomping, and at first, you think you’ll get knocked to the ground. But you close your eyes, and your body starts moving, putting you in sync with the music and the other dancers in the room. You just stumbled into a party that will not quit until you do—Soundwagon’s “Give the Fiddler a Dram: Mississippi Fiddle Tunes Recorded in New York.”

Named after a van driven by an ethnomusicologist from New York to Mississippi in 1939 to record Mississippi fiddlers, Soundwagon recreates the journey in reverse, as fiddler Jack Magee from Magee, Mississippi traveled to New York to record tunes with some of New York’s most exciting old-time players.

The voyage of the first “sound wagon,” a one-time U.S. Army ambulance decked out with a cot, an acetate-disc recorder, cabinets for holding equipment, and other odds and ends, enabled the birth of Great Big Yam Potatoes, a record that features, among other fiddlers, Enos Canoy, from Jack’s hometown. The second migration fulfills Magee’s vision of bringing relatively little-known Mississippi tunes to a wider audience and hooking the listener with hypnotic grooves and funky, percussive instrumentation.

If you have grown weary of June Apple and Sally Goodin, you’ll find this CD a welcome change of pace. You won’t see the usual titles—all the tunes come from Mississippi except for the last track, Lost Everything, written by banjo player Richie Stearns.

You will discover oddities such as Dusty Miller, also known as Old-Time Cotton-Eyed Joe. As played by Magee, this obscure tune begins with a sustained note that turns into a crooked, modal melody punctuated by drum-like rhythms on banjo, bass, and guitar. Magee nails the intonation, creating aural tension by stretching the pitch as he canters forward with the melody line.

Going Up to Hamburg is another standout on this CD, its punchy rhythms and wild fiddle licks fading in slowly like a roll of thunder. The sound envelops you, and all of a sudden, you don’t know whether you’re listening to old-time or some kind of punk rock gypsy rag as Magee drags his bow for a long, scrapy, near-harmonic while the banjo plunks below like rain falling on a bucket. Magee draws out the spooky elements of the tune with up-sweeping slurs and tumbling cadences that catch at and drive the melody. As with many of the songs on this album, Magee sings some lines here and there:

Going up to Hamburg, pretty little lady

Going up to Hamburg, yes I am

Going to up Hamburg, pretty little lady

Going up to Hamburg to get me a dram

Magee does not try to make his voice sound pretty, or scratchy, or “old-timey,” and does not seem to have planned when to sing and when not to—the CD had a refreshing lack of self-consciousness. Magee’s voice is perfect for the tunes he plays, and anchors them to the energy of the original recordings.

With each tune on the CD, Soundwagon strikes a balance between attentiveness to the elements that make the tune distinctive and a spontaneous, natural delivery (according to the liner notes, Soundwagon played each tune through only once before recording it). From the infectiously catchy Oh Yes Mama Look at Sam to the sweet and slow Bankhead Blues, which ambles forward like an old man making his way to the corner store, the tunes on this CD will have you nodding, swaying, and beating rhythm on the nearest surface. Beware: listening to these tunes on an iPod on public transportation will have your neighbors edging away while wondering how to obtain what is making you so joyful.

To give his CD the edge it has, Magee recruited the hottest old-time players he could find. Stearns, known for his work with the Horse Flies, sets the CD apart from the mainstream with his inspired improvisatory ramblings, rilling up and down his instrument during the spaces left wide by Magee. Ben Gould on bass maintains an up-tempo beat—there is not one song on this CD that drags—and gives string-slapping momentum to tunes such as Tupelo Blues. Steve Selin adds tonal color with his guitar, keeping the tunes snappy while creating resonance and texture.

Magee, however, is the star of the show. From his deep, bluesy bending of notes to his energetic shuffling and the barely controlled hair-raising pull of his long strokes, he infuses the CD with his distinctive musical style. Magee’s love of the music is contagious: you have only to listen to his intro to Poor Little Mary Sitting in a Corner, almost too danceable a tune to seem a musical relic, to hear what fun he is having and to want to join in. This is not just a stellar CD; it’s the fulfillment of a mission. There is no sign of strain or labor in these tunes, however, only the sense that Magee wants to share what is so exciting about them with those of us not fortunate enough to have them as our cultural heritage.

The CD case is covered in photos that show Magee with his bandmates, clearly having the time of his life. Magee sums up the essence of his album in his notes:

“When you’re in the groove, the pocket, vortex. . . with your musical friends, there is nothing like it in the world. . . the shear of the sound wants to lift you from the ground.”

“Give The Fiddler a Dram” was recorded in Ithaca, NY by Chad Crumm. In addition to Jack Magee, Soundwagon features the following musicians:

Soundwagon’s “Give The Fiddler A Dram” can be purchased here

Sources: Give the Fiddler a Dram liner notes; Library of Congress (LOC)

Wilma Lee Cooper passed away earlier this month. A West Virgina native, some of you may know her late husband fiddler Stoney Cooper. Wilma Lee joined the Opry in 1958 and does a mean version of Midnight Special:

Wilma Lee comes from a family of musicians. It should be mentioned that her daughter (and also a member of the Opry) Carol Lee Cooper is also having health issues which is keeping her from performing as an ongoing backup vocalist at the Opry. Please keep the Cooper family in your prayers.