R.I.P. O.C.M.S?
August 19th, 2011
By:
Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor and Willie Watson perform with David Rawlings and Gillian Welch at Bonnaroo
On August 4th, the following message appeared on the Old Crow Medicine Show’s facebook and website:
Old Crow Medicine Show is on hiatus
as we seek health and wellness over the coming months.
Thank you for your continued love and support.
As is often the case with this type of announcement, fans are left wondering how long the hiatus might last and whether it might be more than just a temporary break. It’s hard to fathom a group as popular as the Old Crow Medicine Show quietly disbanding with little fanfare but as of now, all of their concert dates have been cancelled and the band’s been tight lipped on the subject of their future. In the event that this is more than just a brief respite, I thought I’d be fitting to share my thoughts on their legacy.
My introduction to the Old Crow Medicine Show came at the 2000 Uncle Dave Macon Days Festival in Murfreesboro, TN. At the time, I considered myself a fan of bluegrass and country music and had gone to Uncle Dave Days to see Marty Stuart received the Heritage award. Having attended fiddler conventions before, I went with the expectation of being entertained more by the “parking lot” musicians than with the contests held on stage. What I didn’t expect was the level to which the Old Crow Medicine Show would take such “parking lot” entertainment.
Like characters out of an episode of the Andy Griffith Show, they had set up in the middle of the festival grounds spinning themselves more as a traveling medicine show than a band. Unkempt and ragged, they spiced up their performance with scripted banter and rustic props winning the crowd over with homespun charm. In the style of Uncle Dave Macon himself, they weren’t the best musicians at the festival that day and were clearly not the best singers, but it was obvious that they were the best at something. I had seen a number of old time bands before that day but never had I seen the music played with such fervor and exuberance. These guys made traditional music fun and I was hooked.
Old Crow Medicine Show won the old time band competition at Uncle Dave Macon Days that summer, shortly after which they relocated to Nashville. In the following months I saw them perform at MTSU, on the stage of the Opry Plaza, at the Station Inn- drawing larger and larger crowds each time. With the help of Marty Stuart (who, presumably, was as impressed as I was by their performance at Uncle Dave Days), they made their Grand Ole Opry debut on January 12, 2001. Not surprisingly, they received a standing ovation from the crowd that night and would be regularly invited back for years to come.
This was around the time that O Brother Where Art Thou was released in theaters. That film and its accompanying soundtrack attracted mainstream attention to American roots music, but it was watching the Old Crow Medicine Show entertain the crowd at Uncle Dave Macon Days that did it for me. Inspired, I would soon discover other bands with stylistic leanings and influences similar to Old Crow. Recordings by contemporary groups such as the Freight Hoppers, the Hackensaw Boys, Crooked Jades, Reeltime Travelers and Uncle Earl started finding their way into my music collection as did earlier “source” recordings by artists such as Uncle Dave Macon, Dock Boggs and the Skillet Lickers. I can honestly say that my musical preferences- and life- have since never been the same since that summer.
Before long the Old Crow Medicine Show became the de facto ambassadors of a burgeoning roots music scene and it was obvious that they aspired to become more than just old time revivalists. While their first two independently released albums (Troubles Up And Down The Road and Eutaw) as well as their 2004 self-titled debut on Nettwerk all offered healthy doses of traditional tunes, their 2006 release, Big Iron World, included only two and their last album, Tennessee Pusher, none. Though largely responsible for taking old time music to new levels of popularity, they somewhat distanced themselves from it as they opted to split bills with acts such as Mumford & Sons, The Felice Brothers and John Prine rather than headlining tours with more traditional string bands such as the Foghorn String Band and Carolina Chocolate Drops.
As a result of their mainstream success, Old Crow has become something of an enigma in old time music circles. It seems that the core of old time musicians have basically disowned them and their signature tune, “Wagon Wheel”, has even come to be mocked and ridiculed in old time circles. This “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” mentality is common amongst fans of niche music genres when bands achieve more than underground success (the term “selling out” is often used,) but I feel that it’s a little extreme in this case. Admittedly, their last two albums aren’t among my favorites nor have their Nashville concerts been must have tickets for me over the past few years but I feel that I owe the Old Crow Medicine Show a debt of gratitude for helping me realize that summer at Uncle Dave Macon Days that old time music can be raucous, wild and relevant.
If this, in fact, is more than just a temporary break for the band then I wish them the best.
11 Responses to “R.I.P. O.C.M.S?”
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OCMS has seemed to me to be “phoning it in” for years. I don’t know if anyone could have kept up the level of energy necessary to do the kind of shows they were doing back in the early days, but none of their recorded material has been very good. “Wagon Wheel” was such a promising song, but the heart of their music for me was “Tear It Down” and other early jug band / old time revivalist stuff. Their original music is mediocre and their recordings, especially the studio stuff, have been wooden and lifeless.
I had great hopes when I first saw Old Crow, Despite themselves they were leading a revival in old time music and bluegrass. It was something they never really wanted, so it is hard to blame them for not taking up the mantle. Still, their apathy toward the music that made it all possible always struck me as sad.
Thanks for these comments. Very balanced!
My inrto to Old Crow was in 1999. I remember that group that you refer to… so rough! However, I feel like a lot of their new songs were really returning to some of that Americana Roots/String band music. I am also not a big fan of the last album, Tennessee Pusher… but it would be a real shame if this batch of new songs never makes it to a record because I think it would help bring some of the former fans back.
I hope they are just going through some growing pains as they try to find a place where they are all comfortable playing music and find that joy again.
Thanks for the post, Buck.
This is potentially horrible news.
I never understand folks being too critical of them. Tennessee Pusher is clearly their weakest work, but, compared to most of the competition… how many recent albums have been better than it by folks who are actually contributing to the tradition rather than perpetually re-hashing it? and other than Tennessee Pusher which I wouldn’t argue with the characterization as “stiff and Wooden” Big Iron World isn’t “wooden”, OCMS was the best album of the decade, And Eutaw could never be called “wooden”. And live?!? How could anyone say they “phoned it in” live ? Best Touring act of the Decade!! Best touring act of the last quarter Century!! I can’t speak to anything before that… They will leave a huge hole if they are really done, say it aint so.
I love OCMS. They, along with a handful of other young groups, have been as responsible as anyone for the popularity of ROOTS MUSIC on the college scene. Have been worried about them for a while tho…so a hiatus for health reasons was not unexpected. I wish them the very best & hope we’ll be hearing more from them soon!
I LOVE Old Crow!! I think they put on an amazing show. Why have you been worried about them? I hung out with them in June and they seemed fine. I hope all is okay, really nice folks.
I love old crow more than anything. I’ve seen them 5 times, and when i saw them this past july they seemed a bit off compared to the last few times. Still played well, but not as much energy.
Wonder if one of the boys had to pay a little visit to rehab…
Just recently got into OCMS, bought the DVD, and totally flipped for these guys.Talk of the split sounds not so good eh? Is there any recent news?
BP
Ok I just saw their bass player today in kroger while he was grocery shopping with his wife and new baby (very cute!) anyway, I’d say the hiatus won’t be forever because he told me they have a new cd coming out in June so you know they are going to be touring to promote it.
Well, I guess everyone knows by now that Willie Watson is officially out of the band and Critter Fuqua is back. Having just gotten into the bands music recently I’m pretty disappointed to learn that Willie is gone, he seems like a pretty integral part of their songwriting and sound. Hope all is ok with him and that OCMS continues to produce good music but I’m sure it won’t be the same.