Montana fingerstyle guitarist Cary Morin has a new album, Innocent Allies, set for release next month, with a single dropping today, his arrangement of the familiar fiddle tune, Whiskey Before Breakfast.
Cary started out as a flat picker, studying bluegrass guitar, but over the years has drifted into fingerpicking, where he has developed a well-deserved reputation for his playing and writing, and as a compelling vocalist. This next album is meant to pay tribute to his Native American heritage, inspired by the work of acclaimed western painter Charles M. Russell.
Russell painted a variety of landscapes and figures, representing both the cowboy culture of the late 19th century, and the Native peoples still living along the Rocky Mountains. Critics and cultural historians regard his work as crucial in preserving aspects of the lives and civilization of what is now a lost existence.
Playing in an open D tuning, Morin pulls out a very different flavor from this tune, which bluegrass lovers hear most commonly on fiddle or flat picked guitar.
He shared a few words about how he came to choose this one for this next project.
“Whiskey Before Breakfast is a song that I learned as a child when my interest at the time was mainly bluegrass music, something I loved very much. Since those early days, I have abandoned the guitar pick and prefer to play fingerstyle guitar.
I was inspired to record this old traditional tune by my interest in the famous Montana band, Mission Mountain Wood Band. I loved their combination of bluegrass and other genres of the time. Their album, In Without Knocking, was always on my list of favorite recordings, and I particularly liked the album cover which is the painting by CMR titled, In Without Knocking.”
Have a listen in the video below, which sets the tune against a gallery of Russell’s art.
Pre-orders for Cary’s Innocent Allies CD can be placed online.
