Old-time clawhammer banjo player Evie Ladin has a very welcome new installment in her “Rooster” series of duets with her favorite musicians. Evie usually sings and records creative original songs with her “neo-trad kinetic roots” band, but the Rooster albums are all traditional old-time instrumental duets.
The first recording, 2018’s Riding the Rooster, paired Evie with an array of fiddlers she visited while on tour. Seeking to acknowledge the foundation she builds on with her more modern work, she created a “field recording… mostly unrehearsed, looking for that vibe, that energy, the beautiful confluence of fiddle and banjo that draws me back into the music forever, no matter how far I take it.”
The album titles refer to her favorite part of the encounters: “to sit down with a fiddler and launch fast into some crooked tune I’ve never heard. Every cell kicks in, and the experience is as much like I imagine riding a rooster to be—visceral, in the moment, somewhat off the chain.”
2024 brought a second Rooster recording, and now the newly released album, Riding Roosters: Evie Ladin Plays Banjo with Some of Her Favorite Musicians (Evil Diane Records) widens the circle of Evie’s friends to pair her banjo with not just fiddle, but also cello, mandolin, guitar, and dulcimer, each playing an old-time fiddle tune chosen by the duet partner.
She took advantage of tours to Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky to visit with musicians along the way, and invited musicians who were passing through her home base of Oakland, California, to help her create “literally a ‘record’ of my far-ranging music community” and the tunes they play.
The 18 tracks are well-recorded, capturing the warmth and fun of an informal session, including a few snippets of conversation like those we hear after Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom, recorded at a music camp with bluegrass fiddler Ellie Hakanson.
Sarah Kate Morgan’s dulcimer and Micah Ling’s cello add unique textures, while old-time royalty like fiddler Rafe Stefanini and Judy Hyman (of The Horse Flies) keep things well grounded.
Meaningful personal connections abound: Genevieve Harrison Koester fiddles Ol’ Bob, a tune she learned from her father, Garry Harrison, and the Bob of the title was the man who helped Evie build her first house.
Renaissance man Sam Bartlett (who happens to be Evie’s brother-in-law) contributes a lively mandolin version of Little Whiskey, a tune he learned from Jeff Goehring. Charmaine Slaven, who like Sam shares Evie’s love of traditional dance, fiddles on Clyde Davenport’s Meriweather.
Cellist Ellen Coplin and fiddler Sean Hoffman, both of the duo Bobcat Opossum and the band The Debutants, shine on two tracks, Dry and Dusty and Sweet Milk and Peaches.
And those are just a few of the great musicians on this collection! Hayes Griffin, Sarah Kate Morgan, Caleb Hofheinz, Sophie Wellington, Annie Staninec, Leah Wollenberg, Howie Schwarz, and Paul Kotapish each bring one of their favorite tunes, making this album a wonderful introduction to the world of old-time for anyone new to the music. The musicianship is first-rate, and each duet partner displays a true love of the genre.
Evie closes the album with a solo bonus track, a pensive version of Down in North Carolina (sometimes called “Waterbound”), which shows off her truly lovely voice.
As a final note, especially fun is the delightful cover design by Gina Dilg, featuring a whimsical painting by Angelina Elise.
Evie sums it up this way: “It’s about the people, the tunes, the confluence of notes, the pocket—the doing of music, the tradition of living.” The album is available now on Bandcamp, so hop on the nearest rooster, hold on tight, and take a ride with Evie Ladin and her talented friends.
