Rebel Records will release tomorrow the first new non-holiday music in three years from retro-bluegrass champions High Fidelity, and we have a first listen to the track for you this afternoon.
The band is the brainchild of Jeremy Stephens and Corrina Rose Logston Stephens, husband and wife, as well as dedicated preservationists of the bluegrass music of the 1950s and ’60s. Jeremy is on guitar and vocals, and Corrina on fiddle and vocals, with co-founder and co-visionary Kurt Stephenson on banjo, and Daniel Amick on mandolin.
But they don’t simply redo older music, which they do quite well, they also write new material in that same style, and record it with their talented band.
This latest is Red Ball Rocket Train, one that Mike Bub suggested to the band from the repertoire of Mac Odell, which Mac recorded with his Alabama Jubilees in 1950. It’s the first peek at the band’s next Rebel project, and it’s a good’n.
Sung by Jeremy, which he says stands out in the Odell catalog.
“Mac Odell is the writer of many gospel songs that we know in bluegrass music today. But Red Ball Rocket Train is a rare secular piece by him, and we thought it was a mighty good one! We knew our next album at the time was going to be all gospel [2023’s Music In My Soul], so I just made a note of the song to look at later.”
Corrina agrees, saying that all hands contributed to the arrangement.
“Many times, one or two of us in High Fidelity will have a clear idea of how the song should go, but this one was a true band collaboration with everyone involved. It sets the stage well for the vibe of our latest music.”
It’s great fun – check it out!
Red Ball Rocket Train will be available on Friday, August 21 from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.
