Fiddler George Jackson has come a long way in his short life. All the way from New Zealand to Nashville to be exact, where he plys his trade as a member of Missy Raines & The New Hip.
Like many schooled musicians, he fell head over heels for the spontaneity and joy of old time Appalachian music shortly after he finished his music degree, through a visit to Clifftop. His prodigious talent is now dedicated to contemporary mountain music, with a new album of original tunes, Time and Place, set for an April release.
While rehearsing for the project tracking in Pittsboro, NC, George shot this video of his new old time number, Cabin On The Cumberland, which he says was inspired by his personal old home place.
“Cabin On The Cumberland, is named for my cabin home in Madison, TN just north of Nashville. I live right on the edge of the Cumberland River, just two doors down from where John Hartford used to live, and have been renovating my cabin over the last year, getting it to a state of live-ability. It’s coming together really nicely now, but has been a big task!
So the tune was written in honor of the cabin as my wife and I were about to move in and start the big project.
The non-diatonic chords are a bit of fun, I always like the sound of making every chord a major chord (kind of like Foggy Mountain Breakdown with Lester playing an E Major chord), and that’s basically what’s happening in this tune. The tune as I wrote it is completely diatonic in C, but in the video and track we’re playing around with A major and E major chords, adding that surprising sound.”
Supporting musicians include Ashlee Watkins on guitar, Brad Kolodner on banjo, Andrew Small on bass, Andrew Marlin on mandolin, and Mark Kilianski on guitar. Corey Reid captured the video.
The album was recorded at The Rubber Room in Chapel Hill, NC, with each of the 10 new tunes named for the time and place it was conceived.
Pre-orders for Time and Place are available now online.
