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Album of the Week #4 – NewFound Road’s Somewhere Between

For week four of the Album of the Week series, I went a little more modern and snagged an album by one of my favorite new bluegrass groups: NewFound Road.

Tim Shelton formed the band around 2002. After having performed with the southern Ohio gospel group, The Beacons (with Joe Mullins), Shelton decided to set out on his own. He gathered the talents of (former Beacon) Tim Caudill, Junior Williams, and Rob Baker. The band began as a Gospel group, releasing a pair of stellar bluegrass Gospel recordings, one of which is still in print (Full Heart).

In 2004, the band took a step forward and released Somewhere Between. This was the band’s first non-Gospel project, though it did include four Gospel tunes. I called up Tim Shelton, and asked him what he recalls about the album.

“The first thing that really pops into my mind when I think about Somewhere Between was that it produced our first #1 hit. It’s Raining The Blues topped the Bluegrass Unlimited charts, and that was huge for us. In addition to being our first secular album, it was also our first really big hit record. That really opened up the doors for us in a lot of ways for bookings and further success.”

It’s Raining The Blues gets the album off to a rousing start. The bluesy vocals and Junior’s “angry” banjo, make it easy to see why this tune was the band’s first big hit. It’s a great bluegrass song, that you’ll find yourself singing over and over again.

This album features several great originals written within the band. Edinburgh, the record’s lone instrumental cut was written by Shelton, and its old-timey feel would make Monroe proud. Our music’s Scotch-Irish roots really shine through on this one. The production of this number pays tribute to tradition as well, by starting out with the turn of a radio dial and the scratchy sound of a record needle. This cut also features some killer fiddle work by Jim Van Cleve, the album’s only special guest, who adds complementary fiddle to ten of the album’s twelve tracks. Van Cleve has been a long-time friend of the band, and also added his skills to the band’s current live album.

Tim Caudill’s Love At First Light is a great contemporary number, which really highlights Tim Shelton’s vocal style (and shows why Shelton has been a bluegrass heartthrob for the past decade! Don’t believe me? Just ask my sister or your girlfriend!) It is a remarkable love song, which tells a great story. The song was dedicated by Caudill to his wife.

Caudill also penned the album’s title track, Somewhere Between. This a song that will touch your heart. It deals with the hardships of having a loved one in between life and death. We’ve all known someone who has been “Somewhere between this world and home. Their heart is still beating, but their spirit is gone.” This song can really be a blessing to people.

Somewhere Between is one of four gospel tracks on the album. Tim Shelton’s version of Judy Marshall’s I Need You, Lord may be my favorite. He has recorded the song a few times, but this is the only time with his band. Judy Marshall has written so many Gospel standards, and this is one her best. Shelton’s take on the song is truly moving.

The band does a great a cappella rendition of the classic, Rock of Ages, and also does a blazing fast version of The Osborne Brothers’ Jesus Sure Changed Me which puts Junior Williams’ powerhouse vocals up front. Another Osborne Brothers’ tune appears on Somewhere Between. They offer their tasteful take on Lonesome Feelin’.

The band’s original version of Tom T. Hall’s That’s How I Got To Memphis appears on this record. To me, this is one of the group’s best finds. The song fits Shelton’s voice perfectly, and they did an excellent job translating it into a bluegrass-friendly song. Newfound Road still performs this one in their live shows, and even re-did the song for their live album.

Rob Baker takes the lead vocal duties on his original song, Don’t Be Gone. His tender vocals do a great job conveying the song’s sentiment. This a real hidden gem on the album that has not gotten nearly enough attention.

Somewhere Between also features a real catchy, bluesy number called Nothing Ever Turns Out Right. It has somewhat of a Western swing feel to it due to the flavor of Van Cleve’s fiddle. Larry Spark’s These Old Blues also shares this song’s bluesy sentiment, but in a more traditional way. The blues-tinge to Shelton’s voice is something that makes it so appealing to listeners, and these tunes really showcase that quality.

This is a great all around bluegrass recording, and has something for everyone. It shows the variety and flexibility this group has had, while still maintaining their own unique style. Somewhere Between’s success caused many in the bluegrass world to take notice to this bluegrass band based out of southern Ohio. Shortly after its release, NewFound Road signed with Rounder Records, and has released their last three albums with them.

Along with all of the “firsts” this album carried for the band, sadly, this album is also carries a “last.” This was Newfound Road’s last album with the original lineup. Nowadays, Tim Shelton is joined by Josh Miller, and Joe and Jamey Booher. Their latest album, and their only one featuring the current lineup, is Live At The Down Home.

Somewhere Between is on Mountain Home (MH-0996-CD) and is available for purchase at County Sales and the Classic Country Connection. It is also can be downloaded on iTunes and Amazon Music. I highly recommend this early bluegrass album from one of the hottest acoustic music groups on the scene today.

Bonus Question (for the prize of a job well done!): What two former members of Newfound Road have been members of Rhonda Vincent & the Rage?

Also, I know Christmas is coming up, so next week, look forward to showcasing a true classic album featuring one of the most-beloved Christmas tracks of all time.

On The Other Side with the Downtown Ramblers

Bluegrass is alive and well throughout Europe, and much of the music crossing the pond is fresh, energetic and memorable. The latest evidence is found in the sophomore release from Sweden’s Downtown Ramblers, On the Other Side of the City.

The Ramblers have a strong pedigree – winners of Sweden’s bluegrass championship in 2007 and top European band at the European World of Bluegrass festival in 2009. The band calls its particular brand of music “Nordic urban bluegrass,” but it is clearly influenced by folk and pop.

The result, at least on the 11 songs on this desk, is entertaining and exasperating at the same time.

Entertaining because the music is everything good bluegrass is supposed to be – precise, powerful and packed with emotion. Oskar Reuter’s mandolin breaks and the elegant guitar work of Par Ojerot would lift any band, on either side of the Atlantic. And Karl Annerhult’s bass lines, both bowed and plucked, provide a solid foundation. Guest fiddlers Brittany Haas (Crooked Still) and Tim O’Brien add musical heft, too.

Exasperating because, well, every once in a while – in bluegrass as well as in the world at large – something gets lost in translation. That seems to have happened here with some of the lyrics, with awkward phrases distracting from the beauty of the underlying music. In Let Go, for instance, we hear of “skydiving people freefalling in the air,” and in Be My Baby Still we’re told, “Don’t you dare, my love. Don’t you question my skill.”

This is not necessarily the fault of the band. Blue Moon of Kentucky probably has some strange-sounding lines in Svenska, the Swedish language. And the flaw is easy to overlook on the strongest songs of this package. Best of all is I Never Planned, an up-tempo number driven by dueling breaks from Reuter and Ojerot, some mighty fine banjo work by Martin Blomberg and expressive vocals by Emelie Junsten. Nearly as good: The previously mentioned Be My Baby Still, in which the pairing of Emelie’s voice with Tim O’Brien’s overcomes the limp lyric, and I Will Follow, a minimalist masterpiece with Emelie accompanied only by Oscar on tenor guitar.

Those lucky enough to catch the Ramblers’ performance at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass a couple of years ago will find a familiar, pleasant sound here. Folks who haven’t heard of the band but love good pickin’ will also be right at home On The Other Side of the City.

An Evening In The Village: The Music of Béla Bartók

This review of An Evening In The Village: The Music of Béla Bartók is a contribution from David Hollender, Professor at the Berklee College of Music. Hollender teaches individual banjo lessons at Berklee, and leads a number of ensembles.

The cover of Jake Schepps’ new CD features a famous quote from Béla Bartók:

“Folk melodies are the embodiment of an artistic perfection of the highest order; in fact, they are models of the way in which a musical idea can be expressed with utmost perfection in terms of brevity of form and simplicity of means.”

Bartók (1881-1945) was born in Hungary and was equally important as a 20^th century classical composer and as one of the first ethnomusicologists. He devoted years traveling and collecting thousands of Hungarian, Slovakian, Romanian and Bulgarian folk songs. He later used those melodies and rhythms in his compositions. Bartók was not the first composer to use themes borrowed from folk music in classical compositions, but he differed from his predecessors in that he did not “fix” the music to make it conform to the rules of classical music. He allowed the tunes to retain their quirky elements and surprises.

Any number of banjo players have included arrangements of classical music but this project is the first to explore music composed by a single composer, and a 20^th composer at that! The CD is co-produced by Schepps, Jayme Stone and mandolinist Matt Flinner, who is also plays and is credited with one of the arrangements. The band consists of Ross Martin and Grant Gordy taking turns on guitar; Ben Sollee (Sparrow Quartet) on cello; Eric Thorin, Greg Garrison (Punch Brothers) and Ian Hutchinson on bass. Violinist Ryan Drickey is a kind of hinge pin in the ensemble in that his ability to play both convincing fiddle and classical violin give the sound credibility as the music shifts between styles. While all players turn in excellent performances the real focus of this project is the compositions and the ensemble.

Before anybody hears 20^th century classical music and proclaims, “Modern classical music just sounds like noise!” hang on a minute. Forget about labels. This music is actually based on old time music not the least bit unlike tunes you have heard adapted to bluegrass. Schepps chose nine of Bartok’s 44 Violin Duos, several selections from Mikrokosmos (piano music), and excerpts from some larger orchestral pieces for this band, all of which have strong connection to folk music. Some tracks are basically transcriptions of music written for two violins. Those tracks are good but the real excitement comes when band picks up where Bartok Bartók left off and uses his writing as a platform to which they add vamps, rhythmic and melodic counterpoint and chords and build in sections for improvised solos. The title track, Evening in the Village, Play Song, Mikrokosmos #153 and Stick Game stand out.

The CD also includes a single tune that deserves mention. Cousin Sally Brown is not by Bartók. It is an American fiddle tune. What is interesting is how much it has in common with the Eastern European tunes. It drives home the point that American and Eastern European folk music have more things in common than the number of things that divide them.

It is easy to find examples of musicians trying to blend classical music with other styles, only to disastrous effect. In this case the effort is not just successful; it is perfectly logical since it is simply carrying what Bartók did a step further.

The field recordings of peasants in small European villages singing the old songs have been transferred to digital forms and archived. Hearing them side-by-side with the Bartok and Schepps versions is the best way to hear the connections and appreciate the innovations. If you hear this CD and like it you are encouraged to do that.

In the liner notes quote Schepps as saying, ”All kudos go Bartók, and not to me!” I appreciate that kind of humility, but still say kudos to Jake Schepps and all the players.

A Passing Glimpse – Pharis and Jason Romero

One might think that a cabin deep in the Canadian wilderness may be an unusual place for masters of old-time southern music to live and work, but Pharis and Jason Romero prove this idea wrong. Not only does this husband-and-wife duo have the reputation for creating some of the finest handmade banjos in North America, they also sing and play old-time and early country music beautifully. In A Passing Glimpse, their debut project on Lula Records as a duo, their talents are fully expressed in a 15 song compilation of both previously recorded and original material.

Unlike many artists who choose to create recordings filled with extra instrumentation, the material Pharis and Jason have selected for their first duo project is performed brilliantly by just the two of them. This album’s stripped-down, bare bones style gives a unique flavor. Their harmonies blend just as well as the sparsely included solos by Jason mix with Pharis’s superb rhythm guitar accompaniment. Pharis contributes four new original compositions, while the first track, Forsaken Love, is the first piece this couple wrote together.

Pharis’s penning of five distinct pieces within this project has placed her own creative measures comfortably beside melodies derived from decades-old recordings which she and her husband credit for their interpretations of public domain works. For instance, the new song and title track, A Passing Glimpse, which deals with the subject of reflecting upon one’s past, fits well before My Flowers, My Companions, and Me, which they learned from a circa-1958 recording of an unknown singer. Other standout songs include Where is the Gamblin’ Man, an upbeat yet alarming story taken from a recording by Alan Lomax, the obscure Out on the Western Plains, and the Carter Family’s Engine 143.

Jason’s excellent banjo work, played without the use of picks or synthetic heads on his own brand of instruments, is exemplified by his take on the traditional instrumental Cumberland Gap, while his talents on lead guitar are also displayed throughout the project. His vocals are also displayed alongside his wife’s as the two perform in a fashion similar to early brother duets to create a sound reminiscent of a 1930s record, only without the crackle and hiss of old phonographs. Pharis does not take a backseat to her husband, however. Instead, the efforts of each performer combine to create a soothing listening experience. Her smooth lead and harmony vocals, as well as her consistent rhythm guitar playing tie the album together.

This recording fits well beside those made years ago by artists such as The Carter Family and Uncle Dave Macon, with newer songs such as Dottie Rambo’s It’s Me Again Lord also performed in this older-sounding style. A Passing Glimpse is sure to help place this couple alongside these historic artists, proving both their first-rate whittling and musical abilities.

More information about these artists and the banjos they craft can be found on their web site.

Monroe tributes: Audie, Dawg & Del

Paying tribute to Bill Monroe with a recording of his songs presents a different challenge than it would for any other musician I can think of. The prime mover behind the creation of bluegrass music, his output forms more of the standard repertoire of his genre than, say, Louis Armstrong’s does for jazz or Robert Johnson’s for the blues. Even though his songbook is vast, there are few little-known gems to dust of as there would be in any other songwriter’s oeuvre.

Several artists have taken the centenary of Monroe’s birth to take on the tribute challenge, and three of the best I’ve heard so far come from Audie Blaylock & Redline, David Grisman, and the Del McCoury Band.

Blaylock, known for the last decade or so as one of the most powerful voices in bluegrass whether supporting Rhonda Vincent or fronting Redline, takes the most straightforward approach of the three on I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky (Rural Rhythm), simply applying his own style to a dozen Monroe cuts.

That style is hard-driving and crisp, propelled by Russ Carson’s banjo and Blaylock’s guitar, the arrangements finely honed where Monroe’s originals were slightly wild and ragged. Vocal guest spots from legendary tenors Del McCoury and Bobby Osborne—as well as a bit of extra-greasy picking by Glen Duncan and Jason Carter (fiddle) and Ronnie McCoury (mandolin) to supplement the regular lineup of Blaylock, Carson, Patrick McAvinue (fiddle) and Reed Jones (bass)—make this the perfect Monroe disc with which to test the limits of your car stereo.

Dawg Plays Big Mon (Acoustic Disc) is a CD chock-full of 20 assorted musical tracks from David Grisman plus a ten-minute interview of Monroe himself by his manager Ralph Rinzler, a nice addition, especially for those unaccustomed to his way of speaking, which is as idiosyncratic as his mandolin picking. But the picking of mandolins and other various stringed instruments by Grisman and a list of collaborators too numerous to list here completely is the point of this release.

Monroe unleashed the mandolin from its comfy niche as a mere strummer with which to back up Victorian-era parlor songs, shredding licks worthy of Kirk Hammett and stabbing bluesy single notes years before B.B. King. Monroe’s mandolin paved the way for Scruggs-style banjo, Grisman’s gypsy jazz, Tony Rice’s spacegrass, or whatever magic Jerry Douglas conjures on a daily basis.

Half the tracks on Dawg are previously unreleased, and the ones that aren’t are drawn from a wide swath of discs, so you’re getting your money’s worth, especially on a six-minute version of the elegiac My Last Days on Earth. Other highlights are On & On from duet partners Jerry Garcia and Red Allen, a couple of picking duets with Doc Watson, and a handful of tracks with—you guessed it—Del McCoury and sons Ronnie and Rob.

Which brings us to the year’s essential Monroe tribute, the 16-track, 41-minute Old Memories: The Songs of Bill Monroe (McCoury Music). The title strikes an odd note with me, as the performances within are anything but nostalgic strolls. Del’s voice, a serrated edge to Monroe’s stiletto, makes every whoop, yodel and slide possible within the tight constraints of a traditional bluegrass arrangement while Ronnie’s mandolin bites and snarls.

While every track has bluegrass’ best band at its bluesy best, seldom played inclusions like Lonesome Truck Driver’s Blues (a Monroe studio cut ruined by the inclusion of an electric guitar, presumably at the insistence of producer Owen Bradley), The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band, and blistering versions of Live and Let Live and Brakeman’s Blues make this album as vital as the originals that inspired it.

Scott Holstein – Cold Coal Town

Scott Holstein was born in Boone County, in the heart of the coalfields of West Virginia, and he has chosen that imagery for the title of his album, Cold Coal Town.

His mother and father both played bluegrass Gospel music as far back as he can remember and he began performing at the age of five with fiddler Senator Robert Byrd. Holstein started writing songs as a young boy.

His biggest influences in song writing are Merle Haggard and, in performance style, Keith Whitley, although it is apparent that the likes of Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Hank Williams and Dave Evans have left their mark on Holstein’s psyche.

Almost all of his kin are in the mining industry and have been for more than a century. His grandfather was in the historic battle of Blair Mountain, 1921; one of the largest civil uprisings in United States history and the largest armed insurrection since the American Civil War. During the five-day confrontation between 10,000 and 15,000 coal miners fought an army of police and strikebreakers backed by coal operators, in an attempt by the miners to join a union in the southwestern West Virginia coalfields.

Holstein moved to Nashville in the spring of 2009…

“I was doing road gigs with Dave Evans and several other known acts and was ‘itching’ to record my own music. Randy Kohrs encouraged the move to Nashville to record my original music after we met at a festival around Macon, Georgia.”

Kohrs followed that by setting up the session at his own Slack Key Studio for August 17, 2010.

All the songs on Cold Coal Town were penned by Holstein, who says,

“These songs have been in my head for a while now and I made a point to debut my original music to honor where I came from (so they won’t forget me – and I don’t forget where I came from!). The songs on the album never had to be written down – they were just there.”

Now from whom have I heard that before?

Holstein [guitar and vocals] is joined in the studio by co-producer Randy Kohrs [Dobro and vocals], Clay Hess [lead guitar], Scott Vestal [banjo], Aaron Ramsey [mandolin], Tim Crouch [fiddle] and Jay Weaver [bass], with Don Rigsby providing harmony vocals on two tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skFWYdD1RFs

I would describe Cold Coal Town as mood music, dark moody blues; bluesy bluegrass-country that barely changes except for the bouncy banjo-led Leavin’ Charleston and the other instrumental on this disc, The Holstein Waltz. On these and throughout the ‘band’ is exemplary.

The sombre tone is set with the opening bars of the Dobro intro to The Spell followed by Holstein’s husky baritone telling a tale of lost love. The second track, Walls of Stone, bemoans the consequences of jealous love.

Holstein uses his voice very well, bringing a softness to the haunting tribute to another of Holstein’s influences, the Stanley Brothers, in Clinch Mountain Hills, a superb duet with Don Rigsby, Boone County Blues, another lament to lost love, and Montani Semper Liberi (Latin for “Mountaineers are Always Free”), the West Virginia state motto.

The a cappella trio Black Water and Cold Coal Town are both top quality additions to the coal-mining song repertoire. The former relates the devastating events in Buffalo Creek in 1972 when 125 lost their lives; the title track is an expression of the desire to get away from coal mining and all that it brings. Both merit favourable comparison with similar songs penned by Hazel Dickens and Merle Travis. Along with Ain’t No Higher Ground and Roll Coal Roll Holstein shows that he is a great spokesman for the coal miner in the 21^st century. Sadly, nothing much changes in the industry, or the way of life for many in West Virginia.

On the back page of the notebook there is a legend “The bluegrass sessions Vol. 1”; on the basis of what Holstein has produced in Cold Coal Town I can’t wait for Vol. 2.

Missy Werner’s Three Kinds of Lonesome

Sometimes simple is best. But every once in a while, you crave something with a little spice or some frills. I’m stuck with that craving after repeated listenings to Missy Werner’s latest project, Three Kinds of Lonesome.

It’s a solid effort from the opening banjo of the first track, I’d Rather Love a Memory, to the fadeout of Journey to My Savior’s Side 13 songs later. Each song showcases the strongest selling point of The Missy Werner Band – Missy’s voice.

If you haven’t heard of her, you will. Missy has one of those comfortable voices that wrap around you like a favorite old sweatshirt. Nothing fancy or elegant, but full of honest, homespun emotion. Think Lynn Morris and you’ll have a pretty good idea of where she’s coming from.

The strongest efforts here – Three Little Words, Just the Same – a fine duet with Chris Jones – and the previously mentioned opening number all benefit from spare arrangements and great straightforward writing. There’s also a nice duet with Frank Solivan on Endlessly.

As a songwriter, I make it a habit to listen to songs at least once before I look at the credits, trying not to let relationships or previously formed opinions about writers influence my take on the music. So when I finally peeked, I was pleased to find Three Little Words – the best song in this bunch – is from the pen of one of my favorite writers, Mark Brinkman. The chorus is actually a series of “three little words” that lift this one to three minutes and 16 seconds of elegant simplicity.

I’d Rather Love a Memory is in the same vein. Great song. Spare arrangement. This one was written by Jennifer Strickland and Jon Weisberger, who are both all over this project. Jon produced it and co-wrote a handful of the songs and Jennifer added beautiful high harmonies on this song and a number of others.

But I kept waiting for Missy to move outside of her comfort zone and for the band to kick it up a notch. Alas, there are too few of those moments here – one when Missy tackles the bluesy title track and another when ace banjo man Ned Luberecki makes a guest appearance to race through If I Fall.

Aside from those moments and the terrific songs I mentioned, there are a handful of mid-tempo and slower songs that have a similar feel. They’re not bad, mind you. Just too much of the same thing. After a steady diet of comfort food, sometimes you just need some fire.

Still, overall, Three Kinds of Lonesome is a very good album that will help win Missy Werner a broader following outside of Ohio and Kentucky. It’s easy to envision the Chris Jones duet getting support for recorded event of the year on IBMA ballots next year, and you’ll hear some of these songs on the radio a lot in the coming months.

A Prime Tyme for IIIrd Tyme Out

It’s a “Prime Tyme” to be a fan of Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out. Having been around for twenty plus years, many groups of this caliber would start to slow down. They’ve won nearly every award imaginable in our industry, and have no need to prove anything to anybody, so why not slow down a bit? That’s what’s expected from a group of veterans, right?

Well, thankfully, this is not the case. After this year’s IBMA Awards Show, where the band won one award and were nominated for eight, it’s plain to see that this band is no where near ready to start “slowing down.”

Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out have just released a brand new album on Rural Rhythm Records. Prime Tyme is just that: IIIrd Tyme Out in their prime!

The record kicks off with a new tune sure to resonate with many bluegrass fans. Old Kentucky Farmers will remind many listeners of their grandfathers, and have them yearning for a simpler time. It’s tunes such as this that have kept IIIrd Tyme Out in the spotlight for so long: songs that fans can relate to.

Another key to IIIrd Tyme Out’s success has been their vocal prowess, and this album is no exception. What would you expect from a band who has been named IBMA’s Vocal Group of the Year seven times? Or from Russell Moore, a four-time Male Vocalist of the Year? Obviously, Moore’s vocal work is nothing less than magical; would we expect anything else? Bass man, Edgar Loudermilk, showcases his ability to sing lead on Hooverville. The new album showcases the band’s stellar harmonies on songs such as Goodbye Old Missoula, Little Magnolia, and Dusty.

Even though this group is primarily known for its killer vocals, they are still equally talented instrumentally. Numbers such as Carroll County Blues and Sugarfoot Rag really demonstrate how proficient the band as a whole are when it comes to picking. Sugarfoot Rag, in particular, is a standout. The group took this Jerry Reed standard and used it to showcase their strengths across the board. It begins as a medium-tempo vocal, but ends as a rip-roarin’ instrumental.

Another number which shows this group’s versatility is Moon Magic. This song has a Western swing feel, and the band executes it with ease. The melody is catchy, and will be stuck in fans’ heads all day.

Other standouts on the project are Pretty Little Girl From Galax, Whippoorwill, and Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar. Pretty Little Girl From Galax and Whippoorwill are new tunes, which sound very “old school.” With driving instrumental work and straightforward lyrics, these are modern day standards. The band’s rendition of Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar is quite original. One of the most-beloved tunes from the expansive catalog of the Delmore Brothers, this tune has been done by The Louvin Brothers, Doc Watson, and The Traditional Grass, among others. What makes Wayne Benson’s arrangement unique, by turning this tune into an uptempo number, it gives the number the ability to highlight instrumental breaks, rather than primarily focusing on duet harmonies.

This stellar project wraps up with a great ballad which will remind fans of some of the band’s early hits such as Erase The Miles. The song is a reflection on society today, but steers clear of political poles. Most will find What’s This World Coming To? refreshing, and many will agree with its sentiment.

This album has something for each of us. With many great originals, sprinkled with just the right amount of tasteful covers, the material on Prime Tyme has all the ingredients to be a classic bluegrass album.

Save Me – Mountain Faith

Another example of how much technology has benefitted the recent generation of aspiring musicians is on display in the new CD release of North Carolina group Mountain Faith, titled Save Me. Early bluegrass musicians learned through years of trial and error, relying primarily on their own natural abilities and the influences of primarily local musicians, slowly maturing over a long period of time. With the benefit of instructional materials, hand-held video and audio recorders (many of which can slow down and loop passages), computer software that can produce written transcriptions of audio recordings, internet, teleconference video lessons, etc., the learning curve and “age of maturity” have been advanced to astounding levels.

Mountain Faith is based on the family trio of father Sam McMahan, his daughter Summer Brooke McMahan, and son Brayden McMahan. Summer, age 18, plays fiddle and is the primary lead vocalist. Brayden, age 17, plays banjo. The family is joined in the group by Paul Harrigill and John Morgan, who alternatively switch on various tracks between mandolin and guitar.

The male vocals, both lead and harmony, are very good, but unfortunately the CD liner notes do not identify which group members are providing them (on individual songs or overall). The liner notes feature rather large, and very nice, photos of each individual group member, and information about who plays what instrument on each song, but information about the vocals, as well as some background about the group, would have been nice.

After looking up their website for more information, it appears that Mr. Morgan is a ripe old 16 years old. Mr. Harrigill’s bio is not on the site, but despite the presence of a little facial hair visible on his photo, I would suspect he is not more than 20 years old. Why all the fuss about their ages? Well, to hear what is being created by 16, 17, and 18 year-olds today, is, in a word, amazing. While the word is overused (I tease my daughter about her overuse of the word), it truly fits here. Other than my minor criticism of the liner notes, I could not find a negative thing to say about this recording if I wanted to do so.

The vocals are outstanding. Summer has been heavily influenced by Alison Krauss, but at 18 she is already finding her own material and has all the tools to create her own style. Instrumentally, all the musicians have a balance between doing enough to be interesting without being “showy,” attention-seeking, or forgetting the importance of the melody.

My comments about the part technology has played in the development of musicians should not be interpreted to take anything away from Mountain Faith’s own efforts and abilities. The technology has allowed young musicians to learn at a higher rate, but has not always resulted in musicians with taste and good judgment about what to play, or what not to play — a part of the maturation process for most musicians which takes many years.

Mountain Faith is ahead of the curve in every aspect of this recording — vocals, instrumental performance, and selection and arrangement of material. There is a good balance of original compositions from the group (The Heritage, by John Morgan, and Tomorrow May Never Come, by Paul Harrigill), and familiar favorites (Peace In The Valley, Gone Away, Love Lifted Me), along with contributions from other songwriters. It appears from their performance calendar that they have been playing primarily in their home state of North Carolina, with occasional trips into South Carolina and Georgia. Mountain Faith will certainly become a nationally recognized group if they choose to seek a career in music.

Although they have primarily played bluegrass gospel, some of Mountain Faith’s Youtube videos feature them playing secular music as well. They popped up on the radar nationally in 2010 by performing a series of shows with Barry Scott after the breakup of Second Wind, an experience that no doubt benefitted them greatly.

This recording should get good airplay and introduce them to a wider audience. Congratulations to Tim Surrett, who produced the project and contributed bass and dobro to the recording, and everyone else associated with Save Me.

I look forward to hearing them in person next year.

The Starday Story

Just as the rock ‘n’ roll era dawned and country music and its off-spring bluegrass music was being overwhelmed by the popularity of this new musical style, a savior appeared in the form of Don Pierce and his recent acquisition, Starday Records.

Starday Records was actually started in Texas by Jack Starnes and Harold W ‘Pappy’ Dailey, but it was the later leadership of Pierce that was the making of the label.

Written by Nathan D. Gibson, essentially with the help of Pierce, The Starday Story—The House That Country Music Built retraces the label’s origins in 1953 through to 1968 when the Starday-King merger took place.

While country music, and its first ‘star’ act George Jones, was the label’s first claim to notoriety, Starday built an extensive bluegrass roster, which included the Stanley Brothers, Jim & Jesse, Bill Clifton, Carl Story, the Lewis Family, the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Jim Eanes and the early Country Gentlemen, some of whom came to the label through Mercury-Starday deals.

The Stanley Brothers were the first bluegrass music act to have a single release – The Flood b/w I’m Lost, I’ll Never Find a Way (71064) – with the Mercury-Starday imprint, but it was Bill Clifton’s recordings of Gathering Flowers From The Hillside b/w Take Back The Heart (You Once Gave) (290) that was the earliest bluegrass release for Starday per se (1957).

As already illustrated, the book’s 70 page listing of every single and every LP released over the years by Starday and its subsidiary labels is a great resource for researchers.

Helpfully, Gibson’s linear history also includes the release number, in parenthesis, after each title mentioned in the text.

The story makes reference to the many ups and downs for Starday Records, but the wealth of detail doesn’t overwhelm the reader. One interesting aspect of the book is the reference to sales figures; for example, citing the sale of 25,000 as being the break-even point for Stanley Brothers single releases in the Mercury-Starday era. According to ‘Dee’ Kilpatrick, a some-time A & R man at Mercury Records, he “even made a little money.”

Don Pierce was an avid fan of bluegrass music and he invested much in artists who had been recently released by major labels. To use a euphemism, ‘he put his money where his mouth is,’ and the bluegrass music world is grateful for that, as bands produced some of their best work despite some less than state-of-the-art studio equipment.

Whenever there was a low point in Starday’s history, Pierce seems to come up with a solution; to wit releasing multi-artist and thematic compilation LPs, packagings that Gibson claims on behalf of Starday to be a trend-setter, despite later being the bane of collectors’ lives also. Starday’s fortunes are due to the ingenuity of one man, Don Pierce.

A graduate student of folklore and ethnomusicologist and a performing musician, Gibson’s love of his subject is evident. He immersed himself to such an extent that he looked not only at the history of this very important independent label, he provided insights into artist and song selection, the recording process, and distribution/marketing during a very difficult time for bluegrass and country music

The many wonderful anecdotes from artists, musicians and Starday staff, among others, make The Starday Story an extremely informative and enjoyable book to read.

Detail:

Publisher – University Press of Mississippi
266 pages, hardback
ISBN-10: 1604738308
ISBN-13: 978-1604738308