Engelhardt Music Group has a new single on offer from Compton & Newberry, the first from Home In My Heart, their next full length project with the label.
The duo consists of veteran bluegrass and old time artists Mike Compton on mandolin and Joe Newberry on guitar and banjo. Each has a lifetime of experience in and around traditional music, and together have found a comfortable performance venue for their art.
For the debut single they have chosen an old mountain work song, Cherry River Line, which has developed a life both as a song and as an instrumental, an uncommon occurrence in this music. The title is said to come from men working for the Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company in West Virginia, with the line described being one set up to haul timber down a mountainside.
Speaking jointly, Joe and Mike say of this track…
“This song has a hypnotic quality, and we attempt to convey the tale so familiar to us all, the story of hard work and the lonesome heartache of a man watching his only pleasure in life ride away on a train in the night, leaving him with another day of toil in store, and no relief to his torment in sight. We arranged and built the singing parts to reflect that lonesome feeling.”
It’s a haunting story which they deliver in kind. Have a listen…
Cherry River Line is available now from popular download and streaming services online. Radio programmers are invited to contact EMG for an airplay copy of the track.
