For their latest Mountain Home Music single, Asheville, NC’s Unspoken Tradition has released a song from a fellow western North Carolina outfit, Katie and Burl, which was originally recorded by Acoustic Syndicate in 1999.
It’s a lovely song written by Steve McMurry, whose simplicity disguises a profound story of modernity and land use change which wiped out the work of a farm family’s lifetime.
Unspoken Tradition left the song’s natural beauty unadorned with a straightforward arrangement, and even brought the songwriter in to sing the final verse in the studio.
Guitarist and vocalist Audie McGinnis explained why this song means so much to him, from its connection to him growing up in western North Carolina.
“When I was a kid, probably 11 or 12 years old, there was a local music venue called Leatherwoods in Shelby, NC. It was in the back of this old comic book store, and there was a door in the back that opened into a listening room. Acoustic Syndicate used to play there all the time. My dad knew the McMurry boys and fished with Steve some when I was a kid, so we went to Leatherwoods every time they played there. Steve wrote Katie and Burl for their first album, and this was about the time I got my first guitar. I learned several songs on that album, and Katie and Burl was one of them. I was so honored that Steve was willing to come sing a verse on our version of his own song!
I’ve always been drawn to songs that have a sweet but sorrowful sense of loss. This one is about two young people against the world, experiencing joy and sadness along the way. Symbolically, Burl the farmer returns ‘to the earth where he came from,’ and today he wouldn’t understand the farm he once owned as it’s been repurposed for modern men. In fact, when I wrote Land back in 2016, the themes of Katie and Burl served as inspiration: that our existence here is both meaningful and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.”
Also featured on the track are bandmates Tim Gardner on fiddle, Ty Gilpin on mandolin, Zane McGinnis on banjo, and Sav Sankaran on bass and tenor vocal.
They do a fine job on this memorable song. Have a listen…
Katie and Burl from Unspoken Tradition is available now from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.
