Since hitting their stride in 2011, Carolina Blue has not only recorded some heartfelt original bluegrass music, they have created a number of clever and expertly-stage videos to go with them.
Here’s another today, for Longing For Home, from their debut project with Pinecastle Records, I Hear Bluegrass Calling Me.
If you couldn’t tell from the album cover, with them climbing up a hillside to greet Bill Monroe, this bunch play a traditional style of grass, heavily influenced by Big Mon himself. But it feels fresh and contemporary with their new compositions, and their dynamic stage show when you see them in person.
The new video captures a felling that anyone will recognize if they grew up attending an old mountain church. The rustic setting, the rough interior, and the fiery preaching are things that stick with you, even if you find yourself living far away from the old home place.
It starts out with mandolinist Tim Jones arriving a such a location, and when he goes inside, he hears an old mountain ballad that takes him back to his youth. To set the mood, the band includes a recording of Jones’ great-great aunt, Lora Brown, singing one he recalls from his childhood.
Timmy wrote Longing For Home based on stories he remembers hearing from his great grandfather about plowing with horses during his day, and others from his grandparents about living and working on the farm. It’s a life he’s lived as well, and wanted to write this song as an homage to that culture and way of being.
Carolina Blue is Jones on mandolin, Bobby Powell on guitar, Reese Combs on bass, James McDowell on banjo, and Aynsley Porchak on fiddle.
I Hear Bluegrass Calling Me is now available wherever you stream or download bluegrass music online, and on CD or vinyl directly from the band online, or at one of their shows.
