On their website, The Down Hill Strugglers describe themselves simply as “an old time string band. Given the fact that they released their previous albums on the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings before signing to Jalopy Records, there’s clear credence to that claim.
However if any further proof of their ties to tradition are needed, one need only sample their new album, Old Juniper, to establish all the evidence needed. The band — Walker Shepard (fiddle, banjo, guitar, harmonica, voice), Jackson Lynch (fiddle, banjo, guitar, voice) and Eli Smith (banjo, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, jews harp, pump organ, voice) — make no concession whatsoever to any modern embellishment, choosing instead to play music as it might have been heard on the back porches of Appalachian homesteads by those that settled there early on.
The origins of the band took place while hanging out at the home of their mutual friend Peter Stampfel, a member of the Holy Modal Rounders. It was there that they met original bandmate and mentor John Cohen, formerly of the New Lost City Ramblers. It was Cohen who convinced them to dig deep into the roots of early rural American music, sounds once found on old field recordings from the 1920s and ’30s. In fact, when listening to songs such as Gettin’ Ready To Go, Whistle Won’t Blow, Grayling Waltz, and indeed, every song in this set, one might easily get the impression that they’re hearing archival offerings from early in the last century. The purity, enthusiasm, and sincerity are contagious, and it’s easy to get caught up in the earnest celebration of old time music. It’s honest Americana that bears the influence of its English, Irish, and Scottish heritage as parlayed into the distinctive sounds of actual mountain life and culture in ways that are both rousing and reverential.
As a result, Old Juniper is the sort of timeless treat that makes one appreciate the sounds that formed the roots of bluegrass and country music. It’s a contribution to a sound that continues to gain an ever-increasing following as popular music moves ever farther from real people playing real instruments.
Their handle aside, credit The Down Hill Strugglers for attempting to elevate interest and awareness both effortlessly and expressively.
