Photo by Will Wall
Geraldine is an interesting traditional music group from the Charm City of Baltimore. Playing a mix of original old time, bluegrass, country, and folk – they call themselves a new time stringband – their music is based around the songs of guitarist, John Bolten.
Bolten, who works by day as a hydrologist, researching water resources management, gave the band their name, an homage to Townes Van Zandt’s dog. He says that songwriting is a passion for him.
“I love writing songs. When you write songs and you connect with someone in a way that moves them, that’s when I’m at my happiest. But getting people to feel what we feel when we’re writing, that’s not easy and there’s no formula for that.”
Geraldine has just announced a May release for their second album, Paw Paw, and have released a music video for the title track, which sings the praises of the familiar Appalachian fruit.
Bolten is joined by bandmates Josh Anderson on fiddle, Jonathan Locke on banjo, and Jocelyn Haversat on bass and foot percussion. Actually, they all switch around a good bit on instruments, and Jocelyn is featured for her clog dancing as well.
Have a look/listen…
Paw Paw is available as a single now from bandcamp, where pre-orders for the Paw Paw album, due May 21, are also offered.
