We’ve featured a couple of new tracks from Carley Arrowood, the talented young bluegrass singer and songwriter from North Carolina whose first album from Mountain Home Music is expected later this year. These songs have highlighted Carley’s skills as a writer and her attractive yet unpretentious voice, but which push her substantial instrumental prowess to the back burner.
But then we recall that she first made her splash as a fiddler, a supporting role she performed with Darren & Brooke Aldridge for several years while in college. So we finally get a chance to hear Arrowood pull out a fiddle tune, Ducks on the Millpond from the iconic Kenny Baker, which she says she learned second hand from another great fiddler.
“I’ve been playing this tune since I was 15 years old. Just a green bluegrass fiddler taking lessons with Bryan McDowell. He had my mom order all these albums by different fiddlers for me to listen to and study their different styles, and one of them was Aubrey Haynie’s The Bluegrass Fiddle Album — still one of my favorite fiddle albums ever. Ducks on the Millpond instantly became a favorite, and I remember trying to learn exactly what Aubrey did.
When we recorded it, we made it our own by creating an arrangement of multiple split breaks, and I couldn’t be more excited about it! It’s so much fun, and I hope y’all enjoy our take on this great tune!”
Carley is supported here by a crack band consisting of Daniel Thrailkill on guitar, Kristin Scott Benson on banjo, Wayne Benson on mandolin, and Paul Watson on bass.
Listen and you’ll see that this young lady clearly understands where her bluegrass comes from.
Ducks on the Millpond from Carley Arrowood is available now wherever you stream or download music online. Radio programmers can find the track via AirPlay Direct.
