Giri & Uma Peters have created quite a sensation in the old time music world. The brother/sister duo from Nashville bring a youthful energy to the mountain traditions of fiddle and banjo music. Giri is 14, and his sister, Uma, is 11, and they both play like seasoned professionals who have spent a lifetime in the Appalachian region.
The style we know today as old time music was brought to the mountain regions of the eastern Americas by Scots, Irish, and English settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries. And until recently, it has been primarily propagated and preserved by their descendants. But the spirit of the music and its lively and vivacious sound appeals across ethnic and cultural lines, as evidenced by these young Indian Americans who have adopted it as their own.
Today we premiere a track from their upcoming debut album, Origins, which is set for release on May 31. Giri tells us that it’s one that developed among the former African slaves in the deep south after the Civil War.
“Georgia Buck is such a fun song for us to play, and we’ve been ending our shows with it. It seems to make people want to dance and clap along! This is also one of our dog’s favorite songs – she howls/sings to it almost every time!
Georgia Buck is an old-time tune that originated from around 1895. This song is known as a black banjo tune, and we first learned it from Rhiannon Giddens and Jake Blount. There is also a version from Elizabeth Cotten.”
Keep an eye out for Origins, dropping at the end of this month.
