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Track List Raise A Ruckus Tear It Down Hesitation Blues Lonesome Road Blues That'll Be A Better Day Boll Weevil Down South Blues Cocaine Habit The Silver Dagger Trouble That I'm In Goodbye Booze Shack # 9
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(self-released) The saying goes, at some
point, everything old becomes new again. Such would be the case with the
renewed interest, primarily sparked by the "O Brother, Where Art Thou"
soundtrack, in "old time" roots music- bluegrass, folk, gospel and
blues. An authentic and uncomplicated music, using simple, traditional,
mostly acoustic instruments, a music rich and deeply rooted in American
heritage.
However, a few years before the success O
Brother had in bringing this music to the forefront, there was The Old
Crow Medicine Show, a group of six guys that hail from places as diverse
as New Mexico, upstate New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts.
They formed in 1998, and headed west, taking their show on the road in a
former funeral home limousine. They perform in the tradition of 19th
century medicine and minstrel shows, playing music of days gone by- the
old time sounds of string and jug bands.
After a few months on the road found them in
western Canada, the boys packed up and headed for the Blue Ridge
Mountains, the home of string music. There, they learned the old ways of
farming and making music. They raised a sheep named Daisy and a pig
named Jasmine, but more importantly, started playing with, and learning
from, some of the finest of the old-time musicians still around. They
also learned to make their own instruments. A couple of years later, the
boys left the mountains and headed for Nashville- causing quite a stir,
and knocking Nashville on it's butt with sounds completely
foreign there, particularly in this age of cookie cutter,
commercialized, and over-homogenized music that's been coming out of
Music Row these days.
Their first appearance at the Opry in
2001, garnered them a wild standing ovation. They appeared weekly at
Opryland that summer, and took part in the Opry's 75th anniversary. They
opened for Dolly Parton at the Ryman for a taping of a CBS special. They
recorded the soundtrack to, and appeared in, a documentary on the Renfro
Valley Barndance, the country's second oldest radio show, and also
appeared in a documentary produced by Marty Stuart on the history of
country music.
Who is The Old Crow Medicine Show? Ketchum
Secor (Lead baritone vocals, fiddle, french harp, banjo), Willie Watson
(Lead tenor vocals, guitar, kazoo), Critter Fugua (Vocals, banjo, button
accordion, slide guitar), Ben Gould (Upright doghouse bull fiddle),
Clarence "Cap" Fillgree (Vocals, guit-jo, guitar) and Matt Kinman
(mandolin, bones, fiddle, banjo).
What is The Old Crow Medicine Show? A band
that dresses like depression era farmers. They cull their songs from
old, long forgotten 78's and "ancient fiddle players." They play their
music in the old acoustic string band tradition. Along with more
traditional instruments, they'll often toss in a bit of washboard,
bones, kazoo or whatever else they might find laying around.
However, don't let this fool you. The Old
Crow Medicine Show is not just another retro-old time band,
simply replicating old-time music. This band is tight, they play
together like precision clockwork, with each member having an integral
part to play. Their harmonies are ragged, primitive, and imperfect- to
glorious perfection, in the same way as those of the Fruit Jar Drinkers.
They may gather their songs from long forgotten old records, but don't
think they merely try to duplicate the sound. These boys grew up with
many different influences, and you can hear them all in their music-
from Uncle Dave Macon and Jimmie Rodgers to smatterings of Jerry
Garcia, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. While their music sounds like it was
transported from another time, they play it with the ferocity, fun
and abandonment of punk, making the music sound urgent and relevant.
They mix the sounds of the old-time Appalachian string bands with
bluegrass, traditional folk, gospel, African-American jug bands and the
early haunting balladeers, and infuse them with the energy of the early
Opry stars.
Their latest release Eutaw, is named for
Eutaw, Alabama, where the boys had broken down returning from a show.
According to Ketch Secor, it was a strange experience, where they slept
in a pine bog behind a greyhound track, but a place where they
ultimately found "...some resilience. And peace. And some end to human
suffering. And some catfish."
Eutaw contains 12 tracks of the
most traditional kind of folk music, that ranges from "Raise A
Ruckus" knee slapping, toe tappers to mournful ballads (such as "The
Silver Dagger", a story of young star crossed lovers, a la Romeo &
Juliet). Of the 12 tracks, all but one are long lost treasures. "Trouble
That I'm In" is the lone song that was penned by the band, and I would
challenge anyone to pop this one into the CD without looking at the
track listing, and pick out which is the self-penned song- that's how
seamlessly and effortlessly it fits in. To add to the "old-timey" feel
of the CD, it was recorded live in the studio.
On Eutaw, they also touch on early Memphis
sounds, which later birthed the blues, in songs like "Lonesome Road
Blues", "Down South Blues" and "Cocaine Habit."
For those that have just discovered American
roots music in it's purest, and sometimes rawest form, through the O
Brother soundtrack, and are ready to take the next step, The Old Crow
Medicine Show would make an excellent one.
For those who've already long appreciated
these unadorned and honest sounds through the music of such artists as
Uncle Dave Macon, The Fruit Jar Drinkers or Ralph Stanley- The Old Crow
Medicine Show is just what the doctor ordered.
I've listened to Eutaw dozens of times- and
somehow, just can't seem to keep that old foot of mine from tapping...
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AnnMarie
Harrington Take Country Back April 2002