I’ll begin this review by taking a wild guess that Quarantine Happy Hour was responsible for growing the reputation of the Horsenecks by leaps and bounds. Or was it just… Read More →
Music Reviews
African-American Fiddling from Texas (Teodar Jackson)
By now, all readers of the OTH are probably aware of the crucial role that Black musicians played in the creation of what we think of today as “old-time music.”… Read More →
Fiddling from Ozark County, Missouri (H. K. Silvey)
For those interested in rounding out their knowledge of Ozark fiddling, this recording of H. K. Silvey should be of great interest. Born in 1933, H. K. Silvey is one… Read More →
Closing the Gap (Molsky’s Mountain Drifters)
I’ll never forget the first time I heard “Pop Goes the Weasel” in a collection of archival Edden Hammons tunes. That tune got me thinking about the origins of the… Read More →
Old Tin (Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones)
A couple months before the proverbial excrement hit the fan, in March of 2020, Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones released a lovely duo album titled Old Tin. The record’s name… Read More →
Random Access Mash (Hard Drive)
“Hard Drive is a hard-driving aural modern traditional old time authentic millennial bluegrass collective made up of Tatiana Hargreaves, Aaron Tacke, Sonya Badigian, and Nokosee Fields.” The band’s succinct description… Read More →
Shaking Down the Acorns (Scott Prouty)
MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST This CD/DVD set by Scott Prouty is: (a) An eclectic survey of fiddle music learned from people Prouty knew personally, or from recordings (b) An instructional DVD… Read More →
Spider Tales (Jake Blount)
When was the last time a largely old-time music album made a year-end Top Ten list at such prestigious publications as The New Yorker and the UK’s The Guardian? It’s… Read More →
The Harry Smith B-Sides (Various artists)
“People got folk song happy for awhile,” Merle Travis recalled when interviewed in 1979. Capitol’s Cliffie Stone asked him to record an album full of them. Travis replied, “Bradley Kincaid… Read More →
See What the Lord Has Done for Me: Rare and Unissued Recordings (Rev. Gary Davis)
The story behind these recordings, made in guitarist Ernie Dawkins’ Pittsburgh home between 1968 and 1970, is the story of a young guitar fanatic’s passion leading him to a wonderful… Read More →
The Old Texas Fiddle Vol. III (Tricia Spencer & Howard Rains)
The subtitle displayed not on the package but on the CD’s readout is Little Tunes from the Big State. That neatly summarizes a good-natured sense of humility and humor that… Read More →
Nuevas Acequias, Río Viejo: Traditional Music of Northern New Mexico (Lone Piñon)
Lone Piñon’s fourth album explores the rich variety of regional music found in Northern New Mexico, music with far-reaching global roots. Aside from some guest vocalists, Lone Piñon is essentially… Read More →
Kentucky Fiddlers Home Recordings: Volume 1—Fleming and Bath Counties (Various artists)
It has been nearly a quarter-century since Rounder’s Traditional Fiddle Tunes of Kentucky: Up the Ohio and Licking Rivers was released, featuring field recordings made between 1972 and 1995. For… Read More →
Stony Run (Ken and Brad Kolodner)
Variety is the spice of life. This is one of my favorite aphorisms, one that will usually get a friendly eyeroll from my wife of 33 years, right up there… Read More →
Hello Stranger (Eliza Meyer)
An old-time CD with an emphasis on singing! What a great idea, and well-executed with Eliza Meyer’s debut CD. This is not purely an old-time CD; but there is enough… Read More →
Acorns (Ben Winship)
When ticking off regions renowned for old-time string-band music, one is not likely to mention Teton Valley, Idaho. But Idahoan Ben Winship fondly describes his work as musician-songwriter-producer as taking… Read More →
