Folk /
Oh My Little Darling: Folk Song Types
This superb anthology of old ballads and other folk-song types comprises pre-war commercial and field recordings made in the rural Southeast, the part of the United States that most closely met the textbook definition of a "folk culture," in which culture was relatively homogeneous and customs were shared across class and ethnic lines. For this reason, this album focuses on the rural Southeast as a rich source of American folk life, ranging roughly from Virginia and Kentucky south to Alabama and…
I'm On My Journey Home: Vocal Styles And Resources In Folk Music
This album is a loosely structured survey of different types of vocal styles and resources found in rural Anglo-American lower- and middle-class communities. Some of the modes of performance, such as hollering and solo ballad singing, have almost died out; others, such as Sacred Harp singing, formal duet singing, and square-dance calling, continue to flourish. The album is divided into three major sections: a survey of nonstandard vocal effects that shows how much music infuses the everyday comm…
Burning Mills
2002 release ** "Spectral Light & Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree is the brainchild of Pennsylvania based folk alchemist Timothy Renner (Stonebreath, Mourning Cloak, Breathe Stone). He is accompanied by Sarada and Prydwyn (Green Crown). Rooted in old-time Appalachian music and often played on19th century instruments, their repertoire is mostly traditional: graveyard blues, murder ballads, ghost songs and old hymns. "Burning Mills", their new album and 2nd full length, finds the band comforta…
Whompyjawed
Banjos and fiddles, boards and bones in hand, the Black Twig Pickers dove into a living tradition of old-time music that surrounds their homes along the Virginia/West Virginia line and never looked back. Both scholars of the regional sounds and advocates of an ecstatic and highly personal approach to the music, the Twigs hold down local dance and bar gigs, play all manner of celebrations and every so often, hit the road. Along the way, Isak Howell, Nathan Bowles and Mike Gangloff kept company wi…