So today I put a bunch of different music on the mp3 player. I didn’t really check any charts and maybe that was a mistake! Anyway the first album the I listened to was The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band and their just released (today)album The Wages . I will admit to only listening to the first couple of songs and while the music was interesting and sounded different. The vocals on the first listen just turned me off! Now having said that I know as I listen to this a couple of times I may find the vocals bearable! Anyway I quickly moved on to the next album
The Black Twig Pickers and their album Jack Rose and the Black Twig Pickers was up next. Here’s what they say on their myspace page about their music:
The Black Twig Pickers got their start in a dark alley between the campers at the 1999 Galax Old Fiddlers Convention, choosing their name from an archaic apple variety in founding fiddler Ralph Berrier Jr.’s family orchard. Since then, the Black Twig Pickers’ fiddle/banjo/ guitar/washboard/whatsis racket has sounded in dives, barns, streets and dances from Amsterdam to Atlanta, yet remains solidly rooted in a corner of Southwest Virginia where four other states are closer than the Virginia capital.
Here’s what others say from their myspace page
“Denk een betje aan de ‘Beggar’s Banquet’-periode van The Rolling Stones.” — Konkurrent
I know you agree with that statement! Anyway here’s some other press
“The Black Twigs recapture the golden age of old-time music with all the spirit intact.” — Sing Out! Magazine
“Exciting old-time music at its finest” — Bluegrass Unlimited
Actually as I listen to the album the second time as I write this it sounds a lot better than the mess I thought I was hearing in the van! Yes, I actually think that this album could grow on me! Definitely worth more listens
Next came the Punch Brothers and their album Punch for a few songs – actually one song “Punch Bowl” and then the first two movements of “The Blind Leaving the Blind” Here’s a review from the New York Times which ends with the following quote:
Even with the shifting boundaries of what is called new acoustic music, “The Blind Leaving the Blind” expands the frontier of an emerging style of what might be called American country-classical chamber music.
The Punch Brothers an all-star band is composed of:
Chris Eldridge, guitar
Paul Kowert, bass
Noam Pikelny, banjo
Chris Thile, mandolin
Gabe Witcher, fiddle
So while the music was great it just wasn’t what I was looking for! But listening tonight to the rest of the album it sounds pretty good. So we head into the break with no clear favorite but on second listens The Blacktwig Pickers lead the way! So here is a video of a track for the album I listened to today. I liked this song when I listened to it again tonight! “Some Happy Day”
