Fiddlers and Resophonics

Note: I went back and updated all the music links. Songza removed its exclusive tracks, so I had to go back and replace the links with the same songs via Youtube, iLike, and Lala. Go back and check the last couple of posts from November and early December, as well as some of the earliest postings in October. You would benefit from seeing how my writing has changed (I don't say improved because I don't think I have. It is just different).

On Thursday, I ordered a few CDs in the mail. Its just so working out that day after day, an album would come in the mail and they honestly keep getting better each new day. I have been putting off buying new music for a long time, and have amassed a list of desired albums. I decided to finally go through with it and buy a few albums and support a few up and coming musicians, such as Balsam Range, who play many local shows in the Asheville area. The reserve of bluegrass CDs at the libraries in Charleston County have run out, faster than I thought it would. After checking out Alison Brown's Fair Weather for a second time, I decided to a buy a couple of her CDs. She is an excellent composer, covers many genres, uses many unusual mixings of flavors, such as flute and hand drums, and pairs with one of my favorite fiddler players Stuart Duncan, and he has markedly improved in improvisation (what people do when they jam on a tune for twenty minutes, except in shorter spurts of genius) from '92 to now. He is beast. The third album I got in the mail (yesterday) was Jim Vancleve's (the fiddle player in Mountain Heart) No Apologies. He groups up with some of the most well-known bluegrass musicians, such as Adam Steffey, Bryan Sutton, and Rob Ickes (of Blue Highway. I want to buy one of their albums). What I went for in all these albums was composition. Most of the songs in these albums are composed by the lead musician, which I really love. Vancleve writes shapes his melodies and song forms progressively. One of my favorite songs is Devil's Courthouse. Rob and Bryan perform excellently here, and all I can think of while riding it is riding down a railroad at disastrous velocity. The next track after that, Highlands, is gorgeous and adventure-lusting. That is my perfect kind of song. Its quite something that the title is Highlands, because Highlands, North Carolina has reached legendary status in my mind. Its almost the equivalent of Jack Kerouac's Denver, Colorado. Its at the first thrust upwards in elevation. You ride a road from western upstate South Carolina to get there. The road is called Highlands Highway. Sounds like a great road to get high off of. I think about going up there, but know that the swamp and marsh and oak and pine forest must be my muse for exploration for the time being. There's one more song I must rant about. It is Unionhouse Branch by Alison Krauss and Union Station. Learning that Jerry Douglas was in the band explained its intensity and sage playing feel. Its like an antique jam. My favorite band used to be Bonerama. Bonerama is a rock band out of New Orleans with a very unorhodox instrumentation: four trombones, drums, guitar, and tuba. They do a lot of classic rock covers. Their dedication to rhythmic intensity is what won me the most. It jammed. Its so interesting that when I listen to jamming bluegrass like Unionhouse Branch or Alison Brown's Late On Arrival, I get that same rush and listen to it like I would Mark Mullins sailing through a musical phrase on stage. Only difference I see is instrumentation and rhythmic center. I get my best moments with music while driving for extended periods. I listened to a mix tape on the way to Florence, including a few dollar downloads, and ate it up. It was so nice, that the forty-mile span that usually drives me to boredom passed by unbeknown to me, so great was the music. Intense music seems to raise my body temperature. I'm serious. I got my last two new albums in the mail (tomorrow from the date mentioned, I took forever to complete this post). Alison Krauss and Union Station (album I got is New Favorite) is great for me because its two very prestigious (with unusual voices to boot) vocalists, along with Jerry Douglas. I look forward to listening to Last Train To Kitty Hawk.