Last night driving back from the Old Mo’ Bluegrass Jam, I caught the end of a show about Dolly Parton on Radio 2. I’ve always tended to dismiss her on the strength of 9to5 and doing the original of Whitney’s IIIII-a-IIIIIII Wiiiiiiiiill Always Love You-hoo-hoo-ah-hoo. The track I heard was a full blown bluegrass stomper called Marry Me. As a result I ended up downloading one of Dolly’s bluegrass albums, The Grass is Blue and am converted.
The personnel on this track, Train, Train is mighty fine. Alison Krauss (who did that album with Walsall’s finest, Robert Plant) and Dan Tyminski (who did George Clooney’s singing voice in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?) on backing vocals; Sam Bush on mandolin and Jerry Douglas (from the Transatlantic Sessions) on dobro steel guitar.
It’s another song about trains, that isn’t really about trains.
A couple of weeks ago I went to the Transatlantic Sessions at Symphony Hall. One of the performers was Sara Watkins. To be honest I hadn’t heard of her before but was impressed enough to buy* a CD and get her to sign it after.
It was only afterwards I found out she was the fiddle player from Nickelcreek. (No! not Nickelback-pay attention!) Now I’ve heard of them but not really listened to any of their stuff. I’m more familar with their Mandolinist Chris Thile’s solo work.
*I realise now that I fibbed in yesterday’s post when I claimed not to have bought any CDs so far this year because I bought a few at the Transatlantic Sessions. However they were bought at a gig, not online or in a record shop so don’t count.
Bluegrass mandolinist and the Dead’s very own Captain Trips collaborate on a version of the old folk song. English listeners might recognise the tune as Matty Groves as made famous(?) by Fairport Convention
I intended to go see these at the Kitchen Garden Cafe in Kings Heath this evening but by the time we’d got ourselves organized it was sold out. Seems I am unlucky with this band. I tried to see them at a pub in Balsall Heath about a month ago, only to get there and find the pub was shut.
I did see them earlier in the year at Moseley Folk Festival and was mightily impressed. They are a Birmingham based bluegrass band. It’s very much a family thing with dad on banjo and national steel guitar and his two daughters on guitar and mandolin. The girls’ vocals harmonize real purty.
This is one of their slower tracks picked mainly because it name-checks Bill Monroe.
Posting this one from my phone so no links at the moment. A google should point you to their myspace where you can take a listen.
