Rich and the Po’ Folk, Letcher County Kentucky’s best old-time string band, dig into a wide range of traditional mountain music old and new in their new recording When the Whistle Blew. The recording draws on the band members’ home territory of eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia, hot spots for one of America’s great musical traditions.

The oldest song on the recording is “The Golden Vanity,” a Perry County, Kentucky version of a British ballad first printed in 1635. The newest is “Dying to Make a Living,” written in 2006 by the southwest Virginia group Foddershock. In between, the band draws on songs traditional songs learned from Lee Sexton, George Gibson, Bruce Greene, Henry Reed, Sarah Gunning, Virgil Anderson, and the Couch Family, as well as original songs by Jean Ritchie, Si Kahn, and Mike Paxton.

The musical heritage of coal plays a large part in the recording. Bassist Nate Polly wrote the CD’s title song about the history of a Kentucky mining community. Jean Ritchie’s classic “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” and Mike Paxton’s “Thirty Inch Coal” round out the picture, and Foddershock’s “Dying to Make a Living” describes the price miners pay for a lifetime of work digging coal.

Songs 1. Thirty Inch Coal 2. Loving Nancy 3. Betty Baker/Durang's Hornpipe 4. The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore 5. Station House Blues 6. Dying to Make a Living 7. Big Stone Gap 8. Go to Work on Monday One More Time 9. Red Fox 10. Southern Texas 11. Merriweather/ Old Billy Hell/ Sandy River Belle 12. The Golden Vanity 13. When The Whistle Blew 14. Hook and Line

Please visit the Addie Graham site for more about Addie Graham and the reissue of Been a Long Time Traveling.

Addie Graham, born before 1900 in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, was a masterful singer whose life and repertoire reflect both deep tradition and an era of social change in Appalachia. In Been a Long Time Traveling, Addie sings ballads which trace back to the British Isles, others composed in America, frolic songs and ditties, and religious songs in the Old Regular Baptist tradition. While the Baptist beliefs of her parents forbade the use of musical instruments during her childhood, Addie became an accomplished singer in the complex, highly ornamented style of Kentucky's oral tradition.

Addie's repertoire included several extremely rare lyrics, including We're Stole and Sold From Africa an anti-slavery song which seems to have originated in the antebellum Abolitionist movement. She also sang a number of songs of African American origin, some learned from Black railroad builders.

Addie's grandson Rich Kirby and folklorist Barbara (Edwards) Kunkle produced an LP of her singing, released in 1977. Since then her songs have been recorded by Mike Seeger, Alice Gerrard, Ginny Hawker, John McCutcheon, and others. Been A Long Time Traveling, presented here remastered with eight additional songs and extensive notes, brings Addie's work to a new generation.

Download the full release notes. (6.5MB PDF)

Track Listing: (click song names for sample audio)

1. Pretty Polly (2:19)
2. Three Little Babes (2:36)
3. The Lonesome Scenes of Winter (3:31)
4. The Death of William Goebel* (1:57)
5. Wouldn’t Mind Working from Sun to Sun (0:24)
6. The Dummy (2:27)
7. O&K Train Song (1:14)
8. Omie Wise (3:26)
9. Ida Red / Went Up on the Old Hillside (2:19)
10. Battleship the Maine* (2:23)
11. Long and a Country Jake (1:31)
12. The Greenwood Sidey* (2:05)
13. Three Grains of Corn* (1:52)
14. The Indian Tribes of Tennessee (2:32)
15. Darling Corey* (2:21)
16. Darling Don’t You Know That’s Wrong (2:28)
17. We're Stole and Sold from Africa (2:09)
18. Been a Long Time Traveling (0:38)
19. Hungry and Faint and Poor (1:46)
20. Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah (3:53)
21. Sisters Thou Art Mild and Lovely (2:14)
22. Our Cheerful Voices Let Us Raise* (3:43)
23. Jesus Reigns (0:45)
24. By the Grace of God I’ll Meet You* (2:17)
25. I Am a Little Scholar (2:11)
26. My Head and Stay is Called Away (3:28)
27. When Moses and the Israelites (2:32)
28. A Few More Years Shall Roll* (2:26)
29. The Lord Will Provide 2:59
30. Dear Friends Farewell (2:13)

* previously unreleased

Reviews

"It's just as strong as I remember it from the LP issue--even gets better with age!" -Jeff Todd Titon, Ethnomusicologist, Brown University

"I was fortunate enough to meet Bascom Lunsford, Dee Hicks, Almeda Riddle and Cas Wallin, singers whose memory contributions enriched our nation. Mrs. Graham is of their caliber, and this collection of her signing from the 1970s is a blessing. Her singing of the abolitionist song, “We’re Stole and Sold from Africa,” will stand your hair on end." -Joe Wilson, Blue Ridge Music Center, Galax, VA

Released: 1992

Track Listing

1. Appalachia: A Definition
2. River of Earth
3. I was Born Humble
4. from Afterward: The Run for the Elbertas
5. Wolfpen Creek
6. Leap Minnows, Leap
7. Dance on Pushback
8. from River of Earth
9. Those I Want in Heaven with Should There Be Such a Place
10. Heritage
11. Interview with Judith Jennings

Traditional Music Performed by Randy Wilson

• Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow
• I Will Bow
• My Shepherd Shall Supply My Need
• Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
• Camp a Lil' While in the Wilderness
• Sweet Little Jesus Boy
• I Can Feel a Soft Wind Sweeping

James Still - readings, Randy Wilson - hammer dulcimer, lap dulcimer, and fretless banjo.

Poetry, music, and interview with James Still on his life and work

Produced and edited by Rich Kirby. Recorded and mixed by Doug Dorschug. Cover Design by Hans Luxemberger. Project Director for June Appal Recordings: Herb E. Smith.

Songs Life of the Party, You Gotta Help Me, V-8 Ford Blues, Call My Job, Pike County Love Stomp, Down South in New Orleans, I Only Lacks A Dime, Five Long Years, and Messin' with Your Hootchie Coo.

"The link between the Delta blues of a Howlin' Wolf and the hillbilly blues of a Bill Monroe potato-bug mandolin solo. The MBA's sew traditional country lyrical cadence within a quilt of contemporary blues...a sizzling blues band." -- Chicago Tribune

Songs

1. Will the Circle Be Unbroken
2. When the Angels Carry Me Home
3. Uncloudy Day
4. Gone Home
5. Were You There
6. Paul and Silas
7. I Saw the Light
8. When We All Get to Heaven
9. Precious Memories
10. Are You Washed in the Blood
11. In a Land Where We Never Shall Die
12. This World is Not My Home
13. Old Rugged Cross
14. Take Me in Your Lifeboat
15. Walking in Jerusalem
16. Little Bessie

Jeff Dalton, mandolin & vocals; Randy Dalton, guitar & vocals; Bobby Dalton, banjo & vocals; and Ray Hoskins, bass & vocals.

Old-fashioned gospel songs performed in rock solid traditional bluegrass style.

Track Listing
1. How Many Biscuits Can You Eat
2. Banjo Pickin' Girl
3. Naming the Coon Creek Girls
4. Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow
5. Pretty Polly
6. Wild Bill Jones
7. Absent-Minded
8. School Days
9. East Virginia Blues
10. Babes in the Woods
11. Lily May Expresses Love to the Audience
12. Little Birdie
13. The Brown Girl
14. The White House Story
15. Hawk Caught Chicken and Gone
16. Fiddling and Square Dances on Red River
17. Sally Goodin
18. Cacklin' Hen
19. White Oak Mountain
20. John Henry
21. Row Your Boat
22. Didn't It Rain?
23. Red Rocking Chair

Lily May Ledford - banjo, vocals.

Lily May Ledford led the Coon Creek Girls, the first all-women string band in radio, to fame in the late thirties and forties. With her hard-driving banjo and deep, soulful vocals, she is known as one of the first and foremost banjo pickin' girls.

COWAN CREEK MOUNTAIN MUSIC SCHOOL
GRAND FINALE CONCERT
June Appal 0082

1. Backstep Cindy is a Blue Ridge tune the Troughsloppers learned from Tommy Jarrell. Jamie Wells- fiddle; Dave Dougherty- banjo; Roy Tackett- guitar; Sam Linkous- bass.

2. High on a Mountain was written by Pike County, Kentucky’s Larry Webster. John Harrod-guitar and vocals; Paul Smith-fiddle; Paul Smith-fiddle; Sam Linkous-bass.

3. Salt Creek is a standard of the bluegrass and old-time repertoire. Lee Sexton- banjo; Ray Slone- fiddle; Rich Kirby- guitar.

4. I’m Getting Happy comes from Uncle Dave Macon, first star of the Grand Ole Opry. Dave Dougherty- banjo and vfocals; Jamie Wells- fiddle; Roy Tackett- guitar; Sam Linkous- bass.

5. Ruben’s Train is a mountain classic. Ray Slone- vocals and banjo; Paul Smith- fiddle; John Harrod- guitar; Sam Linkous- bass.

6. Hot Night on Greasy is Randy Wilson’s portrait of life in Leslie County, Kentucky. Randy Wilson- vocals and banjo.

7. Rich Kirby learned We’re Stole and Sold from Africa from his grandmother Addie Graham. It is apparently an antebellum abolitionist song. Rich Kirby- vocals.

8. Man of Constant Sorrow was written in the 1920’s  by a young Kentucky fiddler, Dick Burnett, facing a life of destitution after losing his eyesight. Art Stamper- fiddle.

9. Sharecropper’s Son is Carter Stanley’s tribute to real life in the country. John Harrod- vocals and guitar; Paul Smith- fiddle; Sam Linkous- bass.

10. Art Stamper learned The Last House in Connaught in Ireland. Somehow it seems to fit in a mountain music program. Art Stamper- fiddle; Dirk Powell- guitar.

11. Dirk Powell learned The Bald-Headed Judge from, his grandfather J.C. Hay. There’s probably a story here but we don’t know it. Dirk Powell- banjo; Christine Balfa- guitar.

12. He Is Coming to Us Dead is a Civil War-era song recorded in the 1920’s by G.B. Grayson and Henry Whitter. Rich Kirby- fiddle and vocals; John Harrod- guitar.

13. Hollow Poplar comes from, the influential fiddling of Arthur Smith. Paul Smith- fiddle; Burt Hatfield- guitar; Sam Linkous- bass.

14. Handsome Molly goes back at least as far as the Grayson and Whitter recording of the 1920’s. Ray Slone- vocals and guitar; Paul Smith- fiddle; John Harrod- guitar; Sam Linkous- bass.

15. Randy Wilson plays the old Red Rocking Chair on an African ancestor of the banjo. Randy Wilson- vocals and ngoni (African banjo).

16. Indian Squaw comes from Dirk Powell’s cousin, fiddler Alva Greene. Art Stamper- fiddle; Dirk Powell- banjo; Christine Balfa- guitar.

17. Rock Andy is an old Kentucky tune Paul Smith learned from his neighbor Owen “Snake” Chapman. Paul Smith- fiddle; Burt Hatfield- guitar.

18. Daniel Boone/the Wilderness Road is Ron Short’s exploration of early Kentucky history. Ron Short- vocals and guitar.

19. L’Anse aux Pailles (Straw Cove) comes from Cajun music legend Dewey Balfa, Christine’s father. Christine Balfa- vocals and guitar; Dirk Powell- accordion.

20. The story goes that The Brushy Fork of John’s Creek was written about the last battle of the Civil War in Pike County, Kentucky. Art Stamper- fiddle; Dirk Powell- banjo; Rich Kirby- guitar.

Track Listing
1. He Pilots My Ship
2. Lighthouse
3. One Day I Will
4. Clinging to a Saving Hand
5. On The Way Home
6. When I Wake Up
7. By Faith I Believe
8. Just For a Day
9. Two Coats
10. Jesus, Take a Hold
11. Upper Window
12. Eastern Gate

Original Write Up On Album Cover By Gary Slemp, Wise, VA – February 23, 1975

Today, we are beset with fad religions, false prophets, fake gurus, and complicated religious doctrines that are confusing and often misleading. There are so many of these obstacles that a seeker of Truth may become bewildered and misled. He or she may even give up the search. The single, outstanding factor about The Singing Burke Family (other than their feel for their music) is the simplicity, consistency and strength of their beliefs. There is no sense of bewilderment, no confusion. There is only a quiet determination to serve and share. William Burke told me “The sole purpose of this album is for the edification of the people of God. Through the singing of this album, we hope someone will come to Christ.” The Singing Burke Family (William, Brenda and Anthony) do not seem to be concerned with denominational differences, doctrines or dogma. Instead, they are concerned with God… a full-time occupation.

The Singing Burke Family members have been ministering through music since 1965. Much of their effort, and their travel, has been centered in the Tri-State area of Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. William has been a minister of the gospel since 1967. Brenda must have been singing in the crib. Their son, Anthony , is seventeen and has been playing guitar for the group since 1971. The Burkes have three sons, all younger. Someday, perhaps, we shall have a six-member Singing Burke Family.

This is the first album by The Singing Burke Family. I have a deep feeling that it will not be the last. Such energy and determination is difficult to contain. You will find this record to be honest and uncluttered with the commercialism that plagues much of our religious music today.

It has been my pleasure to record this album and to get to know The Burkes. Oh, by the way, William told me to be sure and mention that the three members of The Singing Burke Family are all Christians. By faith, I believe it. I think you will too.

]]> appalshopsales@appalshop.org (Appalshop) http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=338 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:08:52 +0400 7.99 USD 338 JA3003 http://appalshop.org/store/images/burke-family-album.png http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=341 http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_reviews&products_id=341

Track Listing
1. Robinson County
2. Willie Moore
3. The Sunny Side of Life
4. Persian Lamb Rag
5. Ice and Snow
6. Handsome Molly
7. My Good Old Texas Home
8. Spring of '65/Red Fox
9. Wild Bill Jones
10. The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore
11. Thy Burdens Are Greater Than Mine
12. My Little Home in Tennessee
13. Taylor's Quickstep/Homecoming Time in Happy Valley

Rich Kirby - vocals, mandolin, banjo, guitar, fiddle; Tom Bledsoe - vocals, guitar, banjo; Bill Hicks - fiddle; Sonny Houston - vocals, bass.

Hits From Home is an extension of Tom Bledsoe and Rick Kirby's music of today; a reflection of the many influences that have shaped mountain music, past and present. Through them old time mountain music continues to generate energy and lively good times.

Songs

J.P. Fraley, Margaret's Waltz; Dusty Miller, Cabin in the Corner of Gloryland; Ralph Blizard, Florida Blues; Morgan Sexton, It's a Beautiful Doll; Lee Sexton, Nubbin' Ridge; Payroll Boys, Blind Marie; Bluegrass Meditations, Gone Home; Larry Sparks, On My Mind; Dutch Cove String Band, Sycamore Tea; John McCutcheon, Planxty George Brabazon; Malcolm Dalglish & Grey Larsen, Sir John Fenwick's The Flower Among Them All; Buzzard Rock String Band, Hangman's Reel; David Holt, Little Stream of Whiskey; Jean Ritchie, Mother in Bright Glory; Betty Smith, Darby's Ram; and John McCutcheon, Blind Fiddler.

Sixteen cuts FROM June Appal's other popular releases.

Songs She's Good to Me, Miss Information, Don't Dog My Cat, New Woman Blues, Bluegrass Boogie Woogie, Trying Times, Night Patrol, Eyesight to the Blind, Little Red Rooster, and All Momma's Children.

"I had to let the stage cool off before I could come out and do my show." -- Albert King.

Unique blend of traditional Chicago-style blues and delta romp, usually spiced with a little southern flavor. Contains Met Blues originals.

Songs Sally Gooden, Sugar Hill, Pap's Old Billy Goat, K.C. Jones, Little Lost Boy, Comin' Round the Mountain, Brown's Dream, The Cat Came Back, Sourwood Mountain, Cluck Old Hen, No Place Like Home, Arkansas Traveler, Farther On, Rye Straw, Preachers in Hell, Sally Ann, and Old Joe Clark.

'Uncle Charlie' - fiddle & vocals; son, Johnny Cowan Osborne - banjo; and Tommy Ray Bledsoe - guitar & banjo.

Charlie Nelson Osborne was born December 26, 1890, on Copper Creek in Russell County, Virginia. Charlie's parents farmed, but the hardness of this life was tempered with generous amounts of music, dances, storytelling, and family and community gatherings. l00 Years Farther On contains songs and tunes 100-year-old 'Uncle Charlie' learned FROM his father and neighbors.

Songs

1. Crossroads

2. Here Rattler Here

3. Cold and Lonesome on a Train

4. Come on in My Kitchen

5. The Bakery Truck Is Comin'

6. Railroad Bill

7. Love in Vain

8. Go Down Old Hannah

9. Diving Duck Blues

10. Walkin' Blues

11. Pallet on the Floor

12. Silas McGee

13. Gospel Train

A superlative young recording of one of the greatest traditional blues singers. Rucker's slide guitar and the moaning of harpo playing of John Davis are a special treat.

Songs Walking Blues, Uncle Sam Blues, Look At The People (Little Girl), Mr. Freddy, Dirty Dozens, Got to Move, Who's Going Out the Backdoor, Don't You Feel Bad, Thundering and Lightning, and Hey Joe.

Pigmeat Jarrett - piano, vocals; Ed Thompson - electric guitar; and Steve Tracy - harmonica.

Ragtime piano man Pigmeat Jarrett takes us back to the barrelhouses, speakeasies, rent parties and frolics of the 1920's and 30's.

Songs Florida Blues; House of David Blues; Kansas City Railroad Blues; No Hard Times; Dickson County Blues; Winebarger's Mill; Blizard Train; Hell Among the Yearlings; Chittlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County; Blue Ridge Mountain Home; Sugar Tree Stomp; When Zephyrs of Heaven Shall Fan Me to Sleep; If I Lose, Let Me Lose; and Smith's Waltz.

Ralph Blizard - fiddle; Phil Jamison - guitar; Gordy Hinners - banjo; Andy Deaver - bass; and John Lily - guitar, mandolin, harmonica.

Ralph Blizard describes his exciting fiddle style as 'Southern Appalachian long-bow fiddling.' He combines a hard-driving breakdown approach to traditional music with bluesy accented notes and slides and a flair for improvisation that always inspires and excites listeners, dancers, and other musicians.

Songs and Stories
1. The Witch on Stone Mountain
2. The Hen Cackle
3. The Sign Was in the Knees
4. The Vision of the Automobile Engine
5. Short Life in Trouble
6. The Mountain Fortune Teller, Callie Brown
7. Meeting the Devil

Master storyteller Ray Hicks of Beech Mountain, NC, known for his "Jack" tales, mixes songs, and "just talk" with stories from his own life. Recorded live at his home in Beech Mountain. Award Winner - American Folk Music and Folklore Recordings 1989 (A Selected List) and National Heritage Fellowship.

Songs

1. Almost Done

2. Jay Bird/ Over the Waterfall

3. My Sweetheart's the Mule of the Mines, Thirty Inch Coal

4. Black Lung Blues

5. Coal Tattoo

6. Ain't Going Home Soon

7. Coal Truck Breakdown

8. They Can't Put It Back

9. Strip Away/ Dan the Red Nose

10. Disaster at the Mannington Mine

11. Jenny's Gone Away

12. Coal Train Song

13. The Appalachian Hills

14. I Can Feel the Sweet Winds Blowing

An anthology of mining songs, They Can't Put It Back is a musical chronicle of the struggles of American mines and mountain people. The album tells of deep and strip mining, black lung, union organizing, and topical ballads.

]]> appalshopsales@appalshop.org (Appalshop) http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=339 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:08:41 +0400 3.00 USD 339 JA0012 http://appalshop.org/store/images/they-cant-put-it-back.png http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=173 http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_reviews&products_id=173

Songs Stories: Jim Wolf; Fat or Lean; Fat Man; Cat and Rat; Little Fish Story; Three Gold Nuts. Songs: Cripple Creek; 1000 Legged Worm; Handsome Molly; On Top of Old Smokey; Fat or Lean.

Ron Short, Tommy Bledsoe, Susie Baker, Donna Porterfield, Donna Potter, Dudley Wilson, Angelyn DeBord, Jack Wright, Oaksie Caudill.

Roadside Theater is a traveling theater ensemble whose home is in the central Appalachian coalfields of southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky. Roadside's songs and stories are drawn from the musical, church, and storytelling traditions of the southern Appalachian mountains.

Songs Dixie Highway Sign, Bamboozled, If You Were a Bluebird, I Pity the Mothers and the Fathers, Red Dancing Shoes, Step It Out Nancy, Things Ain't Right, Liza, Traded My Soul, Johnson Girls, Murderers on the Cumberland Plateau, and Early.

Robin Williams - lead guitar, vocals; Linda Williams - rhythm guitar, banjo, vocals; Peter Ostroushko - mandolin, fiddle, vocals; Bob Carlin - bass; Molly Mason - bass; Jim Watson - bass.

Songs Cities of Gold, Trying to Live Your Memory Down, The Dancer, Say Mister, Good Life, Walking Back to Georgia, Do It Again, Spend Some Time with You, Willie and Sarah, and Going Home.

Ron Short - vocals, acoustic guitar; Doug Clements, vocals; Vicky Hampton, vocals; Beggie Adair - vocals, piano; John Clausi - acoustic/electric guitars; Fred Newell - electric guitar, mandolin; Larry Sasser - steel guitar, dobro; Ron Keller - trumpet; George Tidwell - trumpet; Herb Bruce - trombone; Ernie Collins - trombone; Denis Solee - saxophone; Sam Levine - saxophone.

Track Listing
1. The Whitetop Mountain Band - Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
2. The Whitetop Mountain Band - Johnson Mountain Boys
3. Uncle Charlie Osborne - The Cat Came Back
4. Shelia Adams Barnhill - Four Nights Drunk
5. Shelia Adams Barnhill - Little Betty
6. Walker Calhoun - Corn Dance
7. Walker Calhoun - Eagle Dance
8. Jean Ritchie - March Down to Old Tennessee
9. Owen 'Snake' Chapman - Johnny Don't Get Drunk
10. Owen 'Snake' Chapman - Indian Nation
11. Kay Justice & Ginny Hawker - I Have No Mother Now
12. Kay Justice & Ginny Hawker - Lost Love
13. Roan Mountain Hilltoppers - Sugar Hill
14. Ethel Caffie Austin - Listen to the Lambs
15. Jean Ritchie - The Long Lonesome Way

Highlights from Appalshop's 1990 and 1991 Seedtime On The Cumberland Festivals of traditional music, art, and storytelling. Contains 14 songs and stories.

Songs Hodi Cake; Johnny, Don't Get Drunk; Cedar Gap; Ginny's Waltz; Fisher's Hornpipe; Old Aunt Adkins; Road to Egypt; Betty Ann; Devil Ate the Groundhog; Boatin' Up Sandy; Chapman's Waltz; Crazy Tune; Pat 'em on the Back; Hollow Hornpipe; In Come a Little Bee; Mutt and Jeff, and Nation.

Snake Chapman - fiddle; Steve Cooley - guitar; Don Mussell - bass; Phil Sexton - bass; Paul Smith - banjo; Al White - mandolin; and Dennis White - guitar.

Owen 'Snake' Chapman was born in 1919 in Chapman's Hollow in Canada, Kentucky, located in Pike County in southeastern Kentucky. At age 75, Snake is still living in Chapman's Holler. 'Music has been a great part of my life. My wife thinks I love music more than her,' said Snake, who learned music FROM his father and other old-time fiddlers in the area. All instrumental

Songs I Am a Traveling Creature; Good Morning , Old Owl; Cabin in Gloryland; Two Little Angels; Lord Daniel; Little Scholar; Bold Sea Captain; Forty-Two Years; Ginseng: Oh Death; Quil O'Quay; Burglar Man; Lady Gay; Dixon Said to Jackson; and Passin' Thru the Garden.

Appalachian ballad singer, songwriter, union organizer, teller of tall tales, and National Heritage Fellowship award winner. All vocal.

Track Listing
1. Cumberland Gap
2. Little Birdie
3. Lonesome Scene of Winter
4. Jenny Get Around
5. Little Bessie
6. John Henry
7. Old East Virginia
8. Goin' Down in Town
9. London City Where I Did Dwell
10. Old Grey Beard
11. Pretty Little Miss in the Garden
12. I Want Some Liquor
13. Making Moonshine (Story)
14. Little Brown Jug
15. Rocky Island
16. Sugar Baby
17. Froggy Went A-Courtin'
18. It's a Beautiful Doll
19. Little Frankie
20. The Last of Callahan
21. Omie Wise
22. Mexico
23. Old Aunt Jenny
24. Little Sparrow
25. Hook and Line
26. Shady Grove

Morgan Sexton - banjo & vocals; Lee Sexton - fiddle.

This release brings together material from both of Morgan Sexton's June Appal releases -- Shady Grove and Rock Dust. Shady Grove Revisted showcases a style and body of work endemic to the southern Appalachian region.

Songs Froggy Went a'Courtin', It's a Beautiful Doll, Little Frankie, The Last of Callahan, Omie Wise, Mexico, Old Aunt Jenny, Little Sparrow, Hook and Line, Uncle Ned, Little Birdie, Lonesome Scene of Winter, Jenny Get Around, Little Bessie, John Henry, Old East Virginia, Goin' Down in Town, London City Where I Did Dwell, and Old Grey Beard.

Morgan Sexton - banjo & vocals; Lee Sexton - fiddle.

Some selections on this release are included on Shady Grove.

Songs St. Anne's Reel; Cricket on the Hearth; Kitchen Girl; Mississippi Sawyer; Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring; Who Will Sing for Me?; Dallas Rag; Plaxty George Brabazon, Si Bheag Si Mhor; Carter Store Medley (Wildwood Flower, Red Wing, Wake Up Susan, Temperance Reel); Sculley's Reel, Morrison's Jig; If I were a Featherbed; Wind that Shakes the Barley, Morpeth's Rant, Staten Island; Greensleeves; Every Bush and Tree; Hangman's Reel, Campbell's Farewell to Red Gap; and Sally in the Garden, Wild Rose of the Mountain.

John McCutcheon - vocals, hammer dulcimer, fiddle, guitar; Paul Reisler - guitar; Tina Liden-Jones - vocals, concertina; Wayne Erbsen - vocals, fiddle; Bob Jordan - guitar, snores; Rich Kirby - mandolin, banjo.

Songs Paddy Concannon's Reel, The Wise Maid; Langstrom's Pony, The Geese in the Bog; Fig for a Kiss, The Butterfly; The Tune that Came Out; The Plains of Boyle, The Dog in the Sycamore Leaves; I Don't work for a Living; The Honeysuckle, The FarewellReel; Lannigan's Ball; The Mountain Streams, The bucks of Oranmore, The Indian on the Rock; Shawneetown; Morning of 1845; Meriweather; Johnny Cope; Shake these Bones; Soup, Banjo Tramp; Fod; Cotton-Eyed Joe; and The First of Autumn.

Malcolm Dalglish - vocals, hammer dulcimer, spoons, bones; Grey Larsen - vocals, Irish flute, tin whistle, Anglo concertina, English concertina, hammer dulcimer, fiddle, guitar, piano; Michael Murphy - bodhran.

Track Listing
1. Banish Misfortune
2. Pigeon on the Gate/ Musical Priest/ Drowsy Maggie
3. Sir John Fenwick's the Flower Among them All/ Noble Squire Dacre
4. The Road to Lisdoonvarna/ Trip to Sligo/ Dennis Murphy's Slide/ O'Keefe's Slide
5. Midnight Mountain Road
6. O'Connell's Lamentation
7. The Three Little Drummers/ Kate Caulfield's Jig/ Paddy in London
8. Growling Old Man and Cackling Old Woman/ The Nine Points of Roguery
9. March of the King Laois/ Brian Boru's March
10. The First of May/ Drunkard's Path/ An Comhra Donn
11. Tar Hollow/ Dog in the Mustard/ Kid on the Mountain/ Drops of Brandy/ Foxhunter's Jig/ The Rocky Road to Dublin
12. Maggie McGee's Schottische/ Johnny, Will You Marry Me?
13. Christ Child's Lullaby

Malcolm Dalglish - hammer dulcimer; Grey Larsen - English concertina, Anglo concertina, guitar, flute, tin whistle, recorder.

All instrumental - jigs, reels, airs, slides, marches, hornpipes, Schottishces.

Songs

1. Cacklin Hen

2. Sweet Georgia Brown

3. Brown Skinned Gal

4. Down the Old Plank Road

5. Maiden's Prayer

6. Whispering

7. Darkness on the Delta

8. Texas Plains

9. Miller Blues

10. Darktown Strutters Ball

11. Mockingbird

12. Echoes of My Old Plantation Home

13. Leather Britches

14. Methodist Pie

A rare blending of old-time mountain music with the popular and swing tunes of the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. The Smathers revived their band in 1968 after a break of 25 years, and their material today is as fresh as it's ever been.

]]> appalshopsales@appalshop.org (Appalshop) http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=340 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:42:38 +0400 3.00 USD 340 JA0024 http://appalshop.org/store/images/luke-smathers-string-band.png http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=107 http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_reviews&products_id=107

Songs Alabama Jubilee, Memphis Blues, Indian Love Call, Tiger Rag, Mona Lisa, Dinah, Bill in the Lowground, Sally Ann, Up the Lazy River, Cimmaron, Bully of the Town, I'll Keep Loving You, Meet Me by the Ice House Lizzie, and Walking in My Sleep.

Luke Smathers - fiddle; Harold Smathers - guitar & vocals; J.T. Smathers - bass; Charles Gidney - lead guitar & vocals; Bea Smathers - bass; and David Holt - banjo, brushes, & vocal.

A cross-section of the wonderfully diverse Smathers repertoire FROM pop-swing songs to the older popular standards. Includes booklet.

Songs Charmin' Betsy, Shady Grove, Nubbin' Ridge, Fox Chase, My Old Kentucky Home, Gray Eagle, Hook and Line, Goin' Round This World, Jenny Get Around, Lee Boy Blues, Caney Creek, John Henry, The Old Spinning Wheel, Hey John D, Buck Creek, Farewell Blues, Eight More Miles, DROP Thumb Banjo, Cumberland Gap, and Whoa Mule.

Lee Sexton - banjo, fiddle, & vocals; Marion Sumner - fiddle; Phillip Sexton - bass & guitar; Sonny Houston - guitar, bass, & vocals; and Freddie Campbell - banjo.

Lee Sexton is a master of the drop-thumb banjo and has played square dances for three generations. Members of both his father's and mother's families were musicians; the late Roscoe Holcomb of Leatherwood Creek was his cousin.

Songs I'll Go Steppin' Too, On My Mind, Green Pastures in the Sky, It's Never Too Late, Live and Let Live, Lonesome Ridge, I Wish I Had a Nickel, I'm Gonna Sleep with One Eye Open, Single Girl, I'll Be Glad to Go Home, Will You Be Lonesome Too, and How Great Thou Art.

Larry Sparks - lead vocals, lead guitar, & banjo; Glen Duncan - fiddle & harmony vocals; Tom Boyd - banjo, dobro, & harmony vocals; and David Bowling - bass.

Larry Sparks combines his remarkable vocal style with his driving, bluesy guitar to produce a memorable album of old favorites, bluegrass gospel. and new songs.

Songs How Can I Keep FROM Singing?; The Devil and the Farmer's Wife; Bluebird Song; Hammer Dulcimer Medley: Laird O' Drum Blair, Cincinnati Hornpipe, Petronella, Chorus Jig; Omie Wise; The Blind Fiddler; Froggie Went a' Courtin'; Mole in the Ground; Elvaton; Down Came an Angel; Fiddle Medley: Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Jude's Last Tune; Blue Ridge Mountain Refugees; Steals of the White Man; and Christ Child Lullaby.

John McCutcheon - hammer dulcimer, fiddle, banjo, autoharp, vocals; Tom Bledsoe - French harp, vocals; Rich Kirby - banjo, guitar, mandolin, vocals; Gary Slemp - guitar, vocals; Jack Wright - Jew's harp, bass, guitar, vocals.

Songs Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow; Mother in Bright Glory; Evergreen Shore; Resignation; Stream of Time; My Head and Stay; Jesus, Grant Us All a Blessing; Long Lonesome Way; Brightest and Best; She is Gone; I'm Alone in this World; A Few More Years Shall Roll; Sweet Rivers of Redeeming Love; The White Pilgrim; and The Meeting is Over.

Jean Ritchie - vocal, dulcimer; John McCutcheon- harmony vocal, hammered dulcimer, autoharp, fiddle; Jack Wright - harmony vocal, guitar; Jim Gage - harmony vocal, guitar; Marion Sumner - fiddle; and members of the Ritchie family - Mallie Ritchie, Una Yahkub, Kitty Singleton, Edna Baker, and Pauline Kermiet.

Songs Norway's Farewell, Forty Shades of Green, Liverpool Hornpipe, Catfishin' on the Mississippi, Salute to Crisuma, Margaret's Waltz, Cambric Shirt, Granny Will Your Dog Bite, Galleynipper, Garfield's Blackberry Blossom, Put Me in Your Pocket, Dry and Dusty, Pickin' On the Ol' Banjo, Hangman's Reel, Cajun Candy, New Richmond, and Bonaparte's Retreat.

J.P. Fraley - fiddle; Annadeene Fraley - guitar & vocals; Mac Benford - banjo; Linda Scutt - banjo; Dave Peyton - autoharp; Philip Sexton - bass; and Dennis White - guitar.

J.P. Fraley is considered one of the masters of Kentucky fiddling. Fiddling since the age of eight, he learned FROM his father, Richard, and later FROM many well-known fiddlers of northeast Kentucky, including Clark Kessinger and the legendary Ed Haley.

Songs Darlin' Corey, Ground Hog, Married Life Blues, Rattlesnake Bill, Lost John, Marching Thru Georgia, Jack & Joe, Going Round This World, Red Wing, Down South Blues, Barb'ry Ellen, John Henry, 900 Miles, Sourwood Mountain, Pretty Polly, I Can't Change It, and Meet Me Tonight.

I.D. Stamper - dulcimer, French harp, banjo, & vocals; and John McCutcheon - fiddle, fretless banjo, guitar, & dulcimer.

I.D. Stamper spent a lifetime building and playing the Appalachian dulcimer. His playing style shows heavy blues influence and a rhythmic power and complexity rarely heard on this instrument.

Songs Soldier's Joy; St. Anne's Reel; Green Rocky road; Cluck Old Hen; Pretty Saro; Pig Town Fling; Planxty Irwin, Morrison's Jig, Little Beggerman; Ain't Goin' Home Soon; Eyes Are Blue; Old blue; Old Molly Hare; North Georgia Mountains; Irish Washerwoman, Rights of Man; Wind that Shakes the Barley, Flowers of Edinborough; Banish Misfortune; and That's All Right.

Guy Carawan - vocals, guitar, hammer dulcimer, tin whistle, banjo; Bob Jordan - vocal harmony, guitar, banjo; Michael Ginsburg - tin whistle, flute guitar; David Burns - fiddle; Rich Kirby - fiddle; Jack Wright - Jew's harp.

Songs Distant Land to Roam; Trials, Troubles, Tribulations; Just A Few More Days; Barb'ry Ellen; Lover's Return; Signs and Wonders; Lost Love; Silk Merchant's Daughter; How Beautiful Heaven Must Be; Adieu, False Heart; I Have No Mother Now; and The Lifeboat

Ginny Hawker - vocals; Kay Justice - vocals, guitar; Tracy Schwarz - fiddle, autoharp, guitar; and Hilary Diriam - bass.

A moving sampler of traditional Appalachian songs associated with Appalachian mountain traditions, gospel themes, family, and home.

Songs

1. This Little Light

2. It is No Secret

3. Just a Closer Walk

4. Guide Me Great Jehova

5. Amazing Grace

6. Low is the Way

7. That's All Right

8. Move Up a Little Higher

9. Trust in God

10. Blessed Quietness

11. Father I Stretch My Hand

12. Love Like a River

13. Around God's Throne

14. Tell the Angels

15. Last Mile of the Way

The debut album of spiritual music from the young black artist repeatedly featured at the Festival of American Folklife. Earl's poignant vocals are lended the support of his rocking gospel piano and Rupert Oysler's sensitive blues harp.

Songs

1. Sycamore Tea

2. Morpeth's Rant

3. Greenville Waltz

4. Joys of Quebec

5. Debuque

6. Dance All Night

7. Kiley's Reel

8. Uncle Turner's Waltz

9. Sugar in the Gourd

10. Fisher's Hornpipe & Rickett's Hornpipe

11. Spotted Pony

12. Kitchen Girl

13. Cumberland Gap

14. Other Waltz

15. Nancy Roland

16. Lost Indian

17. Fire on the Mountain

18. Chinky Pin

19. Two Step

20. Durang's Hornpipe.

Quay Smathers - guitar; Liz Smathers Shaw - fiddle; Lynn Shaw - fiddle & mandolin; June Smathers - banjo; and Cynthia Smathers - bass.

One of our best sellers. Twenty-two all-time favorite waltzes, reels, jigs, polkas, and hornpipes. All instrumental.

Songs Live on Down the Line, Yearning, Blue Days, Cabin in the Corner of Gloryland, My Love Goes On, Lonesome Hearted Blues, Lonesome Pine, Dandelion Reel, Heart over Mind, Hoping That You're Hoping, Randall Collins, and Redbird's Wing.

Adam Steffey - mandolin, and lead & harmony vocals; Tim Stafford - guitar, and lead & harmony vocals; Tammy Steffey - fiddle, and lead & harmony vocals; Barry Bales - bass, and harmony vocals; and Brian Fesler - banjo.

Winners at the SPBGMA International Bluegrass Band Championships in Nashville in 1989.

Songs Morning Blues, Dinah, Lost John, Ragtime Annie, Little Stream of Whiskey, Too Late to Pray, The Old John Hardy, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Jerusalem Mourn, Leather Britches, Hambone, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Roustabout, Paddy on the Turnpike, Hop-Light Ladies, and It Just Suits Me.

David Holt - vocals, banjo, fretless banjo, hammered dulcimer, harmonica, hambone, paper bag; Mike Hunter - guitar, vocal harmony; Buddy Davis - bass, vocal harmony; and Bob Jordan - guitar.

Songs Hangman's Reel, Cake Walkin' Jake, Go Along Mule, Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia, Bonaparte's Retreat, Year of Jubilo, Growlin' Old Man and Grumblin' Old Woman, There's A Mouse Been Messin' Around, I've Got the Blues for My Kentucky Home, Them Hill-Billies Are Mountain Williams Now, Elzic's Farewell, In the Hills of Tennessee, Ook-Pik Waltz, Waterbound, and Stay All Night.

Harry Bickel - banjo, vocals; Jeff Gushin - fiddle, vocals; Bruce Krohmer - clarinet, saxophone; Mike Schroeder - mandolin; 'Norton' John Schroeder - bass, vocals; and Jim Webb - guitar, vocals.

A wonderful combination of instrumental fiddle tunes, old jazz tunes, and old-time country tunes.

Songs There Once Was An Owl, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie, Darby's Ram, When They Ring the Golden Bells, Lady Isabel and the Elfin Knight, Black Waters, Little Margaret, The Ballad of Bascom Lunsford, Softly Come the Gypsy, Gentle Maiden, Little Liza Jane, Knoxville Girl, The Rolling Hills of the Border, A Starry Night for Ramble, and The True Lover's Farewell.

Betty Smith - psaltery, Appalachian dulcimer, guitar, vocals; John McCutcheon - guitar, autoharp, hammer dulcimer, fiddle, & banjo; Jack Wright - banjo; and Grey Larsen - flute.

Appalachian dulcimer, soft ballads, delicate picking patterns, guitar and banjo harmonies, and beautiful old songs.

Songs Little Stream of Whiskey; Old Joe Clark; Hand Me Down My Old Suitcase; Moonshiner; Pass Around the Bottle; Sourwood Mountain; Bonnie Blue Eyes; Florida Blues; Cuckoo; Dixie Darling; Bonnie Prince Charles; I Need the Prayer of Those I Love; Waiting for the Robert E. Lee; Dead March; Snake Chapman's Tune; Stay Out of Town; I've Been Here a Long, Long Time; Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms; Walking in the Parlor; Shady Grove; Rye Whiskey; Rippling Waters; Johnny Don't Get Drunk; Rock Andy; & I'll Go Home to Honey.

Hobert Crabtree, George Gibson, Debbie Grim, Will Keys, Odus Maggard, Fred O'Quinn, Lee Sexton, & Paul David Smith

Old Time Banjo Days is an annual event at Appalshop, part of a yearly series of workshops & concerts of traditional Appalachian music & culture. These recordings were made between 1993-1997.

Songs Shuffle Rag; Five & Ten Cent Blues; Talking Hard Luck; Payday; Streetsingers' Heaven; Gonna Sit Down on the Banks of the River/Soldier's Drill; Stoptime Rag; Buck Rag; I Don't Love Nobody; Children Go Where I Send Thee; Crow Jane; Mr. Crump Don't Like It; and Oh, Glory.

Andy Cohen - piano, guitar, & vocals; Rick Ruble - mandolin; Joe LaRose - banjo, guitar, vocals, & mandolin; and Gary Hawk - harp.

From blues, ragtime, country, ballads, and Andy's own compositions.

Songs

1. Dancin' Waves Schottische

2. Home Sweet Home

3. Yes Sir, She's My Baby

4. Whoa Mule, Whoa

5. Buffalo Gals

6. Soldier's Joy

7. Darktown Dandies

8. Turkey in the Straw

9. Intro

10. Somewheres in West Virgnina

11. When They Ring Those Golden Bells

12. Derby Polka

13. Medley

14. Smile Awhile

15. Wreck of the Old 97

16. Clinch Mountain Backstep

17. Don't Let Your Deal Go Down

18. Darlin' Nellie Gray

19. San Antonio Rose

20. Wildflower of the Mountain

Any Boarman - 5 string banjo, autoharp

From West Virginia, this guru of the 5 string banjo is well-known for his 3 finger classical style. Featured also is the autoharp, his most publicly played instrument. Andy's music generates a blending of the early classic banjo and folk music of his youth with the bluegrass music of today.

So often the words of great authors remain chained to the pages that they were published on, with our voice giving them their life thereafter. With the re-issue of Heritage, James Still fans have a chance to hear his work and thoughts directly from the author himself.Originally released as a cassette in 1992, June Appal is proud to announce the CD reissue. Throughout the listener is treated to traditional music performed by Randy Wilson.

Track Listing:
1. Appalachia: A Definition
2. River of Earth (poem)
3. I Was Born Humble
4. from Afterword, The Run for the Elbertas
5. Wolfpen Creek
6. Leap Minnows Leap
7. Dance on Pushback
8. from River of Earth
9. Those I Want In Heaven With Me, Should There Be Such A Place
10. Heritage
11. James Still on his life and work: An Interview With Judith Jennings