Levon is back! June 30 marks the official release date of Electric Dirt (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard), the second solo outing in Levon Helm’s remarkable comeback, after 2007’s Grammy-winning Dirt Farmer record. Expanding upon the acoustic-folk arrangements and down-home themes of Dirt Farmer (his first release in 25 years and following a very rough bout with throat cancer), he has mined the rich veins of American gospel and blues to resurrect the spirit of The Band in this triumphant songbook.
Along with Levon’s ancient vocals and rootsy drums, Electric Dirt (a title that references Muddy Waters’ album “Electric Mud”) sports horns and harmonies that take the listener on a Southern journey through material from Jerry Garcia, Muddy Waters, Carter Stanley, and Randy Newman, as well as compositions from Levon and producer Larry Campbell, who also plays many of the stringed instruments. Levon is again joined by daughter Amy Helm on beautifully soulful backup vocals, and bandmates from Ollabelle as well.
Levon Helm
Levon once said that what the Band did was take traditional American music and cut the beat in half. Um… did we mention that they also they reset the bar for American music? “Electric Dirt” uses that proven recipe to show that the spirit of The Band is alive and well in the music of Levon Helm.
It might not be what we call folk music around here, but it’s damn good stuff, as rootsy as black Mississippi mud, and worth a listen. Here is a new song from Electric Dirt, along with a “making of” video and an old clip of the Band in their prime. Enjoy!
Notes from Yew Piney Mountain, an excellent old-time music blog, has been talking up some of the best old-time bands on the West Coast, including Foghorn (Portland), Striped Pig (Arcata), and the Tall Boys (Seattle). I wonder if old Yew Piney knows about 14-year old fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves of Corvallis, Oregon? With her recent new release Started Out to Ramble (Patuxent Music) this tiny rising star is poised to become the Next Big Thing in old-time fiddling. Among other awards, she became the youngest ever to win the Championship Division of the Oregon Oldtime Fiddlers Contest in 2008.
I first heard Tati’s five-string fiddling in the campground at Pickathon, where she sat in the semi-darkness with her brother Alex Hargreaves (a brilliant fiddler in his own right) and her dad, slashing out tunes and songs from the Appalachian hills. I love her music, but it’s a bit odd at first to hear this child of tender age shouting out that “there ain’t no liquor in this town.” So get over it already. Producer (and mentor) Bruce Molsky, brother Alex, and several other top-notch musicians help to make Started Out to Ramble one of the best old-time fiddle releases of 2009.
LISTEN: Raleigh and Spencer/Dusty Miller
Tatiana Hargreaves talks about the making of her new record.
Tatiana Hargreaves with Tristan Clarridge at Mount Shasta Camp Concert 2008.
When my desk gets this loaded with new CDs, there is the temptation to skip the releases that don’t reach out and grab me. But I couldn’t skip this one. In fact it has been getting lots of airplay around here ever since it arrived on my desk last month. (I know, I need to get caught up on my reviews!)
Bearfoot
Doors and Windows
Doors and Windows (Compass Records) is the fourth release from Alaskan bluegrass band Bearfoot, a group previously reviewed here on Fiddlefreak. Featured front and center on many tracks are the sultry, breathy vocals of newest member Odessa Jorgensen, a native of Santa Rosa, California and former member of the Biscuit Burners. Bearfoot has been playing together since they were kids, almost ten years ago, and it shows. They have outgrown the bluegrass umbrella and produced a recording of tremendous depth and emotion. Acoustic swing, sister harmonies, twin fiddles, and singer-songwriter soul come together on Doors and Windows, in the smooth Americana-folk of Bearfoot.
Fiddlefreak is drowning under a deluge of bluegrass music. My desk is overflowing with CDs and press releases! So let’s get started on this pile of good old hillbilly mayhem with a record that was released earlier this month from the Colorado-based band Spring Creek. “Way Up on a Mountain” (Rebel Records) is their third release and it’s mighty fine. A great choice of mainstream material, smooth harmonies, and impeccable picking make this one a lovely listen. Fiddlefreak keeps skipping back to the songs that are sung by bassist Jessica Smith. And we can’t help but dig a band that has two members that are fly fishing guides—how cool is that? (A spring creek is a spring-fed waterway that often holds lots of large trout.) Thumbs up from Fiddlefreak!
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