Carolina Chocolate Drops

Yesterday, Nonesuch Records released Genuine Negro Jig, the second record from acoustic trio the Carolina Chocoate Drops. Singlehandedly, these young upstarts are breathing new life into an extinct tradition: the black Southern string band. Back in the day, when record companies came to control the distribution of popular music, executives decided that white boys would play old-time string band music and blacks would release “race records” — or blues and jazz. This was an artifical division. In fact there was a thriving tradition of black fiddle and banjo music. Hello! The banjo is traceable to Africa, and today’s American fiddle styles owe much to the rhythmic syncopation of early black fiddlers. Not to mention the profound influence of country blues on today’s highly stylized bluegrass music.

Genuine Negro Jig

Band member Rhiannon Giddens: “It seems that two things get left out of the history books. One, that there was string band music in the Piedmont, period. And that . . . black folk was such a huge part of string tradition.” The Drops trained under the tutelage of Joe Thompson, who at the age of 90 is believed to be the last living performer from the Piedmont string band heyday. But their repertoire goes way beyond old-time fiddle tunes, incorporating joyful jug-jazz, soulful blues, Anglo-Celtic ballads, and modern works as well. Listen close, and you can hear the lonely wail of a wayfaring stranger, traveling though a wearisome land, so far from home.

LISTEN: Peace Behind the Bridge

LISTEN: Snowden’s Jig (Genuine Negro Jig)

Nonesuch Records

Band Website

Shaun Cromwell

Fiddlefreak was fortunate to hear and meet Shaun Cromwell at the FARwest convention in Irvine, CA. Shaun Cromwell’s one-man acoustic blues connect the modern world to a long-lost southern Gothic past. On guitar and banjo, his fingerstyle approach lifts a soulful vocal delivery, and the gripping songs tell stories of murder, love and loss. Death is a recurring theme for Shaun:

“Recognizing and accepting that you will die is a very practical way of loving the hell out of your life and trying to fit all that you can into that life. It’s what makes it possible to even consider writing music. That’s why I wanted this to be the underlying theme of the album; it’s not to be morbid or profound, it’s hopefully very simple and optimistic, maybe even uplifting at times.”

Here’s a traditional song from his release “The Turning of Clocks,” and a new unreleased single. Enjoy!

John Hardy (Was A Desperate Little Man)

The Gristmill

Shaun Cromwell Website

Preview/Buy

Town Mountain

It’s time to start planning for Pickathon 2009, which happens this year on July 31—August 2 at Pendarvis Farm just outside Portland, Oregon. Fiddlefreak attended a couple years back and was deeply wowed by its unique combination of down-home folksy vibe and youthful alternative energy. And the music lineup is always the best! Ranging from rootsy indie rock to hard-core oldtime fiddle bands, the best of alternative Americana can be found here.

“Our fans are people who want to hear new stuff,” says Pickathon founder Zale Schoenborn. “They love music, and they don’t think about genre. They don’t want to hear three days of any one thing. They don’t necessarily need to know every single name on the bill. So our guiding principal is to simply curate the best music we can.”

The unique atmosphere at Pendarvis Farm is a big part of the attraction. Six stages—ranging from two main stages to the intimate, 50-capacity Workshop Barn to the quiet, secluded Woods Stage to the rowdy late-night Galaxy Barn—provide multiple opportunities to see many festival acts. Resourceful use of biodiesel and solar power, environmentally friendly custom shade structures, strong recycling and composting programs and multiple alternative transportation options give Pickathon’s sustainability efforts real muscle. Kids can start their days with bright’n’early yoga and move on to nature classes, circus camp, square-dancing, and free-form roaming on 80 acres of prime Oregon farmland and old-growth forest.

I previously wrote about Pickathon here. I would go again if I could, and go see the Freight Hoppers, Jackstraw, the Hackensaw Boys, Hillstomp, Foghorn Stringband, Town Mountain, and the many other kick acts on the bill. Five stars for this festival, from Fiddlefreak! Learn more about Pickathon here.

The Everybodyfields at Pickathon 2007

Levon Helm: Electric Dirt

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!

LISTEN: Growin’ Trade

VIDEO: The Making of Electric Dirt

VIDEO: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

LINKS:
Buy Electric Dirt
Levon Helm Website

Betse Ellis

Betse Ellis: Don't You Want to Go?

By now I hope you’ve heard of (and heard) the acoustic hillbilly heartland honkytonk music of the Wilders, from Kansas City, Missouri. A big part of their show is the high-energy oldtime fiddling of Betse Ellis, who just released her first solo album titled Don’t You Want to Go? on Free Dirt Records. This collection includes soulful blues, gospel, and inventive originals, but my favorites are the old-time fiddle breakdowns, some of which she has mined herself from the Ozark hills. Here is the first track on the record, which she plays in the traditional Black Mountain tuning (AEAC#) and picks with her left hand while bowing with her right. Sweeeet!

LISTEN: White River

LINKS:

Listen and Buy at Trade Roots Music

Betse Ellis MySpace

BONUS VIDEO:

The Wilders perform “Sorry I let You Down” at Celtic Connections 2009 in Glasgow, Scotland.