The new album from Ireland-based oldtime outfit Grits & Gravy, their first release, is jam-packed with a passel of high-octane traditional American fiddle tunes and songs. The music on this record shines like a mirror, reflecting our American music back to us across the Atlantic with an authentic patina that belies the Old World roots… Continue reading Grits & Gravy Stringband: Ain’t Nothin’ but a Thing
The Immigrant Band is John Doyle, Rafe Stefanini, Clelia Stefanini, John Herrmann, and Eamon O’Leary. Their self-titled debut album (on Yodel-Ay-Hee Records) hit the streets earlier this year to much well-deserved fanfare in both Irish and oldtime music circles. John Doyle is listed as producer and he recorded, edited, and mixed this record; it’s infused… Continue reading The Immigrant Band
Many thanks to Devon at Hearth Music for turning me on to the third album from Calahen Morrison and Eli West. We heartily recommended their first two releases, and this one raises the bar. I’ll Swing My Hammer with Both Hands is the fruit of veteran guidance from producer Tim O’Brien and contributions from crack… Continue reading Cahalen Morrison and Eli West: Swing My Hammer
Last October, a jovial fellow named Matt Kinman showed up at the Goleta Old Time Fiddlers Convention, which happens annually in the second weekend of October near Santa Barbara, CA. A likeable guy with a southern way of talking and unusual upstrum frail on the banjo, he walked away with top awards in banjo, fiddle,… Continue reading Matt Kinman: The Back Porch of America
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