VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Art Of Old-Time Mountain Music
(Rounder Heritage)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale


Oh brother, here it is! Another installment in Rounder Record's celebration of 30+ years as America's premier independent label, The Art Of Old-Time Music should, perhaps, have been the first in the series. Why? Because from day one, Rounder has been the home of some of the best traditional music around. This collection ranges from classic tracks from well-known pros to front porch field recordings of people who had no idea they were "preserving" anything. They were just playing the music they learned from parents, neighbors or the Appalachian air. I particularly appreciate the inclusion of some outstanding examples of the contributions Black Americans have made to old-time string band music, a strain of the genre that gets far too little attention in most circles.

With a total of 28 tracks, including 6 previously unreleased gems from the Rounder vaults, and expert annotation by Kerry Blech, this is a compilation that deserves a place in the collection of every fan of folk, country, old-time or bluegrass music.

Track List:

Haywood Blevins/Old Molly Hare * John W. Summers/Old Wind Sow, She Stole The Middlins * Glenn Ohrlin/The High Toned Dance * Frazier & Patterson/Po' Black Sheep * Ola Belle Reed/High On A Mountain * Owen Snake Chapman/McMinnville's Breakdown * Wilson Douglas/One More River To Cross * Bruce Molsky & Big Hoedown/Rocky Mountain * Oscar & Eugene Wright/ Protecting The Innocent * Asa Martin/Death Of J.B. Marcum * Smokey Valley Boys/Benton's Dream * Dorothy Rorick/The House Carpenter * Jim Herd/Rabbit, Where's Your Mammy? * Joe & Odell Thompson/Black Eyed Daisy * Marvin Gaster/The Boatman Song * Charlie Kinney/Kicked Up A Devil Of A Row * Fields Ward/Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie * Clark Kessinger/Red Bird * Bob Carlin & James Bryan/Farewell Trion * Mose Coffman/Lost Indian * Sam Connor & Dent Wimmer/Old Time Fire On The Mountain * Dink Roberts/Fox Chase * Gaither Carlton & Doc Watson/Tucker's Barn * Perry Riley/Feed My Horse On Corn And Hay * Almeda Riddle/ I'm A Long Time Traveling Here Below * Uncle Dave Macon & Sam McGee/Go On, Nora Lee * Lloyd Chandler/A Conversation With Death

© 2003 - Shaun Dale