Recommend me some bluegrass/appalachian folk!!

[DaRealSpoon]

Right after getting into the soundtrack from Cold Mountain and then from there getting the one and only Tim Eriksen album I could find my desire for more music of this type haas not been satisfied.

So can anyone suggest some of a similar ilk, I guess it's appalachian folk/bluegrass/american civil war music.

The more dark and moody side of things not the bouncy 'O brother where art thou' type of stuff. I kind of have those bases covered

Cheers lovely muso enthuso's

 

[sojourner]

See if you can get hold of a various artists collection - Smithsonian Bluegrass - that's one of the best comps I've ever heard

There's tons of stuff out there tbh.

Proper title is Classic Bluegrass from Smithsonian Folkways

 

[butchersapron]

Right after getting into the soundtrack from Cold Mountain and then from there getting the one and only Tim Eriksen album I could find my desire for more music of this type haas not been satisfied.

So can anyone suggest some of a similar ilk, I guess it's appalachian folk/bluegrass/american civil war music.

The more dark and moody side of things not the bouncy 'O brother where art thou' type of stuff. I kind of have those bases covered

Cheers lovely muso enthuso's

You want to search for 'mountain gospel' then really rather than just bluegrass, or you'll end up with some dire fake shit. The best intro would probably be something like Ralph Stanley, The Stanley Bros, Clinch Mountain Boys.

 

[sojourner]

You want to search for 'mountain gospel' then really rather than just bluegrass, or you'll end up with some dire fake shit. The best intro would probably be something like Ralph Stanley, The Stanley Bros, Clinch Mountain Boys.

Yup

Another good comp is another Smithsonian one - Classic Mountain Songs, and a va called Prayers from Hell - White Gospel and Sinners Blues

In fact, you can't go wrong with any Smithsonian stuff

 

[matt m]

My favourite old-time American singer is Frank Proffitt. He's also my fave banjo player, really sparse and simple. He made his own fretless banjos. He sounds kind of almost West African at times. His music got pretty dark at times, like his version of the bloody ballad 'Bo Lankin'. But it was also very homely and warming too. If it's dark mountain hollerin you're after then Doc Boggs is probably your man.

Check out Clarence 'Tom' Ashley, Roscoe Holcomb, Carter Family, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Doc Watson, Buell Kazee, Horton Barker, Edna Ritchie, Tom Paley, New Lost City Ramblers, Peggy Seeger, Pete Seeger, Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show.

They're all old-time folky American mountain styles rather than straight-up bluegrass, which I find a bit monotonous. But as far as bluegrass goes then Stanley Brothers, Clinch Mountain Boys, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and the Lilly Brothers are all good.

 

[matt m]

oh I forgot to mention Pete Steele too. But yeah, almost everyone I've mentioned was recorded by Smithsonian/Folkways label.

 

[DaRealSpoon]

Cheers all, I'm working through the suggestions now. Have to say the Tim Eriksen album I managed to get hold of, 'every sound below' is brilliant. Very much recommended to you all, though you may have heard it already.

'Riley Baugus & the lonesome sisters' and Tim O'Brien are other artists worthy of checking out from the original 'Cold Mountain' comp. Tim O' Brien has a massive back catalogue... Though that leads me to think that some of it may be dire...


E2A - Jay Ungar & Molly Mason... Also very good

 

[twistedAM]

Del McCoury even though he's a prick. saw him a few years ago at the QEH and was much better than Ralph Stanley who I saw a few weeks ago but then again RS is 354 or something.

 

[matt m]

Yeah I went to Ralph Stanley too and I know what you mean. It was more like "The Ralph Stanley Legacy" than a Ralph Stanley gig. But I can't say I was disappointed: I didn't even realize he was still alive until I saw the tickets on sale. And the violinist was phenomenal.

Hey by the way I just saw that Ramblin Jack Elliott is playing the Union Chapel in September...

 

[DaRealSpoon]

So I gots...

Prayers From Hell (Smithsonian) - Nice, but bit too twee in that "O' Brother" style, not quite what I was after but definately

Classic Mountain Songs (Smithsonian) - Brilliant, exactly the style I was after on this particular hunt, that haunting heavily 'brit/trad' influenced sound. More of this type please

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys (1971-73) - Mixed bag, some fits the bill, some not. Again though, very

Jay Ungar & Molly Mason - Their album 'Civil War Classics - Live at Gettysburg College' is very interesting. Little explanations of each song preceeding it, but doesn't sound gritty enough if that makes sense. Still

Just wish i could get some more Tim Eriksen, he is my musical flavour of the Month right now

 

[sojourner]

Twee? Fucking TWEE? Harrumph Last bloody recommendation I make to you...

You are better off getting a whole load of collections to be honest because there is so MUCH out there, that they give you a nice range of people to choose from.

 

[matt m]

Classic Mountain Songs (Smithsonian) - Brilliant, exactly the style I was after on this particular hunt, that haunting heavily 'brit/trad' influenced sound. More of this type please

well in that case I would definitely re-state recommendations for both Frank Proffitt and also Edna Ritchie. Ritchie in particular.

Both of them have great albums on the Folk Legacy record label. I think Folk Legacy's website has a few MP3 samples. There's also some Frank Proffitt on emusic. (In fact emusic has the entire Smithsonian/Folkways catalogue too.)

 

[DaRealSpoon]

Twee? Fucking TWEE? Harrumph Last bloody recommendation I make to you...

You are better off getting a whole load of collections to be honest because there is so MUCH out there, that they give you a nice range of people to choose from.

To be fair I did say that I liked it, just wasn't quite the flavour I was after at the time.

However, your other shout - Classic Bluegrass, is fucking brilliant!

I hope this has saved future recommendations

 

[_pH_]

Try pm'ing Mighty Aphrodite spoony, i think she knows about this sorta stuff iirc

 

[matt m]

Hey, I just booked a banjo lesson with Pete Stanley. He's no relation to Ralph Stanley, of course, but he is one of the two guys responsible for "16 tons of Bluegrass" back in the 60s (the other guy being Wizz Jones of course) and he is a bit of a legend:

http://www.wizzjones.com/disc_16tonsrr.html

He seemed a really genial chap on the phone too. I was really surprised that he was still teaching: apparently his house is a sort of "banjo museum" where he restores and shows off banjos, giving the odd lesson or two.

I'm now a bit embarrassed about having to show a total banjo Jedi the handful of tunes I've sloppily worked out in a half-baked manner...

 

[Flashman]

The Seldom Scene

Actually re-reading the OP it might not be what you're after.

They're amazing though:

 

[Humberto]

I think someone like zahir might dig this.

I'd love to go up there before it's more gone.

Appalachia.

 

[Humberto]

The Appalachia was the English tradition. As far as I know.