Record Label: Appalsongs
If you like your bluegrass digitally produced but still paying homage to history, have we got a disc for you! John McCutcheon gets together many of his musician cronies for a centennial celebration of the Mountain City, Tennessee, fiddle contest of 1925 (no word on if or when any devils popped by with golden fiddles). And, in an uncomfortable bit of history, the contest was co-sponsored by the KKK, so we can indeed see how far we’ve gone in 100 years.
Stuart Duncan offers a spirited rendition of the standard “Cumberland Gap” at the outset, with the purposefully mono-and-scratchy early bars of the song transitioning beautifully into 21st century digital. This is followed by Molly Tuttle and Ketch Secor tackling “I’ve Always Been a Rambler.” Tim O’Brien takes a turn with a bouncing fiddle accompaniment on “Old Molly Hare,” followed by some stellar harmonies from Becky Buller on “Rocky Road to Dinah’s House.”
There’s some killer banjo workings on “Tennessee Breakdown” from Bruce Molsky and Stash Wyslouch and from Cathy & Marcy’s Old Time Coalition on the feel-good “Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase.” McCutcheon himself steps up to the mic with his rendition of “Cuckoo” at the album’s midpoint, and I challenge you to keep from smiling as the Kody Norris Show interprets “Billygoat.” “What You Gonna Do With That Baby?” from the Old Crow Medicine Show brings in more good times for all with ears to enjoy, and stay tuned for songs near the album’s end such as O’Brien’s return on “900 Miles.”
All profits from the record sales go to the Johnson County Arts Center in Mountain City. What better cause is there in these strange times?
Notable Tracks: Cumberland Gap, Old Molly Hare, Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase, Billygoat, What You Gonna Do With That Baby?
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