Carolina Rain

We had to forego our trip to the Carolinas this year - too many other things on the burner, and something had to give.
I'm in love with the 'mountain sound' - not quite bluegrass, definitely not 'trucks, babes and beer' of Nashville.  When it's just right, it sounds like you are sitting around the general store stove, or hanging out in someone's barn listening to a group that's playing for a meal, maybe some gas money and a place to stay for the night.

There are some incredible musicians working out of North Carolina and other points these days.  This post is about some groups that I think help define a 'sound' you are likely to hear from Asheville, High Point or Chapel Hill.  The common points to me are good melodies, tight vocals and harmonies, and great instrumental breaks.  A great base line helps.  In any case, the sound is as old as the hills, but somehow very fresh.
A really good example of this is the bottle rocket group "The Biscuit Burners".  I never fell in love with their later albums, vastly preferring their very first.  The vocals were pure mountains, and from another era - probably more like another century.  Listen to Mountain Lily:
  "Oh wild red, mountain lily. Set on my bedside tonight. Wild red, mountain lily, remind me of my true lover's hand".
Drop most of the hard consonants "wil' red, moun'n lily, 'min' me of my true lover's han'" and sing it with a beautiful Carolina drawl, and  you've got it.
Unfortunately, I think the group is on permanent "hiatus", but their first album "Fiery Mountain Music" still goes down as one of my all time favorites.  "Mountain Lily", "Once upon a time", "Moonshine Whiskey" and probably my favorite - "Mono County Jail".  It took me months to figure out the lyrics to that one.

Some others that are creeping into my regular playlists now:

Deep Chatham - "Carolina Rain" - Banjo, mando and bass.  And solid vocals.

Mandolin Orange - "One more down" - great vocals, understated mandolin lead.  Too often, mando players think they have to be Sam Bush or Chris Theile.  This is so clean, simple sounding and just fits perfectly.

Playing on the Planet - "Waltz of the Thirteen Moons"  and "Thirteen Moons"  Big plug for my buddy Lisa's band - more varied than some of the groups, but the sound comes straight from the mountains.  Listen to the two songs in order - you can feel the sadness and ghosts in the waltz.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "Alabama Pines" - more country or Phil Phillips, but I still like it a lot

Secret pleasures

I confess... I've got a secret that I try to keep well hidden.  It's not as bad as being a banjo picker, or an accordion player, but I try (badly) to play the mandolin.
Nearly everyone has some kind of instrument they fantasize about playing.  My youngest son is a pretty darn good guitar player (alt/rock style).  I know a lot of really talented musicians, both amateur and professional, and none would *ever* suggest I give up my day job (or even play in public).

I've always had a strong country/Americana/roots music taste, but the song that really set me off on this path to 8 strings and a very narrow fretboard was "Whiskey in the Jar" - the Jerry Garcia/David Grisman version. Grisman's opening bars set the hook.  And so I bought my first mando - and realized pretty soon that it buzzed on some frets, had a few odd voicings and so on.  It was fine for the playing I was doing, but I eventually wanted a nicer axe and eventually got a Weber Absoroka.  Awesome sound, stays in tune, no buzz.
Over the years, I've tried to emulate some of my favorites, but I have also realized that the things that keep me from writing complex software programs are the same things that make music theory rational, and why I found differential equations simple, but basic calculus impossible to comprehend. I tend to think in a linear fashion, can visualize/express big concepts, but struggle with simple chords and abstract patterns.  I can hear a melody line and follow that - but the chords that make it rich, give it rhythm? ...two left feet and a tin ear.

In any case, I've found that I can pick out the mando in lots of songs, whether it's a driving lead, rhythm chop, or background harmony/fill.  And often, it's the simplest lines that resonate.  The little 8 note folded chord in the bridge on Guy Clark's "Dublin Blues" (Dublin Blues, 1995) is just about perfect.
Another one that I love is the pretty simple mando lead (even I can fumble thru it) on Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road".  Not to mention that Steve Earle is one helluva songwriter.

I'm also fascinated by technique and signature sounds from the 'real' players.  Listening to the stylistic differences from Sam Bush, Robbie McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, Chris Thiele, and where they've taken music is simply amazing.  Sam Bush is my favorite -  he puts 'color' into his playing, be it on mando or fiddle.  When I listen to him, there are all sorts of 'dirty' sounds - notes that aren't quite pure, bars with lots of hammers, pulls, grace notes, slides, open strings, split strings, odd chops and volumes.  Sam plays loud.  Listen to the lead on North Country Girl (the very best rendition of this great Dylan tune). A great, hard driving mando lead that *doesn't* sound like Bill Monroe - for that matter none of these guys do. Robbie McCoury seems to play a sharper, cleaner style. More bluegrassy, more one note at a time melody lines in breaks.  An excellent player in his own right.  And Chris Thiele seems to be a jazz man with a strong hillbilly twist.  He can lay down classic folk lines, and then the very next song pull a totally different sound (that I can't quite put my finger on) from that old Loar.

In any case, it's always fun to listen to the masters and dream while you pick a melody line that sounds suspiciously like 'chopsticks'...

Play on, y'all.

~marsh