Jimmy! all the good times are past and gone!
I have gotten my share of flak for the past 2 years for adding a drummer to my bluegrass band. I’ve lost gigs over it, and probably some fans but I think we are doing something that gives us a unique style and sound. We’re trying something new.
Some bluegrass fans say to me,”you don’t need a drummer” and I say to them yes, I don’t need a drummer, I want a drummer. I like to remind people that Bill Monroe was an innovator, and a maverick. To honor his memory you should try to be as innovative as he was, take chances. Don’t just sit and listen to his records and copy his style note for note. But as progressive as I think I am, I still prefer old stuff over new stuff. I like old Monroe and Stanley brothers. I like old cars. I like old wood. ( stop snickering). I noticed at the Grammies this year the best rock album winner was Green day, for an album they made 20 years ago. Are there no rock bands putting out anything new that even deserve a nomination? I can’t remember for sure but I believe the other bands in the category were Eric Clapton and Santana. Tribute bands have bigger followings and get better gigs than original bands. Kids on American Idle that are 16 are singing songs that were hits 30 years ago. I personally don’t buy that much new music so I am part of my own problem. this may go back to an earlier blog I did about autotune. I find the old recordings I like tend to have great performances, and less recording quality. I don’t think you can duplicate it by recording with a bunch of old mikes and recording your stuff live to tape or things like that. it has to come down to performance and the digital age has helped less talented people sound better. I seem to be repeating sort of what I said in the autotune blog but somehow we need to start helping musicians who are out there creating new stuff to be heard over the din of freebird and stairway to heaven. I still like the way old wood feels in my hand though. ( stop it!)
This weeks song is an older version of “Carrol County Blues” Which I recorded on my Hobo’s lullaby cd. I did it on a four track and I think the performance turned out well( by accident). I am doing some Travis picking on the guitar and half way through I recorded myself rubbing a dirty sock on the head of my banjo to get a snare with brushes sound. I found the dirty sock had better tone than a clean one. You can download it for free on my website. Grab your old wood and dance around the room! oh yes! for those who want them, the lyrics to castlneck are on the bottom of the page.
cw
Castleneck
the furnace of hell glows with an erie light
stoked by the hearts that are black as coal of men who hated life
the demons are laughing, dancing in a row
the fire glows brighter as the evil begins to grow
there’s an angel on the sidewalk sticky sweet blood in her hair
her last breath was taken away by a man who did’nt care
satan sits on his left shoulder with fire on his breath
he whispers to him softly, put your evil soul to rest
chorus
when the grim reaper cut him down
and drove him to the sky
there was no one else around
no one said goodbye
they were just glad to see him die
his daddy was the judge, his momma was the state
they put clothes on his back, they put food on his plate
they taught him about the law, they told him he could’nt escape
when they put him in a prison cell they taught him how to hate
there’s a castle on his neck, hell fire in his eye’s
gun in his hand, and his girlfriend in his sights
she loved him too much to put him away
he loved her so much, that he put her in the grave
chorus
solo
chorus
end
I used to be a Bluegrass Nazi, one of those holier than thou pickers that only listened and only played (as a hobby) 3 chord traditional bluegrass. I laughed at any progressive bands and refused to listen, but then I started hearing more out there than just Mc Bluegrass. The sound was different , more creative but still had BG roots. I still love traditional Bluegrass, but I also am really into alt. Bluegrass. As a convert I can say I agree, I was bored with new bands putting out an old sound that older bands do best , and I love the change up of newer bands, yours included.
Comment by Jimmy's Ghost — April 27, 2010 @ 2:44 am |
I’m sat here in the morning on a Thursday, Vodka and Grapefruit Juice in hand, trying to figure out what to say in response to this, my favourite blog. I guess that in most instances, “Old Is Better” and for most people, it’s when they get “Old”. Stodginess is part and parcel, the reward for putting up with life. So I say, live it up and complain about anything and everything you deem worthy of the precious grains of sand remaining in your personal hour-glass. Am I the steward of my libation or is this innocuous vessel, here illuminated by condensation, the Captain of my ship? One thing I can say is that your use of the word “IDLE” instead of Idol is well placed…tomorrow’s scabby scrape of genius…get out the Mercurochrome…but all of this is invisible. There are no more Time-Capsules. No dust left on The Internet when all is said and done. What’s left to be unearthed when any hope of tangibility is intangible? Can I steal the concept of American Idle? Probably not. It’s a daily process that’s decidedly carved in plastic and firmly in place. How long can we stare in the mirror and see nothing? Forever. How long is forever? Not long. Okay, keep the drummer….and yes you’ve always been part of your own problem. If you weren’t you just might have zero sense of self. Where’s Banjo Sam when we need him most?
Comment by Guitar Safari — May 6, 2010 @ 3:26 pm |
wow! a piece of poetry! damn son your in the wrong buisness.
the american idle thing was a typo. I’m not that smart. so go ahead and use it. it is pretty funny!
Comment by Cliff Wagner — May 6, 2010 @ 3:42 pm |
chorus
solo
chorus
end
(Lyrics encased in structure….brilliant!)
Comment by Guitar Safari — May 6, 2010 @ 4:15 pm |
I only have one thing to say, and it’s been the same since i started playing – FUCK the purists.
Or Trads, as I like to call them. of course, there’s not a damn thing wrong with being traditional, but to hold it over someone’s head is kinda like trying to preach to someone about something, when they really don’t give a shite.
“Excuse me sir, but could I tell you what Jesus, oops, I mean, traditional music has meant in my life…?”
Comment by bruce ray white — May 8, 2010 @ 6:05 am |
Well here I am Guitar Safari – 3 months late I’m afraid. However…
Me and Cliff talked of these matters – and more besides -long into the night and early morning in the Magic Pergula of Virginia in May. It is a bit of a bind and I find myself conflicted. I am a traditionalist, though not necessarily a ‘purist’. I don’t think the two always go hand in hand. I think there was and is a lot of milage in traditional bluegrass. Conversely there are ‘progressive’ bands that do only covers of progressive bluegrass. I’m not a fan but bands like Blue Highway and LRB have certainly taken traditional bluegrass to a different place over the last decade or so. And it’s bland, homogenised and too polite if you ask me. But hey…the kids love it. I want to hear something that’s as spooky and strange as the old stuff I first listened to. This doesn’t mean it has to be the same kind of strange.
The argument about Bill being a maverick and an innovator is fair enough if you’ve done your homework (like you have) but I’ve known people recently (mentioning no names, mind) who’ve said the same thing and own 1 Bill Monroe CD (greatest hits), 1 Ralph Stanley CD (‘Up, Down, Round and Fucking Round the Mountain’) and have never listened to Jimmy, Dave Evans, Larry Sparks etc…AND have formed a negative opinion of traditional bluegrass.
I love the first JD Crowe and New South LP and they were definitely doing something new. But every one of them were schooled in Bill’s, Ralph’s, Jimmy’s music. And it all had that rhythmic click. And, even though they’re all virtuosos the main sound was the band and the song. Chris Thile fret wanking doesn’t have any of this.
I have had personal experience of progressive bands wanting to push the envelope – drums, fuzz boxes, volume pedals. “I’d like to piss people off a bit” was something I heard a number of times. But, pissing off a bluegrass crowd is like taking candy from a baby. In the big, bad world a drum set isn’t inherently scary and neither is a fuzz box. Take ‘em to Beanblossom and you’re suddenly The Stooges circa 1969. Bluegrass has never been ‘cutting edge’ in the true sense. Bill was definitely pushing the limits but he was refering to something ‘ancient’ and most of his songs deal with the past and nostalgia. When I first heard 3 finger banjo I assumed it was a centuries old way of playing. But that was Bill’s genius (or Earl’s).
I think if people want to be modernists then be Phillip Glass or something. Why play a mandolin or a banjo? The music-school elitism of a lot of progressive players reminds me of 70s progressive rock attitudes pre-punk. And we all know what happened to that. Someone with 3 chords who means it is infinitely more interesting than someone with a bunch of pyrotechnics with nothing else to say other than ‘me, me, me.’
The purists may be boring but they DO have a sense of responsibility. My experience of Nashville is that the movers and shakers want to make bluegrass palatable for the Starbucks crowd at any cost and fuck what it leads to. Part of what attracted me to the music was it was aurally out there, raw and personally a bit dangerous. Merlefest as the Lourdes of progressive festivals is sanitised beyond belief. There’s more realness at Disneyland.
Anyway…rant over. You know I think you’re coming from the best of both worlds Cliff. More power to you.
Comment by Banjo Sam — July 30, 2010 @ 3:25 am |
hey man i dont care that you added a drummer your band sounds great and your version of castleneck is my favorite song keep on doin wat u like fuck the critics who cant even pick a note!
Comment by jake haenlein — August 25, 2010 @ 3:14 am |