Across the Blue Ridge #120 - Old-Time Standards, Plus A Visit To The Liberty Showcase Theater

This week we hear a fascinating selection of early old-time string band recordings. And in our latest Blue Ridge Music Trails episode, we visit a revitalized theater in piedmont North Carolina whose host band embodies the evolution of Appalachian traditional music.  Dewey & Leslie Brown and the Carolina Gentlemen have just released a new album, and they celebrated it recently at the Browns' Liberty Showcase Theater, a former movie house which they have awakened from a long slumber with the sounds of classic country, new country and bluegrass.  Dewey Brown, originally from Graham, NC, is a former fiddler with Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys.  His wife, Leslie, is a coal miner's daughter from southwest Virginia who has taken to writing most of the new band's songs. She writes of humor, heartache, love and hard times.  In live performance, the band also performs Clinch Mountain Boys classics and many other bluegrass standards, bringing bluegrass into a new era with a strong connection to its roots and a look ahead to the future.  Banjoist Brandon Henson, guitarist Tim Spence and mandolin player Kendall Gales fill out the group's solid, down-home sound.  Finally, our occasional “Break Time” series returns with the full renditions of some memorable 59-second station breaks.  This time we hear some old-time mountain piano, an ancient-sounding banjo tune, and more.

Playlist

1. Crow Little Rooster
   Loafer's Glory
   Loafer's Glory
    
2. New River Train
   Monroe Brothers
   What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul
    
3. Fire In The Mountain
   Theron Hale & Daughters
   Nashville: The Early String Bands Vol. 2
    
4. Hometown Blues
   Roane County Ramblers
   Complete Recordings 1928-29
    
5. Daddy And Home
   Jimmie Rodgers
   Essential Jimmie Rodgers
    
6. A Dark Road Is A Hard Road To Travel
   Grayson & Whitter
   The Recordings of Grayson & Whitter
    
7. Break 1 - Shady Grove
   Wade Ward
   Wade Ward
    
8. Sally Goodin
   Dewey Brown
   Traditional Fiddle with Dr. Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys
    
9. Darlin' Man Of Mine
   Dewey & Leslie Brown & The Carolina Gentlemen
   Under The Mountain
    
10. Pickin' Grinnin'
    Dewey & Leslie Brown & The Carolina Gentlemen
    Under The Mountain
     
11. Dry Fork Holler
    Dewey & Leslie Brown & The Carolina Gentlemen
    Under The Mountain
     
12. Liberty
    Dewey Brown
    Traditional Fiddle with Dr. Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys
     
13. Break 2 - Peacock Rag
    Arthur Smith
    Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners
     
14. Down Yonder
    Heywood Blevins
    Heywood Blevins
     
15. Twin Sisters
    Sidna Myers
    Clawhammer Banjo Vol. 2
     
16. Elkhorn Ridge
    Oscar Wright
    Clawhammer Banjo Vol. 2
     
17. Bill Brown
    The Canote Brothers
    Sugarbaby
     
18. Sugar Tree Stomp
    Kenny Baker
    Master Fiddler
     
19. Bound To Ride
    Arthur Smith
    Fiddlin' Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners