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

by Paul Brown

Dewey and Leslie Brown & The Carolina Gentlemen at the Browns’ revived Liberty Showcase Theater in Liberty, NC. The band performs a combination of new songs and bluegrass and old-time standards, playing an active role in the evolution of tradition. Our Blue Ridge Music Trails episode features an interview with Dewey and Leslie. L-R Dewey Brown, Leslie Brown, Tim Spence, Brandon Henson, Kendall Gales. Paul Brown

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

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