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Across the Blue Ridge #39 - Young players keeping early bluegrass style alive

Jeremy Stephens
High Fidelity is a bluegrass band of young adults who reach back to the founders of the style for their inspiration.

The evolution of style is normally a multi-layered process.  And where old time and bluegrass music are concerned, you'll find all sorts of approaches to tradition among younger musicians. Many of them bring rock and electric music influences to bear on traditional bluegrass, or vice versa, sometimes changing the music profoundly as they push it into the future. But one band of young adults in love with the sound of original bluegrass from the 1940s and ‘50s wants nothing more than to keep the early styles alive without a great deal of change. High Fidelity lead singer and guitarist Jeremy Stephens talks with Across the Blue Ridge host Paul Brown this week and explains why. We hear plenty of music from the band's album; some songs and tunes from artists inspiring High Fidelity; and other old time and bluegrass musicians on this week's show. Performers include Alice Gerrard,; Giles Lephew;  Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz; Benton Flippen; Charlie Monroe; Ralph Stanley and others.

Episode 39 - Playlist

  1. Bile Them Cabbage Down
    Benton Flippen & the Smokey Valley Boys
    Old Time, New Times
     
  2. Steel Guitar Blues
    The Earls of Leicester
    Rattle & Roar
     
  3. Campin' In Canaan's Land
    Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners
    His Recordings 1938-1956
     
  4. Honey in The Rock
    Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
    Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
     
  5. There'll Come A Time
    Jim Eanes
    WPAQ Voice of the Blue Ridge Mountains
     
  6. Love Will Roll The Clouds Away
    Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz
    Draw Closer
     
  7. Wrong Road Again
    Lynn Morris Band
    You'll Never Be The Sun
     
  8. Break 1-- Bonaparte's Retreat
    Chubby Wise
    An American Original
     
  9. Lost Indian
    High Fidelity
    High Fidelity
     
  10. I Ain't Got Time
    High Fidelity
    High Fidelity
     
  11. I'm Happy To Know
    High Fidelity
    High Fidelity
     
  12. Weep & Cry
    High Fidelity
    High Fidelity
     
  13. I'm Lost, I'll Never Find The Way
    High Fidelity
    High Fidelity
     
  14. Break 2-- Sugar Hill
    Ed Spencer
    Traditional Music from Grayson & Carroll Counties
     
  15. Another Day
    High Fidelity
    High Fidelity
     
  16. Bully Of The Town
    High Fidelity
    High Fidelity
     
  17. Stable Boss
    Giles Lephew
    ATBR field recording
     
  18. Sourwood Mountain
    Hobart Smith
    Southern Journey Volume 2
     
  19. Little Birdie
    Paul Brown
    ATBR studio recording
Former 88.5 WFDD News Director Paul Brown founded Across the Blue Ridge at WFDD in the late 1980s. It was an instant hit, and was broadcast on WFDD for more than a decade until Paul left to become an executive editor, producer, reporter, and world newscaster at NPR in Washington, DC. Now Paul is back in his beloved Blue Ridge region, his journalism and storytelling skills honed better than ever. He's ready to present more music, share discussion with more interesting characters, and be your friend and guide in discovery. Paul is actively involved in today's acoustic music scene, crisscrossing the region and the country as a teacher, performer, and interviewer.

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