May 2011

Greetings from Music City!

Spring has sprung and summer's on the way. There's also about 8 billion, 13 year cicadas in the trees outside my house, and all the males are chirping simultaneously in one deafening, cacophonous mating call. And then, while driving down the road this morning, I observed two Tom turkeys in a pasture making their ridiculous mating display in front of 3 or 4 turkey hens, who, as far as I could tell, could have cared less about these pitiful Romeos. They just ignored them and went on pecking on the ground. Poor guys! I know the feeling.

BREAKING NEWS

My latest release, Harmonica Anthology, is finally available exclusively through our website. Co-produced with Bryan Sutton, this 16 song exploration of the wonderful world of the diatonic harmonica has proven to be one of my most satisfying recording experiences.

Though not entirely an instrumental project (6 of the tracks have vocals), the harmonica is featured prominently on each cut in a variety of settings, from bluegrass to ballads to Celtic to country. There is even an updated version of my Classical Medley, as well as another old crowd pleaser, "Bubba, the Wandering Gypsy." I also had a great time revisiting some of the first songs I ever learned on the harmonica, like "Old Joe Clark" and "Shenandoah." And there are a number of newer songs that I've been introducing to audiences over the years.

The tracking sessions were great fun, with some of my very favorite musicians making up the band: fiddlers Stuart Duncan, Bill Verdier, and Aubrey Haynie; bass specialists Byron House and Ben Isaacs; drummers Kenny Malone and Shannon Forrest; guitarists Ron Block (also on banjo) and Jim Prendergast; penny whistle master John Mock; and of course, my good friend and fellow road dog, Jeff Taylor, on piano, accordion, mandolin, whistle, wooden spoons, and bones. Bryan, besides playing guitar, banjo and mandolin, was a tremendous help in choosing the songs and helping with the arrangements. And having my hero and greatest ever influence on the harmonica, the legendary Charlie McCoy, join me on a couple of numbers was a dream come true.

The project was recorded by Brendan Harkin and Keith Compton, mixed by Bil Vorndick, and mastered by Hank Williams, and the result is aural delight. Really, everybody involved was helping me to create something more than a harmonica project, something musically moving and beautiful, and I hope we accomplished it. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, so you really need to check it out for yourself. Just go to the music page and click on the Harmonica Anthology cover to view album credits and hear song samples. And then, don't fight the feeling – go ahead, buy several copies, for yourself and your friends. They'll love you for it.

As you can see, with the release of HA we've decided to give our website a facelift. We felt the illustrations and package design of Harmonica Anthology (by Paul Soupiset) and the photos of Stephen Torrence were outstanding and would lend themselves well to this new, updated "look." Hope you like it and hope you'll visit often.