Down to the Wire

By this time next week we'll be in the air returning from our 'Gig of the Year'  known as The Bluff Country Gathering  located in Minnesota.  It is put on by the professional husband and wife duo Bob Bovee and Gail Heil who we have heard of for years.  They were kind enough to invite us to come be a part of their annual 4 day music camp.  We'll be part of a staff of 10 or so musicians from the national old-time music scene  teaching the student participants the details of our particular kind of old-time music.  There will be lots of jamming, song swapping, dancing and even a concert for the general public.  We are very fortunate.  

 

In spite of my Mom's recent passing,  we have been working as diligently as we can to get our 'new' CD printed so we can have them on hand for the event.  As I mentioned before, we are calling it 'Never Grow Old' not 'Ragged But Right'.   We will officially 'release' it there in Minnesota when we open our suit case.  Something so 'hot' of the press from the Mountain Fever studios printing facility will definitely be  needing air by the time we get there. 

Hopefully, we won't have any left to bring back.

  We will be announcing it's release through the New River Old Time (nrot) list serve and on a newly created 'my space' page.  Check out myspace/macandjennytraynham  for sound clips and photos. Thanks to Chris Gowin of WSVS-AM radio in Crewe Virginia for suggesting we do this.  We'll upgrade it as we get time

to make develop it into a site much like this one but with a higher profile to the music world.   So please check it out too.  There'll be info about how to order the new CD if so you are interested or you can find that info further down on this site.  We hope to add more

to this site as well.

Thanks for coming back and let us know who you are and where you are from.

We appreciate all your support. 

We hope  we don't cause any confusion over this but we are going to call our new recording Never  Grow Old  NOT Ragged But Right.  After looking online I found that 'Ragged But Right'  is already in use in the form of at least two old-time/bluegrass groups named that and several recordings titled such. So not to add another Ragged but Right  to an already well used  list we have changed to  something that is perhaps a happier thought.  Never Grow Old  is used by others but not in our genre. We hope  we can help a new Generation discover some cool songs  that happen to be 'old' songs but now are 'new' to them.   The title is taken from the words to one of our tracks titled  In the Land Where We'll Never Grow Old.   It recently occurred to me that if you were to live by the words of the songs Tell it to Me or  Ragged But Right  you might 'never live long enough to grow old' anyway.  We obviously get a kick out of songs that are written from a 1920's derelict's perspective as well as a 2008 unemployed American male. (hear my words to All I Gots Gone). 

 So we   hope you'll check it out when I get some sample tracks for you to hear.  I think we have much more variety than we have had on our recordings in the past.  Other songs not mentioned  in the previous post include the Carter family song  My Old Clinch Mt Home with switching lead and harmony as well as a fast clawhammer banjo version of  their song There's No Hiding Place Down Here.  We also  have our Blue Sky Boys inspired version of Turn Your Radio On' as well as a fun 'mother' song called Mama, I'm Sick which has graphic culinary detail as described by  'her boy who went away'.   We also have Don't Let My Ramblin Bother Your Mind and In the Blue Hills of Virginia  from the repetoire of the Delmore Brothers.  

 Any one who is familiar with the names and musical style of our sources should be able to relate to these versions  as we  really don't change the words or melodies unless we have a good reason.  As you can tell we like many songs for a variety of reasons. Inside the  CD liner  each track will have a description of where we got it and why we like it just like on our other recordings.   Our new CD is an attempt to reflect the great variety of  our repetoire and of early 'country' music.  Professor Kinney Rorrer, our respected historian, friend and banjo picker is providing a paragraph or two to help enhance  one's understanding of us and our music.  I think I have come up with a cool photo for the front cover which has lots of details and a dichotomy as to the subject.  You'll have to see it and to know what I am talking about.  

We just hope we can get this CD out soon.  I am working on the details in between my regular shop work and weekly visits to my Mom's overnight.      Please check back  for the sample songs and if you ever hear one played on the radio or on-line please make a request for that song or another one.  It will help some of our obscure numbers to have a chance to be heard for their sake, first, and yours, second and ours, third.  THANKS 

mac