Appalachian music reviews

Smith plays fiddle, banjo, guitar, and piano. He sings. His foot stomping and dancing while he plays is like another instrument. How did I survive as a fan of blues and old time music without this CD before it came out. What we get is an entire span of music that must have been played when he was young and the music he played was the music everyone wanted to hear. His banjo playing is in a class of its own which may at first be frightening to other banjoists who can't equal the speed, the power, and the musicality he provides. I love his guitar playing which is swingier than most old time guitar playing. His slide blues are wonderful. Even his piano music makes me want to dance. His voice is pretty good too. You get a real sense of this man, his strength, his longing, and the mighty joy that music brings

Having all of this on one CD creates an environment, a backgroup that transmits the traditional rhythm and techniques to the present. The blues and the banjo songs, the fiddle tunes and the sacred songs, all blend together.

My first introduction to Al Petteway and Amy White was the "acoustic Journey" album that I received by donating to National Public Radio. As an acoustic guitarist myself, I really appreciated the great talent and wonderful arrangements. Curious, I checked Amazon.com for more of their music and was attracted to "Land of the Sky" which focused more on southern Appalachian folk music, albeit in a more stylized form. Still, I found it very soothing and at times, emotional, especially the intrumental version of "Shady Grove". I also bought the "Holiday Sampler" because it's a wonderful alternative to the traditional music-box albums I normally play at Christmas time. I'd give it three thumbs up if I had them!

When the Scots, Irish, Welch, and English settlers populated the mountain valleys, hills, and mountains of Southern Appalachia, they brought their music with them as an integral part of their culture. In Land Of The Sky, Al Petteway and Amy White deftly collaborate to memorably perform within that Southern Appalachian music tradition and heritage for the benefit and delight of a new generation of listeners with recorded performances that include both original and traditional compositions of mountain melodies played on acoustic guitars, the mandolin, the Celtic harp, the banjo, fiddles, the Irish Bouzouki, Fretless Bass, percussion, and vocals. Entertaining listening with a total running time of 53:06, the fourteen pieces comprising this outstanding and recommended CD for personal, music department, and community library New Age & Contemporary Folk Music collections include Black Bear's Picnic (4:16); Shady Grove (4:39); Across the Blue Mountains (4:11); Bobcat in the Brambles (3:03); Sunny Day (3:08); Pretty Polly (4:00); A Walk in the Woods (4:20); Western Highlands (3:30); Wayfaring Stranger (4:33); The Cuckoo (2:42); Swannanoa (4:44); Ryan's Rambles (4:05); Trillium Waltz (2:33); and the title piece, Land of the Sky (2:58).

While I do not consider myself an expert in acoustic guitar music, I have over the years collected and listened to a lot of such music. Like most everyone, I know what I like, and I like the music of Al Petteway and Amy White a great deal.

This CD may be their best. It is musically rich and as all are of their CDs, it is innovative. A good example of that is their version of the standard folk song, "Pretty Polly".

There is not a bad cut on the CD, and like other great artists, the CD's theme of an Appalachian journey not only holds together, it works quite well. I have listened to this CD over and over and find something new every time. This is one to buy and keep.

Since my youth I have had an ear for roots music, whether I was conscious of that fact or not. The original of that interest first centered on the blues, then early rock and roll and later, with the folk revival of the early 1960's, folk music. I have often wondered about the source of this interest. I am, and have always been a city boy, and an Eastern city boy at that. Nevertheless, over time I have come to appreciate many more forms of roots music than in my youth. The subject of the following review is an example.

With the recent Johnny Cash movie biography Walk the Line the Carter Family has again come into greater public prominence. And rightly so. The trio performing simple country (or better rural) music mainly composed by A.P. Carter evokes, if not a simpler time, then in any case, a simpler type of music. While I cannot listen endlessly to such music at one sitting about one-half a cd at a time works. Why not the whole cd? There is a very similar melody and guitar line to their work in most songs. The value of each song sometimes gets lost in the basic repetition.

A note on subject matter- The bulk of the songs concern home, hearth lovesickness and religion as might be expected from mountain people. And that is okay. This reviewer, although not a religious man, can appreciate the simple, fundamentalist but very personal religion evoked here. Not to romanticize the simple rural folk of the past but I do not believe that the religious sentiments expressed here are the same as those of religious fundamentalists today who want to ram a theocracy down our throats in the United States today.