Search - Riley Baugus :: Long Steel Rail

Just the thing for traditional strings ... without bling

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 12/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 45:56 -- Who They Are: Riley Baugus is an excellent old-time banjo-player, fiddler and singer. To pay bills in his hometown of Walkertown, North Carolina, his "day jobs" include banjo builder, welder, and blacksmith. He's studied and been inspired by music of both old-timers (Tommy Jarrell, Roscoe Holcomb, Fred Cockerham) and young-timers too.



Little Known Facts: Dirk Powell met Riley more than 20 years ago. Dirk helped produce the movie Cold Mountain, in which Riley provided the singing for the character Pangle. He has toured with the "Great High Mountain" tour with Alison Krauss and Ralph Stanley, and he's been a featured artist on the "Down from the Mountain" tour too.



The Musicians: Riley is joined on a few tunes by the album's producers, Tim O'Brien and Dirk Powell. Tim plays mandolin or guitar on six piece; Dirk plays fiddle or guitar on four numbers. Twelve of the 14 tracks have vocals. Only two songs, "What Are They Doing in Heaven" and "I'm Troubled," have Riley and Tim singing together. Irishman Tony Davoren (tour manager for Riley, Tim and Dirk's tour of Ireland in 2000) picks the bouzouki on "Sail Away Ladies," and friend Joe Thrift fiddles on "Old John Henry."



The Songs: Riley draws heavily from the traditional canon. The only "cover" is Jean Ritchie's "Now is the Cool of the Day," that closes the album with only Riley's solo singing. When he first heard that song, it reminded him of his youth and singing with his grandparents at church in North Carolina. His love for unaccompanied singing is also apparent in a heartfelt rendition of "Wandering Boy" found in the New Baptist Songbook used by many mountain Baptist churches. Faith and forgiveness are themes in "What Are They Doing In Heaven," a song Riley was introduced to by a Brit. Riley's consummate banjo skill becomes most apparent in the traditional "June Apple" and "Boll Weevil," along with "Rove Riley Rove," that calls for a retuning of his 5-string. A nice, haunting drone is achieved by tuning the fiddle's G-string down to E for "George Collins." Riley's notes for that song remark, "It feels good to sing that low note."



Of Special Note: Less than 40 years old, Riley Baugus could be considered a song-carrier who is keeping old-time music vibrant and alive. His musicianship is solid, and his dedication to the preservation of tradition is very apparent on this CD. Some feel that the Sugar Hill label has abandoned its support of traditional old-time music to move into different, innovative, more commercial directions. This well-produced album should dispel any such myths, and it will reinforce the record label's enthusiastic support for more rustic (and rawboned) American music and torchbearers like Baugus.



The Bottomline: For splendid string band sounds without any bling, Baugus' music is just the thing.



Reviewed by: Joe Ross (staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

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