Larry Johnson - Midnight Hour Blues

Biograph has issued an exemplary country blues disc. Still active in New York today, Larry Johnson's musical star shined brightly in the sixties and early seventies, but as the magnificent 1971 recordings on Biograph's "Midnight Hour Blues" show, it is criminal that his talent has languished in obscurity while less talented artists are acclaimed as acoustic legends. A student of the Reverend Gary Davis, Johnson displays plenty of the facile Piedmont style on this release while John Hammond provides some terrific accompaniments on slide guitar or harmonica which thoroughly compliment Johnson on the sprite opening "Blood Red River," the morose "One Room Country Shack," and the other blues heard here. Johnson's vocals are as delicious as the striking instrumental work. Hammond joins Johnson on a vocal on the closing "Tell Me Mama." Simply a terrific release that is welcome back on the scene. 

Today would have been Larry Johnson's 83rd Birthday. He was born on May 15, 1938, in Wrightsville, Georgia.  I recently came across this brief review I did in 1995 of a reissue of Larry's Biograph album, "Midnight Hour Blues." It was originally issued as "Country Blues." I likely received my CD from a record distributor. Here is a video of Larry performing the great Leroy Carr song, "Midnight Hour Blues."

Looking back at John Hammond on Vanguard and Pointblank

John Hammond

Verve & Pointblank Releases

Verve / Pointblank

Jerry Wexler writes in the notes to John Hammond’s new Pointblank release Trouble No More that Hammond is the greatest roots blues practitioner of this generation and Hammond sings “the deep and natural blues like some blind man on the corner in Opelousas, Louisiana.” Despite Jerry Wexler’s renown as a producer and recording industry mogul, the latter statement will provoke disagreement among some who find Hammond often sounding as if he is trying to sound like a street singer. Regardless of Hammond’s dedication to the blues, his vocals are inconsistent, and some will find him on occasion, irritably contrived, particularly when he tries to sing tough like Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters. Admittedly he can be engaging when singing in an unforced manner. 

Vanguard has compiled a useful cross-section of his work for that label that dates from the sixties forward, You Can’t Judge a Book By the Cover. After an awful vocal on the title track, this reviewer almost didn’t listen to the rest. While his choked vocal also sounds forced on Muddy Waters’ I Can’t Be Satisfied, he is convincing on Leroy Carr’s Midnight Hour Blues, which also sports solid guitar by the late Billy Butler, and the still active Jimmy Spruill (active when review was originally written and published). While some will find the presence of Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman and the Hawks (better known as The Band), of interest, there is no electric guitar playing here that tops Butler and Spruill. Those who like Hammond’s vocals will have no reservations about this, and for others, like this reviewer, this does provide a useful sampling and there are a number of engaging performances here. 

Hammond’s backing on Trouble No More. on Pointblank includes Little Charlie and the Nitecats on several songs, slide guitarist Roy Rogers on others, and Charles Brown’s piano and Danny Caron’s guitar are on renditions of Brown’s Trouble Blues and Fool’s Paradise. Hammond’s singing is more relaxed here, although occasionally coming across as mannered. He continues to exhibit an eclectic repertoire and his rendition of That Nasty Swing has a bit of Jimmy Rodgers flavor, although Hammond doesn’t attempt a blue yodel. The album’s highpoint is a nice, wistful version of Blind Willie McTell’s Love Changin’ Blues. Trouble Blues is a credible remake, of a Charles Brown classic but Hammond is overshadowed by Brown’s kinetic accompaniment. However, Hammond has produced an engaging and likable release for the Pointblank. 

I likely received review copies from the record companies. This review originally appeared in the April 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 190). One may have to purchase theses used or as downloads, although their are other collections of Hammond's Vanguard recordings available. Here is Hammond doing Fool's Paradise from the Trouble No More CD.

Things About Comin’ My Way: A Tribute to the Music of The Mississippi Sheiks

One of the most celebrated African-American recording acts of the thirties was The Mississippi Sheiks. Comprised mostly of members of the Chatmon family (Lonnie, Sam, Bo and others) along with Walter Vinson, they had a very wide repertoire and considerable influence on both black and white performers. They introduced the standard “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” (which has been performed by Howlin’ Wolf, the Grateful Dead, Western Swing and bluegrass bands), “Stop and Listen Blues,” and several songs like “Yodeling, Fiddling Blues,” suggestive of Jimmie Rodgers, the Father of Country Music. The Sheiks recorded 70 odd recordings ranging from blues, waltzes, topical songs and hokum. Some members of the Chatmon family recorded outside the Sheiks extensively. Bo Chatmon was better known as Bo Carter and had a remarkable recording career that included more than a few risqué lyrics while Sam Chatmon had a productive recording career after the sixties blues revival before he passed in 1983. The Sheiks music has been in recent years been revived by artists as diverse as Alvin Youngblood Hart and Bob Dylan.

“Things About Comin’ My Way: A Tribute to the Music of The Mississippi Sheiks” (Black Hen Music) came as a surprise when it arrived. Put together by Steve Dawson, much of this was recorded over two days in Seattle and/or Vancouver, but some was recorded in other locations. They brought together a variety of performers, some who perform closer to the Sheiks’ recordings such as the lively North Mississippi Allstars rendition of “Its Backfirin’ Now,” John Hammond’s “Stop and Listen,” and the Carolina Chocolate Drops rendition of “Sittin’ on Top of the World.” Others are not as tied to the originals. Vancouver singer-songwriter Ndidi Onukwilu, supported by the project’s house band, on the title track which employs the same melody as “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” but has a different flavor due to some blues-rock accents in the accompaniment. Bruce Cockburn’s vocal on “Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Round,” vocally evokes the late Piedmont master, John Jackson, although the performance has a bit of country flavor. I do find it hard to agree with the sometimes pretentious liner notes that this is an essential track, no matter how much of a Canadian treasure Cockburn is.

Pretentious is how I might describe the artsy Van Dyke Parks arrangement used on Oh Susanna’s rendition of “Bootlegger’s Blues.” This is a shame as she does a real nice job on the vocal. Danny Barnes (an Austin legend who I never heard of before), is too country sounding for “Too Long,” and probably should have been given the more country flavored “Jailbird Love Song,” to record. Guitarist Bill Frisell is heard on a duet with trombone of the instrumental “That’s It,” while on “Please Baby,” Madeleine Peyroux sounds like a Billie Holiday wannabe.

Producer Dawson himself sings in a neutral manner on a blues-rock adaptation of “Lonely One In This Town.” The stronger tracks include Geoff Muldaur & the Texas Sheiks (with Stephen Bruton on guitar and Johnny Nicholas on mandolin) on “The World Is Going Wrong,” with a highlight being his a robust vocal and a great fiddle solo from Suzi Thompson. Del Ray, who was mentored by Sam Chatmon does a lovely “We Are Both Feeling Good Right Now,” supported by her adept guitar and a pair of clarinets. Bob Brozman may be a marvelous guitarist but on “Somebody’s Gotta Help You,” shows he is not a very good singer

As suggested, this is a mixed bag. There is nothing poor here, and the tracks make for enjoyable listening with several tracks being exceptional. I do agree with the decision to not simply give us an album of straight covers, but I do find that the relatively few performers of color here odd. I have no idea how performers were selected, and who had been asked and unavailable. But one cannot say that such contemporary African-American performers such as Corey Harris, Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis, or Taj Mahal would not have made significant contributions here.

Upon getting word of a new Alligator Records Blind Willie Johnson tribute album coming in 2016, I noted the absence in this forthcoming release of performers of color other than the Five Blind Boys. It struck me as yet another case of so-called Americana tributes of Black American Music having myopic understanding of the full range of music out their today. It reminded me of tributes to the Missiisppi Sheiks that Steve Dawson did in 2009 and 2010. This review of “Things About Comin’ My Way: A Tribute to the Music of The Mississippi Sheiks”originally appeared in the Oct. 15 - Dec. 1, 2009 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 321) and expressed my concerns in the last paragraph. I also reviewed, and posted the review on the blog, the subsequent “The Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Concert.” I likely received the review copy from a publicist.  

Jim Byrnes St. Louis Times

While living in Canada for a number of years, Jim Byrnes grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and his new CD, St. Louis Times (Black Hen) is a salute to the blues music and artists who influenced him during his youth and adulthood. Subtitled Songs From and About St. Louis, this recording provides his take on music from such St. Louis icons as Chuck Berry, Albert King, Little Milton and “Stump” Johnson, as well as the likes of Lonnie Johnson and W.C. Handy, and several originals by Byrnes and producer Steve Dawson. In addition to the vocals and guitar of Byrnes and Dawson’s guitar, Dawson brought together a rhythm section of Daryl Havers on keyboards, Jeremy Holmes on bass and Geoff Hicks on drums. John Hammond ( a long-time friend of Byrnes) guests on four selections adding harmonica to three selections, slide guitar to one and shares a vocal on one, while Colleen Rennison shares the vocal on one selection.

The material includes songs associated with Albert King, Little Milton, Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure, Chuck Berry, W.C. Handy, Peetie Wheatstraw and Lonnie Johnson along with four Byrnes / Dawson originals with the performances ranging from pretty straight renditions of Albert King’s I Get Evil and the Bass/McClure You’ll Miss Me (When I’m Gone), to the traditional jazz inflections added to James ‘Stump’ Johnson’s The Duck Yas Yas Yas, St. Louis Blues, and Wheatstraw’s recording of Cake Alley. Dawson’s use of pedal steel adds an usual flavor to the cover of Chuck Berry’s Nadine, while Little Milton’s That Will Never Do is rendered in a somewhat austere stripped down setting.

Byrnes’ grainy vocals appeal with their sincerity and natural, thick molasses delivery helped by the understated backing from the rhythm section. He delivers the lyrics in an unforced matter, often with a bit of humor as on his duet with Hammond on The Duck Yas Yas Yas, with some nice clarinet from Jim Hoke and trumpet by Steve Herrman. He displays the most urgency on the duet with Rennison on You’ll Miss Me (When I’m Gone), while indicating a touch of Peetie Wheatstraw’s on Cake Alley where he employs the Devil’s Son-In-Law’s “oh well well” vocal embellishment. Tom Colclough plays the fine the clarinet on Handy’s famous St. Louis Blues, along with Dawson’s fine National slide guitar to support Byrnes of-the-beat vocal. The originals are solid tunes with The Journey Home being exceptional with recollections of the Mississippi, listening to the Dodgers and the Cardinals over the radio, and the Illinois Central trains with Dawson’s telling guitar responses to the latter.

An affectionate salute to his home town, Jim Byrnes St. Louis Times delights with his heartfelt, and fresh, renditions of some vintage blues and originals The varied settings add to the listening enjoyment of the amiable performances on this engaging CD.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here Jim Byrnes in is recent performance doing St. Louis Blues.

Phil Wiggins and the Chesapeake Sheiks

2013-0607 Tinner Hill Blues Festival-6070133, a photo by NoVARon on Flickr.

It was a wonderful evening at the State Theatre in Falls Church Virginia last night as the Tinner Hill Blues Festival kicked off with a terrific evening of acoustic blues headlined by John Hammond.

Opening was Phil Wiggins and the Chesapeake Sheiks which surprised and delighted with a performance that included some gypsy jazz inflected swing as well as blues. What a terrific set of material that included Duke Ellington's "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me," the standard "Rosetta" that is best associated with Earl 'Fatha' Hines and "Roberta," which was one of the great tunes that Phil did with John Cephas.

The excellent band included Matt Kelley on guitar, Marcus Moore on violin, Eric Shranek on bass and Ian Walters on piano. It was a refreshing set and when I asked about whether this showed a bit of the late Howard Armstrong's influence after the show, Phil mentioned he had done some of this material with the late West Virginia performer, Nat Reese.

Roy Bookbinder was marvelous with his wry humor, wonderful guitar playing (one of Reverend Gary Davis' students) and John Hammond conjured up Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and Big Joe Williams in a fabulous set.

I should mention that I am a volunteer with this wonderful festival that continues today at Cherry Hill Park.

More on the Tinner Hill Blues Festival

The Tinner Hill Blues Festival promises to be an amazing weekend of blues music, June 7-9. I previously have detailed the Friday, June 7 State Theater concert headlined by John Hammond along with Phil Wiggins and the Chesapeake Sheiks as well as the Saturday June 8 Cherry Hill Park Festival line-up headlined by Sista Monica and Big Bill Morganfield. These are not the only events taking place at this year’s Festival.

The Festival opens on Friday night, and prior to the start of the State Theatre show, the Festival starts as part of the First Friday of Falls Church, a monthly event held in downtown Falls Church. There will be free music performances from 6 to 8 PM including JackWagon Band at Art and Frame of Falls Church, 111 Park Ave  Falls Church; Blue Pop & the Plucker at Stifel & Capra, 260 W. Broad Street; and Lu & the Blues Crew at Famous Dave's BBQ at 370 W. Broad Street. Also taking place at Art and Frame will be “Call it the Blues,” an art exhibition focusing on the meaning of the "blues" from an artist’s perspective. Meet the Artist reception at Art and Frame of Falls Church.  The show is being organized by artist and collector, Irena Chambers.

Saturday morning there will be Early Morning Blues, local musical blues performances at the weekly Fall Church Farmer’s Market at the Falls Church City Hall Parking Lot. 

Eleanor Ellis's film, Blues House Party is being
shownat this year's Tinner Hill Blues Festival.
She also is participating in a panel Virginia Blues Voices:
Performing, Preserving and Innovating
and performing as part of the Acoustic Blues Women.
Photo © Ron Weinstock

Also that morning at the Mary Riley Styles Library, 121 N Virginia Avenue, will be Sing Books with Emily - Singing story time with Singable Picture Books. Hear and Sing “Ruby Sings the Blues” “I Love a Blue Frog” and more! Emily combines music and illustrated songs in a fun, educational, interactive, and engaging performance for children, caregivers, educators, and anyone with a love of song. Additionally there will be an exhibit Old Dominion Songsters: Traditional Blues in Virginia. This is a panel exhibit on Piedmont blues and Virginia songsters, on loan from the Library of Virginia.

At the Falls Church Community Center, 223 Little Falls Street, there will be screening of three films where one can also meet the film makers: 

John Jackson: a Blues Treasure, Award winning documentary on the life and music of John Jackson. Meet the award winning producer and film maker Beverly Lindsay Johnson.

John ‘Uncle Homer’ Walker, The Banjo Man the last known African American Claw hammer style Banjo Player (1898-1980) presented by Tanya Gaskins-Hardy, Local genealogist & historian.

Blues House Party  Music, Dance and Stories by Masters of the Piedmont Blues, this 57-minute film provides a rare front-row seat to a private house party that is as down home and authentic as they come. Meet producer Eleanor Ellis who is also performing at the Festival.

Taking place at 10:00 am - 11:30 am in front of Cherry Hill Farm House is a panel discussion - Virginia’s Blues Voices: Performing, Preserving and Innovating, a intergenerational panel discussion with blues legends, music lovers and cutting edge next generation blues musicians.  The panel discussion will explore, document and share the history and evolution, present and future of blues music with a focus on Virginia Piedmont Blues styles. Participants in this panel include (but not limited to): Gregg Kimball; Eleanor Ellis; John Hammond; Roy Book Binder; Phil Wiggins; Rick Franklin; and David Cole.

Also, over the weekend there will be additional live musical performances at other businesses including Famous Dave’s BBQ, Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, Dogwood Tavern, Argia’s, Stifel & Capra, Creative Cauldron, Red, White & Blue, JVs, Wine and Gourmet shop plus more!

The Archie Edwards Jambassadors will be at the Mad Fox Brewing Company. Photo © Ron Weinstock

Sunday morning the feestival concludes with the Blues Brunch at the Mad Fox Brewing Company. The Blues Brunch will feature the Jambassadors of the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation. Mad Fox Brewing Company is at 444 West Broad Street, Suite I.

Accommodations Information

For those coming from outside the area and wishing to stay in falls Church over night, there are several economical convenient hotels and inns.

Marriott TownPlace Suites is within walking distance of all activities. It is located at 205 Hillwood Ave. 703-237-6172 

Inns of Virginia, within walking distance of all activities is at 421 W Braod Street. (703) 533-1100.

Marriott Fairview Inn, full service Marriott is a 5 minute drive from the activities. It is located at 3111 Fairview Park Drive. 703-849-9400.

The Festival site is several blocks from the East Falls Church Metro Station and there are Metro buses that can take you to the Festival site if one does not wish to walk.  The festival’s official web page is at http://tinnerhill.org/blues-festival. 

John Hammond Headlines Tinner Hill Blues Festival Opening Night Concert

The Tinner Hill Blues Festival returns to the City of Falls Church, Virginia the weekend of Friday July 7 through Sunday July 9. Produced by the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, this is the 20th year the Foundation has produced a music festival and the seventh year the Festival has been devoted to the blues. The Blues Festival is held in honor of the memory of Piedmont Blues Legend John Jackson who was a friend of the Foundation and performed at a number of events produced by the Foundation. Jackson's last performance was in fact at a New Year's Eve concert produced by the Foundation as part of Falls Church's annual New Year's Eve Celebration.


The 2013 Festival will feature a mix of free and ticketed events. This is the first of several blog entries that I will be posting to promote this year's Tinner Hill Blues Festival which looks like it arguably has the best line-up of 2013 Washington DC area blues festivals devoted to real deal blues as opposed to blues festivals that include a heavy dose of blues-rock and rock headliners.  It opens eight weeks from when this is posted with the major event on Friday night being a concert at the State Theatre in Falls Church. This Friday night concert will feature John Hammond Jr, and also Phil Wiggins and the Chesapeake Sheiks. Roy Bookbinder, who will be performing on Saturday afternoon, is a special guest and will be joining his friend John Hammond this evening.

John Hammond has performing primarily acoustic blues for nearly five decades. When I first saw him perform in the late sixties, I was in college. Hammond has been playing mostly in the Delta tradition  and has recorded numerous acclaimed albums. While the recordings of Robert Johnson have been a definite source of inspiration, he was also directly influenced by such Mississippi blues masters as Big Joe Williams and John Lee Hooker for his driving rhythmic approach to his music. The above video of John Hammond was from the 2006 Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise which I was on.

Phil Wiggins, a Washington native, is one of the true masters of blues harmonica and is known for his long partnership with the late John Cephas with whom he made numerous recordings and toured the world. Since John Cephas' passing, Phil continues to play and teach. He currently works with Corey Harris or Rick Franklin. At the Tinner Hill festival he will be bringing the Chesapeake Sheiks, some of his local friends that he frequently plays with. It will be a treat to have Phil in the spotlight as he is certainly one of our local treasures. Above is a video of Phil with Rick Franklin.

Roy Bookbinder is among a number of disciples of the legendary Reverend Gary Davis and a brilliant guitarist in that tradition as well as storyteller and master of finger-style guitar with a broad repertoire that includes songs of past blues masters like Little Hat Jones, Blind Blake, Pink Anderson as well as Reverend Gary Davis. I first saw Roy in the seventies when he played to a small audience at the University of Buffalo and one of the songs he performed was Delia, which I recall he said was one of the songs he learned from Rev. Davis. The above video is of him performing that song.

It should a fantastic concert of acoustic blues and get folks ready for a terrific weekend.  I will update this post when tickets are available for purchase, but one can get more information by going to www.tinnerhill.org.

I should point out that I am on the Festival Committee, but I joined the Committee after the line-up was announced. I repeat that I would be hard-pressed to name a Washington DC area festival whose line-up was as strong as this one.

John Long's Deep Rooted Blues

Somehow it took John Long decades or so before this old schooled country blues musician made it to a recorded album. Long, a St. Louis native has earned the praise of the late Muddy Waters and John Hammond. Mentored by the likes of Big Joe Williams and harmonica player Doc Terry (later Homesick James became a surrogate blues father), he developed his music and appeared on odd, rare compilations as well as making demos, one of which led to Delta Groove issuing a long overdue disc, Lost & Found.

It is comprised of originals that sound like remakes of classic country blues recordings from the pre-World War 11 era. He sounds as if he has channeled Son House, Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Lonnie Johnson and others. As he sings “I’m packing up, leaving on the bus outside” on the opening Hokum Town one hears echoes of House, Johnson and Big Joe in his charged, rhythmically driving performance, while Pressure Cooker (‘Bout to Blow) is a crisply delivered tune with rack harp added on a song which evokes the Key to the Highway melody.

On Hell Cat, Al Blake plays piano as Long handles the guitar and vocal for a performance that evokes the classic guitar-piano duets of Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell or Big Bill Broonzy and Georgia Tom Dorsey. Blues and Boogie Woogie is another wonderful performance with crisp slide playing as he tells folks to cut the rug and have a real good time with a nice falsetto yodel in the manner of Tommy Johnson. Another performance with a delta feel is Foot Stompin’ Daddy anchored with an emphatically played boogie bass line and downhome rack harp. Al Blake joins Long again on Stranglevine, another medley that alludes to Key to the Highway with more harp from Long and solid piano break from Blake, on a lyric about dealing with vines that are ruining his garden. It is followed by a rocking guitar-harp instrumental, Johnny’s Jump.

I could continue track-by-track, but what is important is that all of the performances are delivered with skill and authority and Long comes off as a real contemporary master of acoustic blues. After listening to the solo and piano-guitar renditions of Leavin’ St. Louis, which close this superb disc, one is left wanting far more.

This review originally appeared in the May 2006 DC Blues Calendar, newsletter of the DC Blues Society. I likely received a review copy from the record label or a publicist.

Mississippi Sheiks Tribute Concert Salutes Pioneering Band

Following the very successful CD “Things About Comin’ My Way: A Tribute to the Music of The Mississippi Sheiks”, Black Hen Music has just released a DVD, “The MIssissippi Sheiks Tribute Concert,” featuring some of the performers who appeared on the CD along with some who didn’t. Some performers from the album like the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Madeline Peyroux, North Mississippi All Stars, Kelly Joe Phelps and Bruce Cockburn. Some performers like John Hammond and the Vancouver gospel trio, The Sojourners, perform different songs than on the original CD and Van Dyke Parks who arranged O Susanna’s performance on the CD is a performer here.


The concert was filmed over two nights at the Capillano Performing Arts Theatre in North Vancouver, British Columbia resulting in this nearly 80 minute DVD. Steve Dawson put together a house band for all the performances here which is in contrast to the original recording which used a house band for some sessions but not for all and one result is a sameness in feeling among some of the selections. The opening of the video is Dawson discussing how this happened followed by an opening scene when some autobiographical comments by the late Sam Chatmon are read to a string band accompaniment of “Sitting on Top of the World.” Performances vary by artist opening with O Susanna’s rendition of “Things About Comin’ My Way,” which did not sound completely convincing to these ears, and the very strong “Who’s Been Here,” by dave Alvin and Christy McWilson.” The Sojourners perform “Sweet Maggie,” a somewhat unsatisfactory rendition of a song similar to “Corrine Corrina.” Geoff Muldaur on banjo leads the band on a rendition of “Poor Boy,” that strikes me as owing as much to Gus Cannon as the Chatmon family but he sounds comfortable in the very busy accompaniment.


Dawson himself does a reflective country-flavored rendition of “Gulf Coast bay,” far remove from the old time string band. Of course that is one of Dawson’s aims, to take the songs and appreciate them as such, more so then the performances. Bob Brozman’s contributions as a sideman on several tracks as well as his rendition of “Church Bell Blues,” strikes me as stronger than his contribution to the CD. John Hammond adds harp here and a couple more performances. Robin Holcolb’s rendition of “I’ve Got Blood in My Eyes For You,” comes off as overly melodramatic which Alvin ‘Youngblood’ Hart’s “Livin’ In a Strain,” is a fine rendition of a song that Kelly Joe Phelps handled on the CD. Colin James nice a nice job on the mid-tempo blues “Keep On Tryin’,” but one wishes for a bit sparer backing. John Hammond’s rendition of “Kind Treatment,” does not strike me as strong a vocal as his fine “Stop on Listen” on the disc, and its odd that one of what some who call the group’s signature tunes is not presented on this disc. Hammond’s performance is not bad, just a little mannered.


No doubt most will find these performances entertaining (and they are). However, with respect to the CD, I observed the relatively few performers of color and that is even more evident here. Even more important, the logistics of the concert including the use of a house band leads to the music here having less of the flavor of an African-American string band. I certainly do not dispute not having a collection of covers, and allowing performers to bring there own personality, but this DVD would have been more satisfying if several of the performances had a different spin to them.

This DVD was provided by the publicity firm for Black Hen Records.