Comments on: Help me find moody mountain music

Question: Help me find moody mountain music

Roman Graves — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:00:51 -0800

Looking for moody old-time/Appalachian folk music.

I'm on the hunt for some great old-time/Appalachian folk music, but not just any. Specifically, I'm looking for darker, more atmospheric tracks. Fire and brimstone themes are very welcome. In the vain of latter 16 Horsepower, but more traditional. Maybe something you'd expect to hear if Sergio Leone had made a film in Eastern Kentucky. Specific album and/or song recommendations appreciated.

By: deCadmus

deCadmus — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:08:17 -0800

Not strictly Appalachic -- honestly it's more blues -- but you might check out Kelly Joe Phelps's "Tap The Red Cane Whirlwind."

Kelly morphs easily between Delta and folksy blues styles, thumping a droning baseline one moment, snaking his way through complex modal riffs the next. Often as not he uses his voice as an accompaniment to his guitar rather than the other way 'round — sometimes growling out an alternative baseline or counterpoint between breathy, syncopated lyrics. The work is, I think, an artistic tour de force and stunningly musical, besides.

By: Rykey

Rykey — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:20:24 -0800

Stanley Brothers, "The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake"
Louvin Brothers, "Knoxville Girl"

Both have been recorded by numerous artists.

I think the Stanley Brothers, especially their older stuff, might nail what you're looking for.

By: Rykey

Rykey — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:24:56 -0800

...And speaking of the Louvin Brothers, their album Satan Is Real is pretty heavy on the Fire and brimstone.

By: ethel

ethel — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:30:16 -0800

you should definitely check out John Jacob Niles[warning: jjn song plays upon click!]

there are also some recordings from smithsonian folkways that are really dark and beautiful, a favorite of mine: Dark Holler: Old Love Songs and Ballads.

also, june appal recordings, County records, and Yazoo record labels are good places to start, if you're looking for general suggestions too, re: appalachian recordings..

By: barnacles

barnacles — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:53:05 -0800

You might check out Christian Williams (Gothic Prarie Music). Here are tracks on the Hype Machine.

I don't have my Reeltime Travelers CDs happy, but I do know that there area few of their tracks that are exactly what you want.

By: barnacles

barnacles — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:54:06 -0800

"happy"? I'm an idiot. I don't have the CDs handy, so I can't give you track names, but ... etc.

By: valkane

valkane — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:15:48 -0800

Will Oldham?

By: princelyfox

princelyfox — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 03:26:03 -0800

You might like Jelly Roll Morton's Murder Ballads.

By: popcassady

popcassady — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:11:22 -0800

Have a search through archive.org. There's definitely some stuff there.

By: popcassady

popcassady — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:12:32 -0800

archive.org, even.

By: sully75

sully75 — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:22:38 -0800

Definitely check out the album "Songs from The Mountain: Music Inspired by the Book Cold Mountain" or something like that. I think it's Dirk Powell on it but not totally sure. It's 100% what you are describing and a great great album.

By: qldaddy

qldaddy — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:35:07 -0800

I don't know where you can get it, but I'd bet the soundtrack from Matewan would fill the bill.

(and now, I go to put Matewan at the top of my queue)

By: zennoshinjou

zennoshinjou — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:17:49 -0800

Its not old, but the album Time (The Revelator) by Gillian Welch has some really dark tracks (especially the first and last). This is one of my favorite albums of any genre.

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 07:06:03 -0800

Roscoe Holcomb - The High Lonesome Sound
Amazon recommends a lot of related albums. This one called High Atmosphere looks promising.

Some of the songs on The Anthology of American Folk Music might fit the bill. Check out "House Carpenter," "Coo Coo Bird," and "East Virginia."

As far as Will Oldham goes, I'd recommend "(I was Drunk at the) Pulpit."

By: dontrockwobble

dontrockwobble — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:27:20 -0800

Sixteen Horsepower is as fire-and-brimstone-y as "country" music gets.

Possibly as an aside, LOTS of the "murder ballads" that informed many of the old-time songs associated with the "high lonesome" sound can be traced back to Child's Ballads from old England and Scotland.

By: exphysicist345

exphysicist345 — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:58:43 -0800

Ralph Stanley. See, for example, his a capella track on the "O Brother Where Are Thou" soundtrack recording.

By: librarina

librarina — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:55:25 -0800

Ooh! I know! AJ Roach!

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 07:34:14 -0800

Roscoe Holcomb, see also Dock Boggs. Check out the Folkways anthology Mountain Music of Kentucky, and the Yazoo box Kentucky Mountain Music.

All are excellent, and there's a lot more out there.

By: Roman Graves

Roman Graves — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:47:22 -0800

Thanks for the great responses. There was a lot of stuff I listened to that didn't fit the specific bill I was looking for, but that I still really enjoyed and will be listening to on a regular basis (the Gillian Welch and Kelly Joe Phelps, to name a couple).

By: PercussivePaul

PercussivePaul — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:02:41 -0800

Previously, previously