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Clifftop Special!
A tribute to the Ninth Annual Appalachian String Band Music Festival,
July 29-August 2, Clifftop WV

THE FREIGHT HOPPERS - Texas Gals [WHERE'D YOU COME FROM, WHERE'D YOU GO?/
	Rounder]
	Learned from the playing of Tommy Jarrell.  These guys were
	playing all over during Clifftop.
TOMMY JARRELL - Soldier's Joy [SAIL AWAY LADIES/County LP]
	Legendary fiddler from Toast, N.C.  Great record, and I love all the 
	commentaries.

HAZEL DICKENS AND ALICE GERRARD - Won't You Come and Sing For Me?
	[PIONEERING WOMEN OF BLUEGRASS/Smithsonian Folkways]
	Alice was there, although I didn't get to hear her sing much.
	I did get to sing this one myself; it was the closing song
	of the Sunday Morning gospel sing, led by Tina Liza Jones.
MANDO MAFIA - Ryestraw [MANDO LINIMENT/Black Rose]
	I like these guys a *lot*, and they took third place in the
	Non-Traditional Band competition.  And I love this old tune;
	I must've heard it a dozen times at various jam sessions.
J. P. FRALEY - Margaret's Waltz [MAYSVILLE/Rounder]
	J. P. played this gorgeous tune in his finalist set in the fiddle
	contest, and won first in senior and second overall.  The emcee
	said, "I like J. P., but I wish he'd practice sometime!"  Heh.
	Learned from the playing of Shetland Islands fiddler Aly Bain.
DWIGHT DILLER (with Cordelia's Dad and Northhampton Harmony) - Lisbon
	[NEW PLOWED GROUND/Yew Pine Mountain Music]
	I've been waitin' for this one for a *long* time!  Great, great
	new self-release of W. Virginia mountain music, with Dwight's
	pals from Cordelia's Dad on vocals and percussion.  This one's
	a shape-note song from the Sacred Harp
DWIGHT DILLER - Abe's Retreat [NEW PLOWED GROUND/Yew Pine Mountain Music]
	And a tune to follow up the song.

GENO DELAFOSE AND FRENCH ROCKIN' BOOGIE - Chere Ici, Chere La-Bas
	[LA CHANSON PERDUE/Rounder]
	Geno is one of the only young zydeco musicians today who
	keeps to the Creole tradition and doesn't concentrate on
	zydecoizing songs heard on the radio and BET.  Wonderful.
BOIS-SEC ARDOIN with BALFA TOUJOURS - La Robe Barree [ALLONS DANSER/Rounder]
	Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin is a master of Creole traditional 
	music, and hasn't made a record in 20 years.  It was worth the wait.

PETER ROWAN - The Free Mexican Air Force [PETER ROWAN/Flying Fish]
	An ode to good weed.  Spiced up by some accordion from Flaco
	Jimenez.  Listener request.
DONNA THE BUFFALO - Mr. King [ROCKIN' IN THE WEARY LAND/Sugar Hill]
	A tribute to Martin Luther King, from this nifty roots-rock
	outfit -- love that accordion!
ACCIDENT CLEARINGHOUSE - Calendar Year [VOLUME 1, SAGINAW SWEETHEART/
	OBT Records]
	Very appealing acoustic  alt.country outfit out of Minnesota
UNCLE TUPELO - Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down [MARCH 16-20, 1992/
	Rockville]
	Traditional.

MARY JANE LAMOND - Oran Sniomh (Spinning Song) - [SUAS E!/BMG]
	New release from Cape Breton Gaelic singer, best-known in 
	most circles for her vocals on Ashley MacIsaac's "Sleepy
	Maggie".  A recording of an actual spinning wheel is used
	as a pulsing rhythm behind the song.
J. P. CORMIER - Highland Dream [ANOTHER COUNTRY/Iona]
	Songwriter/fiddler/guitarist from Cape Breton, recorded with
	Scottish musicians in Glasgow

BLIND JOE TAGGART - Been Listening All the Day [AMERICAN PRIMITIVES, VOL. 1:
	RAW PRE-WAR GOSPEL/Revenant]
	Another excellent Revenant release, and boy are they not kidding
	with the "raw".  I love this label, and the packaging is beautiful,
	but a pain in the butt for DJs (you have to dig inside for track
	listings).  I'm not sure if Joe and I are related.
BUKKA WHITE - Jesus Died on the Cross to Save the World [SKY SONGS/Arhoolie]
	A whole album of songs Bukka improvised on the spot, some of 'em
	14 minutes long.  Solo acoustic slide guitar and piano.
THE HOLMES BROTHERS - Jesus is Alright [JUBILATION/Realworld]
	Jubilee gospel with touches of the blues, great stuff.

Back to Clifftop ...
JAKE KRACK - Lost Indian [ONE MORE TIME/self-release]
	Marvelously talented 13-year-old old-time fiddler. This kid's good.
	It's heartening to hear young people play traditional music, 
	particularly this well.  Backed by, among others, Dwight Diller
	on banjo
BRAD LEFTWICH - Lazy John [SAY, OLD MAN/County]
	Got to hear a fair bit of Brad's playing -- can't wait for
	the new one!
THE HIX - High on a Mountaintop [THE HIX/self-release]
	First-place winners of the Non-Traditional Band contest.  They
	didn't do this song, but what got it for them was a stellar
	version of "Is That All There Is?", which I hope will be on
	their next CD.
MARVIN GASTER - Shady Grove [UNCLE HENRY'S FAVORITES/Rounder]
	This is an interesting version, not the one I'm used to 
	(sounds more like a bluegrass song called "Pig in a Pen")
	
JUNIOR BROWN - Long Walk Back to San Antone [LONG WALK BACK/Curb]
	Brand-new, and another strong album of mine-shaft-deep vocals
	and great picking
THE DERAILERS - Lover's Lie [REVERB DELUXE/Watermelon]
	Fun new country out of Austin. Their third, produced by Dave
	Alvin.  Gee, relationships aren't faring too well in this set ...
KELLY WILLIS with THE WANDERING EYES - Me and Mr. Jones [SONGS OF 
	FORBIDDEN LOVE/Lazy S.O.B. Records]
	Kelly sings a decidedly different version of the Billy Paul
	R&B hit, with other folks like Dale Watson and Rosie Flores
	in a one-off group doing an entire album of cheating songs.

SATAN AND ADAM - Little Red Rooster [LIVING ON THE RIVER/Rounder]
	Blistering blues from the harp player and the one-man-band
	(that's *MISTER* Satan to you, pal).  Leading into Sarcastic
	Deadhead and The Grateful Dead Hour ...