Foghorn Stringband 'Weiser Sunrise' album

Foghorn Stringband plays old time string band music deeply rooted in the American folk tradition. It's a pre-copyright, post-bluegrass style, but the Foghorns put their own stamp on it. Stephen "Sammy" Lind's fiddle and Caleb Klauder's mandolin play tight unison lead lines supported by the Rev. P.T. Grover, Jr.'s three-finger banjo picking and anchored by the bedrock rhythms of Kevin Sandri's rhythm guitar and the bass of Brian Bagdonas. It's a sound that could be coming to you from a big console radio in a 1930's living room, or an Appalachian front porch; instead it's being delivered by a group of young players from the thriving old time music scene of Portland, Oregon. Proof positive that folk music will remain vital as long as there are folks who want to play it.

The Foghorns came to Portland from all over the country and, while a few of them had traditional music in their background, most of them were rockers, attracted to old time music by its accessibility and communal spirit. "Old time music has a purity and a democratic quality that appeals to us," said Sandri. "What bothers me most about today's music is its commercial aspect: it's all lead singers with back up bands. A band should have a real tie between the players, they should hang out and play together. The community is as important as the music."

" Even in the South, old time music is not high profile," Grover added. "The music belongs to everyone. It's outside the mainstream and has nothing to do with recording or performing. It's all about the music."

The band's homemade outlook is evident on Weiser Sunrise, the band's Nettwerk debut. The title is a tip of the hat to the National Fiddle Championships in Weiser, Idaho, the place band members first joined together as a band. The album was recorded in the no frills manner of their two indie releases Rattlesnake Tidal Wave and Reap What You Sow. As on stage, the band sat in a circle and played live, no overdubs, the sound of instruments and vocals blending freely in the air.

"We produced it ourselves at Blue Room Studio with engineer Mike Coykendahl." Lind said. "We did it in three days, capturing what already existed rather than trying to 'make a record.' We went directly onto analogue tape, many in one take.' The only concession to modern recording was the use of extra mikes to catch the fullness of the vocals and the feeling of the room. The songs are all traditional; most of them can be traced back to the 1700s.

"Stagger Lee" is one of the best known American bad man ballads, common to blues, bluegrass, country and folk musicians both black and white. The band heard versions of the song from the Round Peak Band and The Pine Ridge Boys and Patsy, both of Mt. Airy, NC. The Foghorns play it as a rowdy, straightforward square dance tune. "Nobody's Darling But Mine" is a sentimental ballad popular in the early days of country music, one of the few modern songs the band performs. Jimmy Davis wrote it and The Louvin Brothers cut it in the '50s. Sandri delivers a deeply emotive lead vocal supported by the harmonies of Lind and Klauder and Klauder's tasty mandolin picking. "All Night Long" is an upbeat dance tune that highlights Lind's fiddling. Sandi sings lead with Lind joining in on high harmonies. The tune is known by dozens of names and has hundreds of verses, a typical take on the poor country boy dazzled by the city. The Foghorns' version leans toward the style of urban string bands who frequently cut this one in the early days of recording. "My grandma used to sing "Golden Slippers." It's an old classic pop song from vaudeville, done in the '30s by Dykes Magic City Trio," Lind recalled. "They had great fiddling, guitar playing and an autoharp on it. They way they worked the guitar and fiddle together was incredible. We borrowed their arrangement." Lind's bouncy fiddle and the casual vocal harmonies give the tune a happy go lucky feel that makes it a perfect album closer.

Dedication to the music and the band's sense of camaraderie marks every note the band plays, live or in the studio. The Foghorns play in unison, gathered around a single mike, no flashy picking or solos, carried along by their driving rhythms and fierce determination to keep traditional music alive and exciting for this and future generations. The band's genuine enthusiasm for the music is making them a major name on the folk and old time music circuit, and they show their appreciation when they're home by playing free Sunday night gigs at Portland's Moon and Sixpence Pub, as well as monthly square dances with caller Bill Martin. "Traditional music can sound foreign at first," Klauder said, "But the more you listen the more you like it. Nobody owns it, but it can be yours. It's accessible to everyone. When I sing the songs, I feel right at home."

Foghorn Stringband came together as naturally as the music they make when they met at the National Fiddle Championships in Weiser, Idaho, which remains one of their favorite places to play. "We'd played together and known each other for about seven years," Lind said. "Then one night at Weiser things really clicked. In 2000 me, Taylor, Caleb and Brian started calling ourselves Foghorn Leghorn. When our original guitar player had to leave, Keven joined and we really became a band. The way him and Brian work together defines our sound. When I met Taylor, he said it didn't matter how good a musician you were if you weren't fun to hang out with. So we feel we're part of an ongoing tradition." The band's sound evolved slowly, out of the determination to not have a sound. "When we started performing it was stressful cause we didn't have a show," Grover recalled. "We talked to the audience and played, and a lot of people now say they like the feeling that they're hanging out with us in our living room, or at a campsite. We don't use monitors and often, no sound system. There's no performing. We just like playing music and sharing it with people."

The band's low key approach and loyalty to the age old folk tradition gives their music a purity not often found in today's pop music word. Their performances in the Pacific Northwest and at festivals throughout the country are as welcoming as a country campfire, an invitation to a big reunion of the whole human family.

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Foghorn Stringband - Weiser Sunrise