Old Crow Medicine Show
Eutaw
Independent

by Al Kunz

By definition Americana music is inclusive, covering a wide range of traditional or roots based music such as roots rock, traditional country, bluegrass, folk, and different combinations of these. Old Crow Medicine Show travel the country in the tradition of 19th century medicine shows, playing what some describe as "Old Timey" music, traditional folk and jug band tunes.

When I caught up with Old Crow Medicine Show they had been on the road the last 35 days, currently opening a series of dates for Robert Earl Keen. Fiddler Ketchum Secor indicates that constant touring can become a game, trying to find ways to keep the show fresh, but "has been at times a very religious experience, I still get high every time we play music together".

Currently based in Nashville, band members hail from all over the country. Matt Kinman, who has left the band since recording their current disc, is a Native American from New Mexico. Other members came from upstate New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia. They grew up listening to everything from '80s hair band Britny Fox, to Neil Young and Bob Dylan, to the contemporary folk music of Dan Bern and Bill Morrissey.

In a recent interview on Houston radio station KPFT, Robbie Fulks described how he chose the songs to record for his 13 Hillbilly Giants release. He quickly listed 75 or 80 artists and narrowed it down from there. "It's an almost bottomless barrel of great songs to choose from". Old Crow Medicine Show finds their material from the darkest recesses of this same barrel, searching out long forgotten songs they find on old 78-rpm records or learn from "ancient fiddle players". Songs such as "Raise a Ruckus", "Shack #9", and "Boll Weevil" are sung and played with energy and passion. With the exception of "Trouble That I'm In", which was penned by the band, all twelve tunes on the disc are traditional folk tunes. Everyone plays several instruments ranging from orthodox instruments such as fiddle or mandolin to the less conventional kazoo, featured on the song "Cocaine Habit".

When asked why the disc was called Eutaw, Secor explained that the band was headed to New Orleans for a "buskers week", playing in public places for tips, during Mardis Gras when the former funeral home limousine the band travels in broke down in Meridian, Mississippi. They rented a truck to get the band and equipment to New Orleans. After a week of twelve hour days performing throughout New Orleans they returned to Meridian and got the limousine running, only to have it die 45 minutes later in Eutaw, Alabama, 60 miles south west of Tuscaloosa. "It is a country defined by the river that runs through it, the great Tombigbee, which is a Tuscaloosa word meaning 'Black Warrior'. Got to know Eutaw real good. Strange place. Can't really say the right words to describe it. Black black black black warrior. Never seen a blacker warrior than Flukie Fluker, king of Eutaw. He fed us more catfish than the great river of my belly could hold. Slept in a pine bog behind a greyhound track. We named the record Eutaw because it is a place where we found some resilience. And some peace. And some end to human suffering. And some catfish."

Those who enjoy "Old Timey" music shouldn't miss Old Crow Medicine Show. The band has experienced some trouble with their web site recently and the webmaster is also their bass player. This problem will be fixed as soon as they allow themselves a few days off the road. The CD can be purchased at www.crowmedicine.com as soon as the problems have been resolved or at www.texasmusicroundup.com anytime. Refer to www.pollstar.com for the bands current tour schedule.

Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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