Roots Music Report

Liner Notes:

About the Album

Personnel

Curtis Mc Peake – 5-string banjo, harmony vocals – baritone
Andy May – Guitar, lead vocals
Aubrey Haynie – Fiddle
Tim Dishman – Bass, harmony vocals – tenor

Produced by Andy May, Swift River Music
Recorded at Mainframe Recording Studio, Nashville, TN
Engineered by Nathan Smith

Cover photo by Chuck Thompson Taken at a McPeake & May show in the iconic Rotunda of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nashville, TN.
 

Song Notes

1. *The Good Things (Outweigh the Bad) (Josh Graves and Jake Lambert) One of Curtis’ favorites, this song was co-written by his friend, Jake Lambert, and recorded by Flatt & Scruggs. Curtis first heard this song back when he worked with Lester Flat, filling in for Earl Scruggs in Flatt & Scruggs. The sparse arrangement here pays homage to Flatt and Scruggs but is decidedly McPeake & May, who worked it up specifically for this recording. Especially meaningful to Curtis, it was a shoe-in for the title track of this collection of well-loved songs.
2. *My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains (Trad.) is a traditional classic and has been recorded many times by many people over the years. Always a lot of fun to play and sing, it is a staple in the McPeake & May repertoire, and they never tire of it. Adding Aubrey’s tuneful fiddling and Tim’s rock-solid bass and bright tenor vocals takes it to another level.
3. Salley Gardens (Lyrics: William Butler Yeats/Music: Trad.) True to the folk process, Andy and Curtis merged two ballads to come up with this arrangement. It all started when Curtis played his instrumental arrangement of the old murder ballad, Willow Garden,for Andy. Andy loved it, but though he used to render this song with great feeling as a youngster, he hadn’t sung it in a long time. Preferring to avoid such dark lyrics these days, Andy sought out alternate words that would work with the tune and do justice to Curtis’ arrangement. He chose Down by the Salley Gardens, a poem by William Butler Yeats which is often set to the traditional Irish air, The Maids of Mourne Shore. Yeats himself wrote the poem based on a fragment of an Irish ballad he had heard, possibly The Rambling Boys of Pleasure, a song which may, in fact, be related to Willow Garden in its origins. To our knowledge, however, this is the first time Yeats’ words have been sung to the Willow Garden
4. Reuben’s Train (Trad.) Curtis’ soulful banjo arrangement of this tune draws a soulful vocal from Andy. A very old song with unlimited verses, Andy sings a few of his favorites here.
5. *Home in the Rock (Trad.) Andy had learned this song from Wade Mainer recording when he was a kid. When he and Curtis first started picking together, Andy was inspired to start singing it again, and they worked up this arrangement over years of playing it together.
6. Sweet Sunny South (WL Bloomfield) This bare-bones arrangement, set up by Aubrey’s plaintive fiddle solo – lets the song tell the story. Curtis reminded Andy of this song, which Andy had learned as a kid from the singing of Mike Seeger and Charlie Poole. Originally a song about a bittersweet homecoming after the Civil War, there are several quite sad verses to Sweet Sunny South that Andy chose not include here, aiming for nostalgic rather than heart-rending. The song was published in 1853, with the title Take Me Home and the composer given as WL Bloomfield. (See sheet music.)
7. Grampa’s Mule (Lauren LeCroy May, Andy May) is the only song on the album that isn’t a bona-fide chestnut. Andy’s wife, Lauren, wrote this lyric about her Alabama grandfather’s infamous mule, Betsy, and Andy set it to music, putting a bit of the old fiddle tune Flop–Eared Mule in it just for fun. Curtis, who grew up working mules in west Tennessee, has many a mule story to relate, himself. When Andy first played this song for him, Curtis laughed and said, “I know that mule!” Curtis and Andy decided to present Grampa’s Mule as they would a tune for a country dance: Straight ahead, no frills. Curtis’ banjo breaks are legendary, but he’s also well-known for his wonderful backup style, which you’ll hear on this track.
8. *Steel Drivin’ Man (Trad.) is based on Curtis’ arrangement of John Henry, which is based in turn on Uncle Dave Macon’s version. Andy chose these verses from among the multitude in existence to tell the classic man-versus-machine folk legend. Curtis thought it would be fun to arrange it with a trio on top for this recording to embellish the theme a little bit.
9. *The Unclouded Day (Rev. J.K. Alwood) This wonderful old hymn is a tune Curtis loves to play and Andy has sung since he was a kid. Curtis’ playing on this cut is sparse and to the point, setting up the lovely interplay between his banjo and Aubrey’s fiddle and giving the old song a fresh feel.
10. Leather Britches (Trad.) Curtis wanted to end the album with an old-time fiddle and banjo duet. This cut features Curtis and Aubrey, with Andy and Tim joining in towards in the end.

*Vocal trio: Andy – lead, Curtis – baritone, and Tim – tenor.

UPC: 641955012023