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	BLACK TWIG PICKERS

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VHF

Artist:	BLACK TWIG PICKERS	Title:	Hobo Handshake
Format:	CD	Catalog Number:	VHF108
Price:	$12.00	Label:	Vhf
Release Date:	3/17/08
****Hobo Handshake,* the fourth full-length from the Black Twig Pickers, finds a slightly reshuffled lineup and a renewed emphasis on kicking out raw, percussive takes on both traditional Appalachian and original material. With Ralph Berrier Jr.'s retirement from the group, Mike Gangloff has added fiddle to his already considerable arsenal, and along with stalwart guitarist Isak Howell, brought in Nathan Bowles (Pelt, Spiral Joy Band) on percussion and several guests who make substantial contributions to the party. The Twigs work the fine line between the Friday night old-time dance party and the wellspring of grim and evocative tragedy that runs through the tradition, delivering these laments, travelogues, and wild whoops with sawing, rocking joy. This is a sprawling collection, with visceral group takes on "Crossing the James," "Cherry River Line," and "Old Joe Clark." Charlie Parr and Lane Prekker join the crew on "Last Kind Word Blues," "Train 45" and "Twin Sisters" (first essayed by Pelt way back in '98) with Parr's amazing, ragged voice leading the charge over Bowles and Prekker's driving percussion. Along with the full group material, the Twigs throw in other welcome oddities such as Howell's Fahey-like "At the Head of Every Creek," "P.E.A. Vine Blues," an arrangement of a tune from Portuguese Africa, and a book-ending solo version of "Crossing the James," with Gangloff on baritone banjo. 30-second MP3 excerpts: Intro Crossing The James Rattletrap Cherry River Line Last Kind Word Blues Glory In The Meeting House At The Head Of Every Creek Stay All Night Boatsman Paint Bank Walking In The Parlor Callahan Train 45 Never Miss Your Mamma Twin Sisters Sally Coming Through The Rye Old-Time Fire On The Mountain Old Joe Clark Old Joe Bone Frosty Morning P.E.A. Vine Blues Crossing The James If you have a recent version of iTunes software on your computer, clicking on the link immediately below should open the iTunes application and take you to that album's iTunes page-- where you can listen to samples and buy this album, or individual tracks: Go to iTunes to browse downloads for Black Twig Pickers "Hobo Handshake" If you have a subscription account at emusic.com, you can download tracks for purchase here. This title is also available for download at AmazonMP3 For a complete listing of Midheaven exclusive albums available for download from the iTunes Music Service and emusic, please visit the Midheaven Mailorder/Revolver USA Downloadables page.

Artist:	BLACK TWIG PICKERS	Title:	North Fork Flyer
Format:	CD	Catalog Number:	VHF61
Price:	$12.00	Label:	Vhf
Release Date:	6/4/01
****North Fork Flyer* represents the continued persistence of a type of Appalachian folk music that has come and gone from the popular radar over the years, but has never completely disappeared from the *Black Twig Pickers'* Southwest Virginia home. The songs on North Fork Flyer are mostly traditional numbers (with a few originals sprinkled in) that form the backbone of a century-old tradition - the music of bonfires, front porches, coal miner's festivals, and informal gatherings. These "mountain ragas," as the group calls them, have been recorded, performed, and revised continually by a who's who of true American artistry - luminaries such as Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt, John Fahey, Bob Wills, Holy Modal Rounders, New Lost City Ramblers, etc., etc. Recorded live to DAT on front porches and in family rooms, North Fork Flyer blends the fiddle blues of Ralph Berrier Jr., Isak Howell's sinewy guitar and the drone and twitch of Pelt's Mike Gangloff's fretless clawhammer banjo with the trio's rough-around-the-edges but warm vocal harmonies. Played to the accompaniment of night insects, passing trains, and the noise of wandering children, the music retains the charm of tradition but is free of fake antiquarianism and nostalgia. Regardless of age, the music is just as relevant today as it was 100 years ago and the band plays it as though they mean it. And they obviously do. The name of the band comes from the oldest, most crotchety apple variety in the orchard that fiddler Ralph Berrier's family maintains along the musically fertile Virginia-North Carolina line. Black Twig plays regularly in Southwest Virginia. VHF is also responsible for fine releases by Flying Saucer Attack, Pelt, Youngs/ Wickham-Smith, Roy Montgomery, Doldrums, The Double U File under Mountain Ragas 'B' Southwest Virginia will never become the next Austin (and that's a good thing) 30-second RealAudio excerpts: Spike Driver's Blues Sail Away Ladies Poor Boy Long Ways from Home Isak's Blues No. 1 Get Along Home Cindy Cold, Frosty Morning Reuben's Blues Lonesome Clinch Mountain Ebeneezer Two White Horses in a Line Rambling Hobo Angelina Baker Isak's Blues No. 2 Fair and Tender Ladies Little Sadie Great Valley Mine Train on the Island If you have a recent version of iTunes software on your computer, clicking on the link immediately below should open the iTunes application and take you to the iTunes Music Service page-- where you can listen to samples and buy this album, or individual tracks: Black Twig Pickers "North Fork Flyer" (VHF) For a complete listing of Midheaven exclusive albums available for download from the iTunes Music service, please visit the Midheaven Mailorder/Revolver USA Downloadables page.

Artist:	BLACK TWIG PICKERS	Title:	Soon One Morning
Format:	CD	Catalog Number:	VHF73
Price:	$12.00	Label:	Vhf
Release Date:	2/24/03
*The second CD by this SW Virginia area trio is firmly planted in Old-Time Appalachian tradition, but concentrates mostly on original material. Standing out in particular is "Floyd Allen," Ralph Berrier Jr.'s masterful retelling of an area tragedy with a sweet and unexpected major/minor chorus change-up. Mike Gangloff's lengthy and elegiac instrumental "This War Is Killing Me" glides along on a sad melody passed around between resonator guitar, cello and fiddle. Many tracks are anchored by Gangloff's unusual gut-string baritone banjo. Two solo instrumentals on the CD add balance between the vocal numbers-- Isak Howell*'s "Have You Been To Alabama?" is a subtle fingerpicked workout, while Gangloff's "Ironto Special" is a considerably more exotic-sounding modal construction on the big banjo. Elsewhere, there's an upbeat essay of "Pallet On The Floor," a relation to "Poor Boy Long Ways From Home," which appeared on the group's debut North Fork Flyer* CD. Among the traditional numbers, none is more striking than the group's charging and rough treatment of "Oh Death," with Gangloff and Berrier spitting out the call-and-response vocal which gives the album its title. Isak Howell: Guitar, Vocal Ralph Berrier Jr: Fiddle, Vocal Mike Gangloff: Banjo, Resonator, Vocal Fiddle, cello, banjo, finger-picked guitar-- VHF stays on the porch with the big dogs If we told you this group features one of the guys from Pelt, you'd be impressed, wouldn't you? 30-second RealAudio excerpts: John Brown's Dream Ironto Special Floyd Allen 31 Week Blues Lightning Strike Pallet on Your Floor Roanoke Cindy Waiting on My Rider Back from Town Have You Been to Alabama? Lost Indian Oh Death This War is Killing Me If you have a recent version of iTunes software on your computer, clicking on the link immediately below should open the iTunes application and take you to the iTunes Music Service page-- where you can listen to samples and buy this album, or individual tracks: Black Twig Pickers "Soon One Morning" (VHF) For a complete listing of Midheaven exclusive albums available for download from the iTunes Music service, please visit the Midheaven Mailorder/Revolver USA Downloadables page.

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