Black Twig Pickers / Soon One Morning

Vhf

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.  Personnel:  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?

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