Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink

Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink of The Freight Hoppers played at The Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. in Franklin last night. It's always a treat to hear Frank Lee play from his catalog of hard-driving, old time ballads, from the 1920's and 1930's. Here's a couple of videos I was able to shoot, in spite of the din of the crowd.

Please support live music and hear more from Frank and Allie  @  http://www.frankleeandallieburbrink.com/

Bluegrass in Bryson City

Two of the finest bluegrass bands in western North Carolina lit things up last night in little downtown Bryson City.
Town Mountain from Asheville and The Freight Hoppers out of Bryson City debuted on the new stage at Nantahala Brewing Company. These two bands have collaborated for the past couple of years and complement each other wonderfully. We were treated to a full set by each band and then a shorter third set at the end of the night when the musicians joined each other on the stage for several songs.

If great things like this keep happening in the far western counties this summer, we won't have to make the hour plus drive to Asheville as often to hear cutting-edge, world-class music. That would be a good thing with $4.00 a gallon gas. I'll have to keep my eye on the schedule of events for the Nantahala Brewing Co. for sure! Nantahala Brewing

Town Mountain's gritty-edged grass blends the group's precision playing with Robert Greer's outstanding vocals and with the significantly impressive song writing abilities of Phil Barker (mandolin) and Jesse Langlais (banjo). This results in a truly unique Town Mountain sound which is at times: hard-core honkytonk, traditional, newgrass, jamgrass, gospel, roots, rock and roll, Americana. No need to label it; it's all great grass!
More info on the band here:Town Mountain

Town Mountain is:
Robert Greer guitar, lead vocals
Philip Barker mandolin, vocals
Jesse Langlais banjo
Jon Stickley bass
Bobby Britt fiddle

The Freight Hoppers play an infectious brand of old time string band music originating from the 20's and 30's. They are excellent musicians who seem to be having a great time playing and singing songs about murder, mayhem, and moonshine from the era of American prohibition and The Great Depression. Tossing in some great fiddle tunes played by David Bass always gets the crowd dancing.
The band's bio and more can be found here: Freight Hoppers

The Freight Hoppers are:
David Bass fiddle
Frank Lee banjo, vocal
Isaac Deal guitar, vocal
Bradley Adams string bass

Town Mountain and The Freight Hoppers @ The Grey Eagle

                                                                                                                                                                     Two of the finest String Bands in the mountains came together on Friday night at The Grey Eagle in Asheville.

The Freight Hoppers are from Bryson City, NC and play Old Time and Traditional tunes from the 1920's and 1930's. David Bass (fiddle) and Frank Lee (banjo, guitar, vocals) have been together since the Freight Hoppers started their Great Smokey Mountain Railroad gig in 1993. After a hiatus of seven or eight years, the band regrouped in 2007 with Issac Deal (guitar,vocals) and Bradley Adams (bass).  www.thefreighthoppers.com/
                                                                                                                                                                     
Town Mountain is, without a doubt, our favorite Asheville area bluegrass band. Black Betty and I try not to miss a local show with this smoking hot, bluegrass band. Their rawness and grit manages to get under your skin, and you become a convert after one Town Mountain show. Their rough around-the-edges sound fueled by Robert Greer's outstanding vocals and the band's skilled licks keep us coming back for more.

Town Mountain's strength and appeal lies in their ability to keep it real and gritty while refusing to allow their sound to become a polished out white-bread Nashville caricature of bluegrass music. This is working man's grass, it's the real deal!  They feature outstanding original tunes penned  by banjo player Jesse Langlais and mandolin player Phil Barker; they also do some great covers, including Bruce Springsteen and John Anderson. If you are extremely fortunate, you may even hear Robert Greer sing a heart-wrenching version of the Grateful Dead's Brokedown Palace. Their newest CD is Steady Operator. http://townmountain.net/blog/




                                                                                                                          

The Barn Cats // Clog Dancers

It seems that with the explosion of youth sport programs, traveling teams, and other after school diversions over the last 15 to 20 years that local clog dancing has experienced a general decline in popularity.
It's not been that long ago that every little community in the mountains had their own competitive teams. I can still vividly remember sitting in the bleachers at the Franklin High School Gym with my family and watching the best dance teams from the western counties compete. I'm sure that the rocking and stomping of the hard wood could be heard a block away. It was a site and a sound to behold, for sure.

I was pleased to see a few young clog dancers get up on stage with The Barn Cats last Thursday night at the Mountain Heritage Center at WCU and show their stuff. After all, music without dance is like peanut butter without jelly. It's just not right!

The Barn Cats at The Mountain Heritage Center

The Barn Cats performed last night at the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. The Barn Cats are the three piece band consisting of  Frank Lee, Issac Deal, and Bradley Adams of the Freight Hoppers. Even though though they were without David Bass on fiddle (he was out of town and unable to attend) their inspired passion for traditional music made for great times and great music.
It just doesn't get any better on a cold and rainy winter night in Appalachia.


From their website: http://www.thefreighthoppers.com/
 

The Freight Hoppers: Bio  After more than a decade The Freight Hoppers have released their eagerly awaited fourth album Mile Marker. This collection includes music that was first recorded in the late 1920's and early 1930's, and spans geographically from Mississippi to West Virginia. The Freight Hoppers play hard driving old time music with an emotional, raw excitement that keeps one foot planted in the past and the other in the present. Of course that’s only when they keep their feet still, for this is high energy dance music of an older day played like there's no tomorrow. Finding their passion from a love of stringband music of the 1920's and 30's, The Freight Hoppers have been entertaining crowds of fans at festivals and music halls alike as they travel around the country. The heart of the band is held together by the powerhouse fiddle and banjo combo of David Bass and Frank Lee, while the rhythm section of Isaac Deal on guitar and Bradley Adams on string bass keep the groove moving. Add in the vocal duo of Frank and Isaac, and you've got yourself one of the most exciting traditional bands to come out of the woodwork. Based out of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, The Freight Hoppers draw from a deep source of rural southern music for their inspiration, and are proud to present music that is still very much alive and meaningful to today's world.

The Freight Hoppers are:
David Bass fiddle
Frank Lee banjo, vocal
Isaac Deal guitar, vocal
Bradley Adams string bass