When Beverly comes in with the harmony more than an octave above Bruce's voice, they achieve an unusually beautiful, open sound. Those five words convey the essence of someone sinking in utter despair. I always want to hear the original recording of a bluegrass tune, and I always tell my banjo students to go to the source and listen to how Earl played it. But I also understand that much early recorded music, both bluegrass and old-time, is not musically palatable to today's audience. It is simply too rough and too raw.
Some people listen to music for the pure pleasure of it.
This recording delivers pure pleasure in spades. They have absorbed the essence of the music and now present these wonderful old tunes to modern listeners while still keeping the old-time flavor and feel. In doing so, they make old-time music accessible and enjoyable to a much wider audience. And, as you can tell from this recording, they are enjoying the heck out of what they are doing. Join Big Hoedown in a celebration of life.