"Traditional and Contemporary"

release date: October, 2004

It is just what it says: 13 songs, some traditional, some contemporary, expressing the many moods of bluegrass.

 25 Major (Phil Nusbaum) It’s a banjoistic response to “Fiddlin Around” and has lots of space for the soloists.  mp3  ra

Forgive and Forget (Kieran Kane, Grass Keys, ASCAP) Pop music has its Tin Pan Alley, and bluegrass has the intersection of Gloom & Desperation. That’s the street corner this song comes from.  mp3  ra

Convention (Phil Nusbaum) I was representing Urban Renewal Bluegrass at a booking convention, and to pass the time, started fooling around over some chord changes. After some woodshedding, “Convention” emerged.

Memories of Mother and Dad (Albert J. Price, Tannen Music, BMI) It started as a cover of the Bill Monroe song but took on new life in the studio, through the groove that Pete Mathison presented to the group. Stylistically, it represents an update on “bluegrass lonesome

Sweet Georgia Brown/Sheik of Araby (Michael Okrun, Alpha Musicana; Harry Smith, Francis Wheeler & Ted Snyder, Snyder Publishing.) These are two great standards that traditional musicians enjoy.

Let It Ride (Becky Schlegel) This is a song written by Minneapolis singer/songwriter Becky Schlegel for a friend who discovered that bluegrass was not for her. Instead, she fell in love with the blues. What an irony that a song with the lyric “I know the banjo’s not your style” lays out beautifully on the banjo.  mp3  ra

Listening to Alan (Phil Nusbaum) I once asked Alan Munde why there was so much concern over banjo players’ senses of drive ahead of their senses of lyricism. He replied in jocular fashion, “because no one ever paid them to be lyrical!” “Listening to Alan” is a tribute to Alan. Alan, of course, plays with plenty of both drive and lyricism.

Where Oh Where Did Our Young Years Go (Jack Rhodes, Trio Music Company, BMI) A gem in praise of married life taken from the brief Dot label period of Reno & Smiley.

Blow By Blow (Phil Nusbaum) My mental image of this tune is of two boxers dancing around each other, then landing punches right on the chord changes. Right at the end of the “B” part is a real haymaker.  mp3  ra

Only You (Ram & Rand, Hollis Publishers and Screen Gems, BMI) This is an old pop tune made famous by the great vocal group the Platters, but this version was inspired by the Carl Perkins’ record of the song.

Saint Paul Backstreets (Phil Nusbaum) It’s based on a bluesy lick, and the band really runs well with it.

Streets of Bakersfield (Homer Joy, Sony/ATV Tree publishing, BMI) The guy in the song tries to portray himself as a poor-but-honest fellow, but he blows his cover in the second set of verses when he is thrown in jail, and then rips off the drunk thrown in the slammer with him.

The Road to Spring Grove (Phil Nusbaum) One mid-May morning, I drove from Saint Paul to the picturesque town of Spring Grove in southeastern Minnesota. But the day was a little colder than you’d like for the month of May, and the bumps on US Highway 52 were delivering shock after shock to my backbone. The tune portrays the journey.

 With Karen Van Norman, bass; Ed Munafo, vocals and guitar; Loy Larson, fiddle; Chris Silver, mandolin; Becky Schlegel, guitar and vocal; Tom Schafer, fiddle; Bill Cagley, guitar; Katryn Conlin, guitar, Mark Kreitzer, mandolin.

The CD is $16 (includes shipping & handling).            

Phil Nusbaum
1268 Jefferson Ave
Saint Paul, MN  55105