Once again, I’m indulging my musical crush on The Williamson Brothers.
In contrast to the video I shared last week, this one is the opposite of traditional – much more a relic of the Folk Scare than the Bluegrass Depression.
Perhaps it’s the very lack of a traditional framework that allows this duo to demonstrate both their love for traditional mountain sounds and their cross-genre versatility.
The first thing I notice is the sound Tony gets from his mandolin. Now, this is a guy who makes his living buying, restoring, and selling vintage mandolins; he has his pick in terms of tone quality. Yet, instead of opting for the dry, woody “bark” that was Bill Monroe’s trademark, Williamson has chosen a mandolin with a tone that sparkles and throws light like a disco ball. The result is utterly delightful.
The other remarkable thing here is the way Gary Williamson treats the chorus. He takes the traditional, foursquare, American folk approach to every line but the last. To that line, he adds moody, modal, buzzing, parallel fifths, as if to remind us what this nerdy folk stuff really used to sound like.
These are The Williamson Brothers with “Nobody Loves You Like A Mountain Girl”.
In contrast to the video I shared last week, this one is the opposite of traditional – much more a relic of the Folk Scare than the Bluegrass Depression.
Perhaps it’s the very lack of a traditional framework that allows this duo to demonstrate both their love for traditional mountain sounds and their cross-genre versatility.
The first thing I notice is the sound Tony gets from his mandolin. Now, this is a guy who makes his living buying, restoring, and selling vintage mandolins; he has his pick in terms of tone quality. Yet, instead of opting for the dry, woody “bark” that was Bill Monroe’s trademark, Williamson has chosen a mandolin with a tone that sparkles and throws light like a disco ball. The result is utterly delightful.
The other remarkable thing here is the way Gary Williamson treats the chorus. He takes the traditional, foursquare, American folk approach to every line but the last. To that line, he adds moody, modal, buzzing, parallel fifths, as if to remind us what this nerdy folk stuff really used to sound like.
These are The Williamson Brothers with “Nobody Loves You Like A Mountain Girl”.
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