Any traveling musicians out there? If you are like me, you have at one point you have taken off your strings, packed the case with spare clothes, and crossed your fingers that you got a nice flight crew that would look the other way as you refused to let the baggage crew jump up and down on your favorite possession. Well hopefully we will never have to do that again.
Read More...Flatpicking can be an elusive term. For guitarists or bluegrass fans, the definition is distinct, but the style is still difficult to describe. The variables are as unique as the ethnicities and the persons who developed it.
Read More...Welcome back to The Dig Sessions. Today’s episode brings us the second of three songs recorded with Mississippi Sawyer. This track, entitled Me And My Gin first recorded on 25 August 1928 by Bessie Smith, contains banjo, washtub bass, washboard, harmonica, a suitcase bass drum, and a foot tambourine. This Dig Session was recorded in the Brewers Hill neighborhood of Milwaukee Wisconsin. We hope you enjoy it.
Read More...The expression what goes around must come around fits nicely here. Apparently this song is rapidly approaching 100 years old. This is the oldest version I could find that is arranged in a similar fashion*. It is by the group Mainers Mountaineers, and it’s pretty awesome.
Read More...Welcome to the first ever installment of The Dig Sessions. The Dig Sessions is just an excuse to get out into the world, make friends, and document music. We are trying to capture all music, of all genres and musicianship levels. In our modern world of iPods and mp3s it is easy to forget that not so many years ago if you wanted to hear music you had to either play it yourself, or watch someone else play. That is the soul of The Dig Sessions, watching people play music. Single takes, no gimmicks. Just a microphone and a camera capturing REAL music with all its beautiful imperfections.
Read More...This Saturday night on Brady Street in Milwaukee Wisconsin there will be live bluegrass music. The Up and Under Pub will play host to two Wisconsin acts, The Evergreen Grass Band (Eau Clair, Wisconsin) and Pay The Devil (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) will take the stage starting at 9pm and play into the wee hours of the morning. Music samples after the jump.
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Since 2011, friends of the Dig Pay The Devil have worked to become a regular component of the Milwaukee Wisconsin music scene. The four piece band is comprised of Ivan Eisenberg on banjo, harmonica, and vocals, Ivan Wayne Baker III on guitar, and vocals, Matt Gibbons on mandolin, and vocals, and finally Kent Heberling on spoons, kick drum, and snare. Their newest EP is entitled Money For Old Rope and was released this week on August 6, 2013. True to their nature, it is a mix of Bluegrass, Americana, and new compositions which speak to the audience through the filter of traditional music.
Read on for my complete thoughts. You dig?
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