KEITH MILLER
The Saw
Amazing Grace – An Old Convention Song – Did Your Mother
Come From Ireland – Edelweiss – God Bless America – God Bless The USA –
How Great Thou Art – In The Garden – I Just Came To Praise The Lord –
I’ll Fly Away – It Is Well With My Soul – It Wasn’t Raining When Noah
Built the Ark – My Irish Rose – O’ Danny Boy – Old Rugged Cross
Come From Ireland – Edelweiss – God Bless America – God Bless The USA –
How Great Thou Art – In The Garden – I Just Came To Praise The Lord –
I’ll Fly Away – It Is Well With My Soul – It Wasn’t Raining When Noah
Built the Ark – My Irish Rose – O’ Danny Boy – Old Rugged Cross
This is a very first for me. I’ve never
ever reviewed a CD that consists of a lot of ‘saw-playing.’ Keith
Miller also vocalizes throughout this adventure, but his forte is
playing the saw. He plays it with a bow and has the vibrato just right
as well as the ‘note’ he is playing. This is a saw, a regular saw one
would use to cut a 2×4 in a building project, but here in the hands of
an old Iowan, it becomes a very catchy and delightful musical
instrument. This is taking the music of rural homesteaders and pioneers
right to the present. When they lacked a musical instrument to help
them especially with gospel music, they would substitute whatever they
could make music on, and the saw was one of them. On this CD Keith used
some pre-recorded tracks to sing and vocalize to. He also over-dubbed
the saw on several of the songs. This is not a CD that will be at the
top of the hit-parade, it is however a very refreshing opportunity to
hear music done by one of our elders as a hobby, and ‘saving’ the ‘saw’
like no other. Keith has been to our National Old Time Music Festival
in LeMars for a number of years, and he always conducts a workshop or
two on ‘how to play the saw’ attended by many who ‘wonder’ at how you
can music on a tool from the woodshed. More power to you Keith, keep up
the good work.
ever reviewed a CD that consists of a lot of ‘saw-playing.’ Keith
Miller also vocalizes throughout this adventure, but his forte is
playing the saw. He plays it with a bow and has the vibrato just right
as well as the ‘note’ he is playing. This is a saw, a regular saw one
would use to cut a 2×4 in a building project, but here in the hands of
an old Iowan, it becomes a very catchy and delightful musical
instrument. This is taking the music of rural homesteaders and pioneers
right to the present. When they lacked a musical instrument to help
them especially with gospel music, they would substitute whatever they
could make music on, and the saw was one of them. On this CD Keith used
some pre-recorded tracks to sing and vocalize to. He also over-dubbed
the saw on several of the songs. This is not a CD that will be at the
top of the hit-parade, it is however a very refreshing opportunity to
hear music done by one of our elders as a hobby, and ‘saving’ the ‘saw’
like no other. Keith has been to our National Old Time Music Festival
in LeMars for a number of years, and he always conducts a workshop or
two on ‘how to play the saw’ attended by many who ‘wonder’ at how you
can music on a tool from the woodshed. More power to you Keith, keep up
the good work.
RECORD REVIEW BY BOB EVERHART, Pres., National Traditional Country Music Association
www.music-savers.com For Country Music News International