MATT DOWNER & CLARK WILLIAMS
Old Time Travelers
Are You From Dixie – Camptown Races – Man Of
Constant Sorrow – In The Pines – Shady Grove – Take Me Back – Blackest
Crow – Red Hot Breakdown – Miss The Mississippi – Dixie
Constant Sorrow – In The Pines – Shady Grove – Take Me Back – Blackest
Crow – Red Hot Breakdown – Miss The Mississippi – Dixie
Matt and Clark are probably long-time old-time friends
doing old-time music. I very rarely say negative things about any
recording, but there is one on this project. The fiddle is sometimes
‘off’ on the key, and pretty squeaky at times. However when it’s played
well, it’s played in a very authentic good old-time style, which is what
this CD is all about anyway. It’s like a couple of guys sitting on the
back porch somewhere in East Tennessee, just a bringin’ that old music
alive and fun. Matt plays fiddle, banjo, guitar and vocalizes. Clark
plays guitar, fiddle, and also vocalizes. They take turns playing the
instruments. Recorded on one microphone at the Honest Pine Bar in
Chattanooga, Tennessee, I’m very surprised they caught all the nuances
of the songs they were doing so incredibly well. The audience is of
course a ‘bar’ audience, but they show respect while these guys are
playing, and they also respond with authentic applause for each and
every song. According to the Chattanooga Market News, where they
obviously play at times, “Matt & Clark deliver the souped up and
blues soaked styles of the wild string bands that ruled the southeast in
the 20’s.” I was fascinated where these two guys are coming from, it’s
incredibly authentic, and very very real. Where the Carter Family was
slick and smooth, the Old Time Travelers are very rustic in how they
play these old songs. I would have to say, it’s the music from the back
porch of any mountain cabin in those old days, exactly as it would have
been. This is what I find so very interesting about what these two
boys are doing with music. This is their third CD, so they’ve already
found a fan base in Tennessee, where they continue to invite the
listener to take a trip back in time to the ‘good ole days’ of string
band music. Closest I can find to them would probably be Uncle Dave
Macon, who didn’t really give a damn about how he played so long as he
had fun, and so did the audience. That’s kind of what’s happening
here. Everybody is having fun with old-time music. My favorite song on
this one “Miss The Mississippi” is right on line with the Jimmie Rodgers
sound, yodel and all. “Right-on old chaps,” Ralph Peer may have said,
this CD goes to the Rural Roots Music Commission for their
introspection. You can catch these guys performing at the Great
Southern Old-Time Fiddler’s Convention in Chattanooga on March 14.
doing old-time music. I very rarely say negative things about any
recording, but there is one on this project. The fiddle is sometimes
‘off’ on the key, and pretty squeaky at times. However when it’s played
well, it’s played in a very authentic good old-time style, which is what
this CD is all about anyway. It’s like a couple of guys sitting on the
back porch somewhere in East Tennessee, just a bringin’ that old music
alive and fun. Matt plays fiddle, banjo, guitar and vocalizes. Clark
plays guitar, fiddle, and also vocalizes. They take turns playing the
instruments. Recorded on one microphone at the Honest Pine Bar in
Chattanooga, Tennessee, I’m very surprised they caught all the nuances
of the songs they were doing so incredibly well. The audience is of
course a ‘bar’ audience, but they show respect while these guys are
playing, and they also respond with authentic applause for each and
every song. According to the Chattanooga Market News, where they
obviously play at times, “Matt & Clark deliver the souped up and
blues soaked styles of the wild string bands that ruled the southeast in
the 20’s.” I was fascinated where these two guys are coming from, it’s
incredibly authentic, and very very real. Where the Carter Family was
slick and smooth, the Old Time Travelers are very rustic in how they
play these old songs. I would have to say, it’s the music from the back
porch of any mountain cabin in those old days, exactly as it would have
been. This is what I find so very interesting about what these two
boys are doing with music. This is their third CD, so they’ve already
found a fan base in Tennessee, where they continue to invite the
listener to take a trip back in time to the ‘good ole days’ of string
band music. Closest I can find to them would probably be Uncle Dave
Macon, who didn’t really give a damn about how he played so long as he
had fun, and so did the audience. That’s kind of what’s happening
here. Everybody is having fun with old-time music. My favorite song on
this one “Miss The Mississippi” is right on line with the Jimmie Rodgers
sound, yodel and all. “Right-on old chaps,” Ralph Peer may have said,
this CD goes to the Rural Roots Music Commission for their
introspection. You can catch these guys performing at the Great
Southern Old-Time Fiddler’s Convention in Chattanooga on March 14.
REVIEW BY BOB EVERHART – www.ntcma.net
for Country Music News International Magazine