This remarkable new recording comes from fiddlers Michael Cleveland and Jason Carter. Michael Cleveland is the young, blind fiddling prodigy who has been one of the leading bluegrass fiddlers for nearly twenty years. Jason Carter fiddled with the Del McCoury Band for over THIRTY years and broke out on his own earlier this year (he left on good terms). He released his first project to general acclaim earlier this year and earned raves for his fiddling AND his warm, smooth baritone voice. Jason and Michael have been buddies for years and years, jamming together at every opportunity and striving to outdo each other at every turn. The new project leans more toward close harmony with their twin fiddles, with only occasional “head-cutting” duels. EXCELLENT vocals are featured on about half of the cuts.
The twin fiddling is SO complex and so carefully blended by both fiddlers and the engineers that one might wonder if they wrote out their harmonies on paper. Well, no, they didn’t. These two birds think so much alike that they are confident in what the other guy is going to do—and they synch up like a tanker aircraft refueling warplanes in the sky! Even the tones of their fiddles match. The stereo separates them just enough that you know when one is soloing in the left speaker, followed by the other in the right speaker. But which speaker is which fiddler? I can’t tell!!! Additionally, it seems that they exchange harmony parts with ease—neither seems to always be leading while the other harmonizes. If you are a close listener to fiddling, you’ll likely be astounded by their skills. Stylistically, they share admiration of classic bluegrass fiddlers like Vassar Clements, Bobby Hicks, Benny Martin, Kenny Baker, and the country king of double-stops, Dale Potter. They also seem to be admirers of the fiddling wild man Scotty Stoneman. Jason and Michael take turns contributing exquisite backup fiddling to the singers.
As carefully as the fiddling has been worked out, the vocals are as polished as gems. The list of TOP-quality guest singers includes Vince Gill, Jaelee Roberts, Jeff White, the Del McCoury Band (who graciously perform two cuts with their old buddy), songwriter Darrell Scott who contributed so much to Patty Loveless’ bluegrass breakout, Sam Bush (!), Charlie Worsham, and—surprise, surprise— MICHAEL CLEVELAND singing Jason’s old baritone part on one of Del’s earliest compositions, “Dreams.” “Dreams” deserves an added note—the familiar, flowery fiddle intro was worked up by Del’s old fiddler, the late Sonny Miller, back in the 1980s. Jason really admired Sonny and learned that song note for note just as Sonny played it. Jason never added a thing to it in all the years he played with Del. So how is that handled on this project? The leader plays Sonny Miller exactly, and the other fiddler (who knows which is which?) laminates the loveliest harmonies imaginable (even unimaginable) to it. Just amazing. Jason’s wonderful baritone is present throughout, of course. That guy can REALLY sing. I’m so pleased that he chooses to stick with bluegrass when it’s obvious he could step right into commercial country. Don’t go to the dark side, Jason!!!!
But the instrumentals—ah yes, the bluegrass fiddling. Oh my. There are six outstanding fiddle tunes. The first comes from BUCK OWENS and DON RICH of the Buckaroos. (Don was an excellent fiddler as well as lead guitarist.) It’s “Kern County Breakdown,” and it is perfect bluegrass. I first heard a scrap of it on a live-show YouTube post, and I couldn’t believe there was a bluegrass breakdown I hadn’t heard before! Fast as all get-out and totally satisfying. Other fiddle tunes include John Hartford’s quirky “Vamp in the Middle,” with sparse solo vocal explaining how and why the song was composed! Then the thunderous “Stoney Lonesome”—written and recorded in 1959 by Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys as a kick-ass twin-fiddle number with the most percussive rhythm ever deployed in a bluegrass tune. Carter & Cleveland fiddle so hard and loud and intensely that they achieve some of the same faint “off notes,” “wolf tones,” or “dissonances” as originally captured on the Monroe recording featuring Bobby Hicks and Charlie Smith. This is fighting music!!! Play this in the car and you will get a speeding ticket (the ultimate measure of a great bluegrass recording), although the song isn’t that fast—it’s just dang INSISTENT!!! Other fine fiddle tunes include “Running Late” from the late Jimmy Campbell, who fiddled with Jim & Jesse and Bill Monroe. Jimmy’s son Casey, in fact, plays mandolin on this cut, which will warm the hearts of the Nashville bluegrass community, which more or less adopted Casey from boyhood. Guitarist David Grier wrote the complex “Arapahoe” to add to the Indian tribe–themed fiddle canon. Finally, Cleveland & Carter tear a new orifice in Kenny Baker’s masterpiece “Bluegrass in the Backwoods.” Our boys go into flights of fancy as they head-cut a line of music at a time.
The supporting musicians range from relative youngsters to the senior citizens of the bluegrass world. As mentioned above, all the members of the Del McCoury Band/Traveling McCourys show up here and there, especially bassist Alan Bartram, who is on every cut. Other hot guitarists include Bryan Sutton, David Grier, and Colby Kilby. Most of the banjo is provided by Cory Walker, an astounding talent. This guy can play anything from good old Scruggs or Crowe up to and including the wilder Béla Fleck passages. Justin Moses plays Dobro, with his wife Sierra Hull on mandolin on one cut. Harry Clark is on mandolin for a few cuts, with Dominick Leslie on another. Jerry Douglas even shows up playing Dobro on one song. And yet the engineering makes all of these musicians sound consistently LUXURIOUS and immediate. The tone of this project is warm, comfortable, and “embracing,” even with the vocal and instrumental fireworks.
Jason just sent a Facebook note to his fans in November with the stunning news that this recording is nominated for a Grammy!!!! Yeah, he’s up against Alison Krauss + Union Station in their latest return to bluegrass, but we can hope, can’t we?? He should be pleased and proud regardless. He and Michael have achieved a PERFECT recording of new and old traditional bluegrass. The graphics on the CD packaging are stark, but the traditional liner notes are tucked in there too. I tell you what, I’m pulling for this project to take the Grammy!
Fiddle Man Records
