With my little hound dog Daisy riding along last Friday, I stopped by Bowling Green Auto Repair at Main and Chase Streets to say hello to proprietor Bobby Cannon.
Things weren’t busy, and he was in the office talking with Darrell Ponton guitarist for the local professional Bluegrass band “Jerusalem Ridge.”
This was the first time I met Darrell and I was soon telling him about the very interesting and very appealing new CD, Bluegrass in origin, called “New Days & Old Ways.” It’s by “Davis Bradley” who play up and down the East Coast.
Brad Bishop of the group lives here in Bowling Green. His partner Kathy Davis lives in Linden, VA. I had heard about Brad from Robby Caruthers, banjo player for another local professional Bluegrass Band “Milford Station.”
While Bluegrass in origin, Brad and Kathy’s album reaches back to older musical styles of the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, called “Old Time String” or “Mountain Music.”
I struggled for words as I tried to explain to Darrell why “New Days & Old Ways” is so special and how it differs from Traditional Bluegrass. I should note that Brad and Kathy have two previous Traditional Bluegrass albums “Cleared for Take Off” and “Into the Blue.”
Darrell was patient with me and listened attentively.
I explained that Brad and Kathy play largely on old time open back banjos which are mellower in tone than the relatively new closed-back resonator Bluegrass banjos. Old Time banjo is played claw hammer style with the fingers as opposed to Bluegrass banjos’ fingerpicks.
And unlike Traditional Bluegrass, Brad and Kathy don’t generally play “breakdowns” which is when one instrument, whether banjo, mandolin, guitar or fiddle plays solos improvising on the melody while the other instruments mark time with plucks.
Instead, Brad and Kathy play choruses in which their instruments, whether banjo, mandolin or guitar, intertwine on the melodies.
They also play their melodies in duet style, playing the same notes together letting their instruments harmonize. Meanwhile Marshall Wilborn hammers out a steady bass and Wayne Lanham from Winchester lays in occasional fiddle licks. There are also brief riffs of Bluegrass banjo.
Darrell got my drift.
“This is something new,” he said.
Yes! Something very beautiful and new!
In addition to this article for The Caroline Progress, I also intend to write about Brad and Kathy for the magazine Bluegrass Unlimited.
And such great songs! There’s their original tunes “Lessons from the Deep,” “Let’s Just Pretend,” “Making Miles of Memories,” “Memories Trunk” and “Banjo Pickers is We.”
And great songs from Bob Mongomery, Don Stover, Steve Gillette, Tom Campbell, Bill Trader, John Hartford, Roy Overholt, and Dalton and Debbie Lilly.
Then there are Brad and Kathy’s original arrangements of “You Would Marry Me” and the traditional “Shady Grove” which they play originally by leaving out the F chord.
Also very fine is their arrangement of a medley of “Soldiers Joy” and “Arkansas Traveler,” in which they interlock and interweave.
Their album is scoring high in the Airplay Direct charts and is now number three after a while at number one. It’s under the category “Country/Alt.”
This morning, a Sunday, I played hooky from church and sat in my rocker listening to “New Days & Old Ways” for about the tenth time, this time not taking notes but letting it wash over me. Daisy was curled in her bed at my feet.
Such contentment! Afterwards, I found myself in the best mood. I spent the day humming their melodies.
What is it about this music from Brad Bishop and Kathy Davis that makes it so calming, inspirational and beautiful?
I believe it has to do with the harmony of their voices matching the harmony of their instruments.
“It’s old time Country with our roots in Bluegrass,” Kathy had said. “People are really liking our stuff. It’s Bluegrass but not like the Bluegrass I’ve heard. It’s a meshing of sounds.”
So what to call it?
Bluegrass Folk?
See their video of “Making Miles of Memories” on YouTube. Order their CDs at www.davisbradleyduo.com.
“It’s our goal to do a CD every year,” said Brad.
Now that’s good news!
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