I love it when two musicians from completely different musical backgrounds come together and play music. This performance by Sam Bush and Jorma Kaukonen from High Sierra Music Festival on June 30, 2000 could be what influenced Jorma to record Blue Country Heart which is a masterpiece of roots blues and country featuring Jorma, Sam, Bela Fleck, Byron House and Jerry Douglas. The picking in this set is mind blowing and the synergy between Jorma and Sam is amazing. For some of the tunes, Sam plays slide on what he refers to as a ham can which is a National dobro mandolin. Jorma accuses Sam of being a “very disturbed man” for playing such an instrument. The rhetoric between these guys is hilarious. This is one of the favorite live shows in my collection and I hope you find it as much fun as I did. Its a 256kbps MP3 rip of a lossless soundboard and the sound quality is A+. Enjoy!

Jorma Kaukonen & Sam Bush

6/30/00

SBD>Tascam DA-30MKII>digital out>Sek’d Prodif plus soundcard >
Sound Forge>CD Architect>Plextor 8/20

Recording:
Ken “Easy Ed” Edwards
CD Mastering & Seeding:
Ken “Easy Ed” Edwards

01. intro by Wesley Robertson

02. Hesistation Blues

03. the roots of Rock and Roll and Bluegrass

04. Crossroads Blues

05. if you have any questions

06. Sally Where’d You Get Your Liquor From?

07. deeply disturbed

08. How Long Blues

09. my middle name

10. Mann’s Fate

11. favorite Jerry tune

12. Sittin’ on Top of the World

13. (applause)

14. 99 Year Blues

I’ve been listening to Iron and Wine frequently these days. Their sound is so unique yet so familiar. They have a subtle sound that grows on you the more you listen to it. Songwriter Sam Beam knows how to pen a poignant lyric and then put it to a beautiful melody. They play their song “Boy With A Cain” on the radio quite a bit these days which is from the album The Shepherd’s Dog. This YouTube clip is from the video to the song Lion’s Maine. The video footage matches the tone of the song perfectly.

The Avett Brothers are playing La Zona Rosa next Sunday Nov 4. I saw these guys at this year’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival and they are a riot. I’ve heard them described as the Nirvana of the 1800s. See you there!

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals have a new EP out called Follow The Lights. The material on it sounds much like Easy Tiger and if it had a couple more songs (there are seven) the EP could stand up as an album. I’m always amazed at the volume of amazing music Ryan Adams cranks out especially with all the touring that he does. You can sample Follow The Lights here but I highly recommend picking up your own copy!

Cherryholmes is a family bluegrass band featuring two generations of smokin’ pickers. Based out of Arizona, Cherryholmes has performed on the Grand Ol Opry and received the best new bluegrass band of the year at last years IBMA awards. They’ve got five albums and are currently recording on Skaggs Family Records label. Check them out: