hurricane clarice
The Banks of the Miramichi (Patrick Hurley)
I was listening to the 1962 Smithsonian release Marie Hare of Strathadam, New Brunswick, Canada, and this song blew me away. It was written by Patrick Hurley (1842-1912) of Cassilis, NB, who was a lumber fisherman, and Marie Hare (b.1913-2007) sings it acapella with the most incredible timing and phrasing. In the 1950’s, at the time that Hare would have been singing this song, the Canadian government sprayed massive amounts of DDT around the Miramichi to fight the spruce budworm that was affecting the forestry industry. In 1954, the entire salmon hatch died and the ecosystem was completely altered. Rachel Carson wrote about the incident in the widely influential environmental text Silent Spring (1962). ~ Allison
Wellington (Allison de Groot)
This tune wasn’t written for my grandmother, and I don’t know why I named it Wellington… but it has always reminded me of her. For most of my teenage and adult life, she lived in a high-rise apartment on Wellington Crescent that looked over the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Arriving at her apartment, the first thing you would do was step out onto her balcony, which had a great view of the city. She would tell you about what the ducks or the beavers were up to, point out where deer had been going down to the river for a drink, knew where new buildings would soon rise, and when to expect passing water taxis. She always had her finger on the pulse of the river and the city! ~ Allison
I first learned this tune for a square dance with Grace Forrest at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington. It comes from Albert Hash (1917-1983) who learned it from Jim Reedy. According to Hash, a cousin of his grandfather wrote the tune and her name was Nancy Blevins. Hash says, “she would play it and [my granddad] would kind of dance, and he was wearing a dress and the little boys wore dresses.” Josh Beckworth speculates that the actual Nancy Blevins (b 1852) wasn’t necessarily a cousin, but lived near his grandfather in Ashe County, North Carolina. This Nancy Blevins Baker played the fiddle, smoked a pipe, and practiced witchcraft. ~ Tatiana
Each Season Changes You (Roy Acuff)
There are many versions of this song, but we learned it off the Rose Maddox Sings Bluegrass album. I first heard the name ‘Maddox’ when Don Maddox (1922-2021) came to the Oregon Old-Time Fiddlers contest when I was a kid. Rose Maddox (1925-1998) was a fixture in the West Coast country music scene but as she got older, she struggled finding country music gigs. She eventually found herself more accepted in the bluegrass community, who revered her as an elder. This is my favorite country song about seasonal depression.
~ Tatiana
Hurricane Clarice / Brushy Fork of John’s Creek (Tatiana Hargreaves / traditional)
I came up with “Hurricane Clarice” after finishing The Chandelier by Clarice Lispector (1920-1977). I don’t remember exactly what compelled me to pick up my instrument after finishing the book but I felt moved by her writing and inspired by her artistry. Lispector’s Jewish Ukrainian family fled to Brazil in 1922, around the same time that my Jewish great grandmother Taube, or Tillie, fled Eastern Europe. I was named after her. This track opens with Allison’s great aunt, also named Tillie, speaking in Ukranian about her sister, Allison’s grandmother. We end with an interpretation of John Salyer’s (1882-1952) version of “Brushy Fork of John’s Creek.”
~ Tatiana
I Would Not Live Always (Tune by ML Swan, Poem by William Augustus Muhlenberg)
I first heard about Clarence Ferrell (1908-1977) while digitizing photos from Alice Gerrard’s photo collection. One particular photo caught my eye of Clarence and his wife Hazel outside of their home in Alpine, Tennessee, holding a large scroll of a seven shape note scale with their little dachshund sitting underneath it. Ferrell’s father was a singing school teacher and this must have been one of the hymns they sang. Lydia Lewallen thought that the Ferrell’s might have sung from the New Harp of Columbia, a 7-shape book common in East Tennessee. Our version is inspired by Clarence Ferrell’s fiddling, the New Harp of Columbia and verses from the original poem by William Augustus Muhlenberg.
~ Tatiana
Dead and Gone (Hen Cackled) (traditional, from Butch Cage)
Butch James Cage (1894-1975) grew up in Franklin County, Mississippi around fife and drum music. He first learned how to play the fife, and later learned fiddle from watching Carol Williams and Frank Felters, two older Black fiddlers in the area. His mother had the reputation for being the best dancer in the county, his sisters played accordion and another brother also played fife. Cage’s versions of “Dead and Gone” and “Hen Cackled” have many similarities, so we combined some different variations from each.
~ Tatiana
Ostrich with Pearls (Hargreaves w/ Jodziewicz)
We hear the voices of Tatiana’s grandmother Sylvia (b 1925 in Brooklyn, New York, United States), Tatiana’s grandmother Jean (b 1930 In Detroit, Michigan, United States) and Allison’s grandmother Shirley (b 1929 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada).
~ Allison and Tatiana
The Road Walked by Fools (Kilby Snow)
Kilby Snow’s (1905-1980) left-handed drag note style, stunning phrasing, and his way of adapting country songs make him our favorite auto-harp player. In this song he sings about life on the road in a playful somewhat cliché way, and it captures some of the ridiculousness of touring around and playing music.
~ Allison
We were supposed to record this album three different times throughout 2020-21. We started to work up the new material at a residency in Peninsula, Ohio in February 2020 and a year and a half later during an apocalyptic heat wave, we reunited in Portland, Oregon to record the album. Throughout the lockdown, we came up with new modes of working that didn’t involve being in the same physical place.
Our wonderful producer Phil Cook really encouraged us to be vulnerable both musically and personally with this project and to go in directions that we hadn't really thought about, including our own family histories. To help capture the energy of our live performances, he also gave us the idea of playing sets in the studio. We came up with two sets of music that we performed live in the studio each day for four days, only listening back on the final days. Playing through the sets allowed us to sync into each other's rhythms, capturing the spontaneity and energy that we love about performing live together.
This album feels like a celebration of many types of relationships, honoring our personal lineage and the family we have made within the music community. Throughout this whole process, we have felt so taken care of and loved. Thank you to Josh, Adam and Alex for your expertise and creativity, Caleb & Reeb and Maggie & Patrick for hosting us during our week of recording, and Scott de Groot, Barry Hargreaves and Donna Silver for documenting family stories. Lastly, thank you to Phil - you made this album a deeply joyful experience.
Allison plays a 5-string Romero, 5 & 6-string Seeders and a borrowed Kyle Creed from Isaac Enloe
Tatiana plays a 5-string John Sullivan fiddle and a 4-string Jonathon Cooper fiddle
Both Allison and Tatiana use D’Addario strings
Produced by Phil Cook
Recorded by Josh Powell at The Map Room in Portland, OR
Mixed by Alex Farrar
Additional production and mastering by Adam McDaniel at Drop of Sun Studios Asheville, NC
Photos by Tasha Miller
Design by Dan MacDonald Studios
Released by Free Dirt Records on March 25, 2022