Blackberry Blossom

A traditional fiddle tune, recorded live at the Rainspout festival in Yachats, OR, November 2015.

One of our sets was at the town's historic Presbyterian church, which also happens to be set up for live recording. They were kind enough to give us copies of our performance on our way out, and we've edited selections including this one into a 7-song live album (streaming and digital download), Live in Yachats. If you like what you hear, check it out!

Green Mountain Bluegrass Band is:
Dennis Berck (Guitar)
Gracin Dorsey (Mandolin)
Chuck "Chainsaw" Holloway (Banjo)
Annette Leong (Bass)
OverlappingElvis/Jeremy Sher (Fiddle)

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posted by OverlappingElvis (6 comments total)

Hnnnngggggggggg.

This is so, so good. The pronounced bend to the minor 3rd you play at 1:22 to reinforce the minor chord change is absolutely perfect. Please tell me that was rehearsed for days and you are not, in fact, an improvisational wizard.
posted by remlapm at 2:04 PM on November 18, 2015

Fantastic! You're all really clicked into each other. Awesome fiddle playing.

I was hoping you were in 'my' Green Mountains (Vermont) to hope to catch you play sometime. Maybe if I ever get to Oregon...

How long have you all been playing together? Great groove.
posted by BlackPebble at 3:56 PM on November 22, 2015

Thanks for your kind words! remlapm it's a little bit of both, but that's a figure I really like to get in there when I can. BlackPebble the band has been together in various configurations for around eight years — I've been playing with them for about two.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 8:35 PM on November 22, 2015

Featured a bit of this on this month's podcast!

I talk a little bit there about it, but this is one of those songs that has always struck me as sort of Stairway-level pervasive within bluegrass, one of those songs that everybody knows, everybody tries to learn a bit of, etc., but unlike Stairway with it's ponderous seven-minute structure BB is just great 30 second or so hook that everybody plays as few or as many times as feels right at the time.

And listening to folks improvise and play out away from the melody is always fun, but listening to them do it well is a huge goddam pleasure for me. And you guys sound great and I love your second fiddle break on this especially as kind of just, yes, that's the way to do it.
posted by cortex at 5:48 PM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

My niece is a very skillful fiddler and a good mandolin player, and last summer she even taught some of my kids to play a few chords. I will send this link to her dad to play for her.

Thanks for sharing it!!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:52 AM on December 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is so great! I've got my jig on.
posted by billiebee at 12:33 PM on December 3, 2015