Tompkins Square Label Announces Two Record Release Events
The Tompkins Square label and Down Home Radio host Eli Smith present two record release events for Tompkins Square’s “I’m Going Down To North Carolina: The Complete Recordings of The Red Fox Chasers, 1928-1931”, to be released August 18th.
The events are as follows:
Banjo Jim’s Sept 12th (E 9th St. and Ave. C , Manhattan)
– Whistling Rufus, East River String Band, The Dust Busters with Peter Stampfel,
Jalopy Sept 17th (315 Columbia St., Brooklyn)
– The Dust Busters with Peter Stampfel, Dom Flemons (Carolina Chocolate Drops), The Strung Out String Band, John Cohen (New Lost City Ramblers)
The Red Fox Chasers, composed of neighbors Guy Brooks, Bob Cranford, Paul Miles and A. P. Thompson, recorded at the highwater mark of the Golden Era of American Vernacular Music, 1928-1931. These recordings represent a unique and exciting blend of Appalachian fiddle tunes & ballads, popular tin pan alley songs & Victorian sentimental compositions. Hailing from north-west North Carolina, the group assimilated a “Galax fiddle-sound” with an intricate three-finger banjo style that simultaneously evokes Da Costa Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters and Charlie Poole.
One of the more prolific groups to record during this era, the Red Fox Chasers’ material was particularly well received in the Virginias and Carolinas. This collection is the first complete anthology of their work, with several of the tracks being reissued for the very first time. The Red Fox Chasers represent an idiosyncratic slice of early Appalachian music as it was captured commercially during the 1920s & 1930s.
The album was remastered by Grammy-winner Christopher King, and designed by Grammy-winner Susan Archie. Notes and annotations are by the host of “Back To The Blue Ridge,” Kinney Rorrer.
For more information: http://www.tompkinssq.com/red-fox-chasers.html