Dean Schlabowske aka Deano Waco is the guitarist/vocalist/songwriter for the punk-country Waco Brothers. On his solo effort Deano Meats The Purveyors he is joined by the Austin “hyper-bluegrass” band, The Meat Purveyors. The result is a favorable mixture of sounds that can only be called Americana. Whether it is the leisurely “Taken or the foot-tapping bluegrass “Working For The Devil”, these tracks are a great blend of rock and traditional country. Deano’s vocal are a tight fit with The Meat Purveyors who tend to cross rock and bluegrass much like Bela Fleck crosses jazz with bluegrass. Other good songs include “Stuck in The Mud” and “Reality Blues”. If you want some fairly straight bluegrass, try “Box Store”. This is a good album that is contemporary in its hard rock attitude but as close to American roots as you can get.

The album is in 320kbps MP3.

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Look A-Yonder Comin’… is the fourth online CD from the Florida Folklife Collection of the State Library and Archives of Florida. You can either read my reviews of the first three CDs which you can find here, here, and here or you can take my word that this is one of the best series of American folk music that you will get free anywheres. This fourth installment focuses on Bluegrass and old-time string band music. As with the other albums, the tracks range from amateur to professional but are exemplary examples of the bluegrass tradition. All tracks were recorded during the Florida Folklife Festival and range in years from 1960 to 2003.Musicians that fall in the legendary status include Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, and Norman Blake. Most of the other artists are obscure but you wouldn’t know that from the caliber of talent. I especially like the fiddle showcase “Granny Will Your Dog Bite” by Goose Culbreath and the Pine Valley Boys of Georgia’s rendition of the old war horse “Hot Corn, Cold Corn” but there is not a bad track to be heard. Whether you are a bluegrass connoisseur or just want to see what the good old country string band tradition is all about, this is a worthy anthology for your listening pleasure.

The album is available in 160kbps.

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Two albums of authentic butt-kicking knee-slapping country music are available from the London Music Archives. The culprit in this hay dance is the Canadian band The Dixie Flyers, a top-notch group of musicians in the bluegrass style.

New Horizons is from 1984 and features some great juke joint country, bluegrass and even a nice Texas swing number in “Lone Star”. On each track you will find exceptional guitar, banjo, harmonica, and mandolin playing with an almost extra-sensory sense of musical communication. Although there is no information on the album, I suspect these songs are mostly, if not totally, original compositions. Aside from “Lone Star” I also like “New Chattanooga Dog”, “The Auctioneer”, and the instrumental “Acid Rain”.

Live at Wellington Tavern was released in 1990 and exhibits some of the electricity this band creates in person. There are definitely a lot of old standards on this album including ‘Oh Lonesome Me” and “Wolverton Mountain”. But my favorite song is the funny “Ocean Front Property”. If you’re surfing the internet for free online bluegrass you can’t do much better than these two albums.

Both albums are available in 128kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, check out their web site and perhaps buy their CDs including their new one, Right on Track.

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Live at the Wellington Tavern
New Horizons

As far as I can tell, the artists on this album are out of Liverpool England and originally played under the name of Tom Joad. Eventually they lashed onto Shake That Little Foot as the name of both the album and this lively group of musicians. This Creative Commons licensed music fest consists of American folk tunes and Celtic songs, all of them played precisely and joyously. There is much to love here. If you are in a dancing mood, “Bill Cheatum” or “Mississippi Swayer” will get you going. “Flop Eared Mule” will make you laugh and “Sally Ann” has a rare vocal heralding a backwoods courtship. Definitely grab this one!

The album is available in MP3, Ogg Vorbis, or FLAC format.

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I asked my good buddy Blues Hound if he would like to write a guest review. He put his paws together and here is the result…

Down by the river there’s a little place called Bert’s Bait Shoppe. How a guy makes a living selling worms and fish eggs is beyond me but he makes enough to throw a little bash every Sunday afternoon. The folks eat, drink, and after a while a few of the regulars get out their guitars and jam up a storm.

The Bentones would feel right at home at Bert’s. In fact, from the looks of these guys, they may have been nibbling on a little bait between the alcoholic refreshments. If they did, it didn’t hurt their playing. The Bentones serve an instrumental concoction of old-time tunes and country tracks and they play it as tight as a coyote’s nose in a gopher hole.

There’s two free offerings of music available on their site. Both Sync-N and Beer On The Tracks have plenty of string-based jammin’ to liven up any bash. Two mandolins, two guitars and a bass dance their way through a variety of tunes from early jazz (”Swing 42″) to Tin Pan Alley (”Five Foot Two”) to Country (”Mandolin Breakdown”). There’s even “Sugar Magnolia”for the deadheads! This is fun music. As a certain Belgian bud of mine would say, “It ain’t Stockhausen!”. But try dancing a fox-trot to Stockhausen! Now excuse me. I see a couple chicken livers that Bert forgot about and I’ll be danged if a striped bass is going to get ‘em!

…Thanks, Blues! Both albums are available in 160kbps MP3.

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Beer On The Tracks
Sync-N

Previously I reviewed More Music From The Florida Folklife Collection. I also complained that the first volume, which was not reviewed, did not have downloadable tracks in MP3. It appears someone with the Florida Folklife Archives heard me as it now has separate downloadable tracks! So here is a bonus for you readers; an official review and link to the original Music From The Florida Folklife Collection!

This first collection uses very obscure artists and has a traditional grass roots feeling. The recordings were recorded over a longer period of time. The earliest one is a 1939 recording of author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston singing an old work song, “Shove It Over”. Most are from the Florida Folk Festivals of the 1950s and 1980s. Others are field recordings. Again, picking highlights is difficult. There’s moving 1956 gospel from the Amigo Male Singers. Archie Lee gives an funny and unique take on “The Arkansas Traveler”. You can find ‘Ol’ Timey Music’ in “The Old Country Church” and “Devil’s Dream”. Little Benny Cox’s “Just Got Married” is delightful even though the song is a bit strange coming from an 11 year old boy. The Blues fans will delight in Moses Williams’ “Which Way Did My Baby Go”. It is all brought together with some nice Latino tracks, an Native American chant, and some spoken narratives. Due to it’s reliance on older recordings and mostly unknown non-professional talent, I must say this is more of a archival collection than the first and may be more representative of Florida folk heritage than the second volume.

The MP3s are recorded in 128 kbps MP3. I would ask you to support the artists but I have a feeling you may not hear most of these musicians anyplace else!

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I’ll admit it; my first extended exposure to the genre came from bluegrass tribute albums to Metallica and AC/DC. But The Belvederes play real bluegrass: nothing primitive, progressive, or fused, but straight-up fun bluegrass. When it comes to bluegrass, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Highly listenable. Highly.

Both albums are available from the Internet Archive in 128kbps MP3 or OGG.

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Big City Waltz
Tin Pan Western Folk