Our Catalog

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A 2-CD retrospective drawn from the Volo Bogtrotters' highly acclaimed first three cassette releases on Marimac - The Volo Bogtrotters, Backside of Buncombe, and Tough Luck - released between 1987 and 1991. Includes three previously unreleased tracks from the 1988 Backside of Buncombe sessions. 52 cuts total. Comes with eight pages of notes.

Lynn "Chirps" Smith: fiddle, mandola, tenor banjo, vocals; Fred Campeau: fiddle, banjo, guitar, banjo-uke, vocals; Steve Rosen: banjo, mandolin, vocals; Jim Nelson: guitar, banjo-uke, vocals; Tony Scarimbolo: bass, guitar, harmonica, vocals.

1. Money Creek
2. Cotton-Eyed Joe
3. Salty Dog
4. Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan
5. Riley, the Furnitire Man
6. Johnson Gal
7. Cuttin' at the Point
8. Bully of the Town
9. How Long
10. Litchfield
11. Shay Grove
12. Oh, My Little Darling/Gray Eagle
13. Fancy Creek
14. Creel Springs Breakdown
15. San Antonio
16. Cumberland Gap (previously unreleased)
17. Backside of Buncombe
18. Hell Bound Train
19. Don't Mind the Weather So the Wind Don't Blow
20. Walk Old Shoe, Heel Come a-Draggin'
21. Bloody War
22. Weller's Reel (previously unreleased)
23. I Lost My Gal (N ew Cut Road)
24. Duncan and Brady
25. Dickey's Discovery
26. Work Don't Bother Me
27. Illinois Rickett's Hornpipe
28. Tell It to Me
29. Remus
30. The Old Ark's Movin'
31. Old Mother Flanagan (previously unreleased)
32. Home Happy Home/Coal Harbor Bend
33. McDonald's Farm
34. Paddy on the Pike
35. Otto Wood the Bandit
36. Little Princess Footsteps
37. Tough Luck 
38. Seven and a Half 
39. When I Had But Fifty Cents 
40. Bye Bye, My Honey, I'm Gone
41. He's a Beaut 
42. Hell Broke Loose in Georgia 
43. Elkhorn Ridge
44. Hog Skin
45. Croquet Habit 
46. I'm Nine Hundred Miles From Home  
47. Georgia Hobo
48. Fine Times at Our House 
49. Going Across the Sea
50. White River Stomp
51. Quit That Ticklin' Me
52. Arrington's Breakdown https://volobogtrotters.bandcamp.com/album/hell-broke-loose-in-volo-a-volo-bogtrotters-retrospective-1987-1991

Here's 22 tracks of hard-hitting transitional old-time tunes and songs inspired by the sounds that used to be heard at fiddlers conventions around the Southeast. It's a pile of well-rendered fiddle tunes with rock-solid backup.  The Rocky Creek Ramblers conjure up a delicious throwback sound—earthy fiddle, percolating three-finger banjo, spanking mandolin chops, and tasty guitar and bass runs. Cutting his teeth in the scene around Galax, Va, Ken Landreth delivers a three-finger banjo style that weaves perfectly around Joseph's fiddle. The Jims (Nelson and Collier) lay a fine foundation on guitar and mandolin. Joe Dejarnette's bass rounds it all out for a thick, driving string band sound.  The album includes familiar and tantalizingly unfamiliar tunes drawn from some of our favorite fiddlers (listed in a pdf of liner notes)—folks like Otis Burris, Bob Douglas, Tommy Magness, Leslie Keith, Red Wilson, and Roy Wooliver. A couple of songs and banjo/ fiddle duets add some texture and allow everyone to catch their breath.

1. Sally Ann
2. Red Apple Rag
3. Echoes of the Ozarks
4. Jonesboro
5. June Apple
6. Cockleburr
7. Bob Wills Stomp
8. Sail Away Ladies
9. C Waltz
10. Cumberland Gap
11. New Five Cents
12. Bill Cheatum
13. Handsome Molly
14. Mississippi Sawyer
15. Bryson Higgins Tune
16. Black Mountain Blues
17. Ebenezer
18. Bound to Ride
19. Paddy on the Turnpike
20. Blaine Smith's Piece
21. Raven's Gap
22. Roy Wooliver's Money Musk

New old-time string band music that draws inspiration and energy from the  the classic string bands of the 1920s, the brother duets of the 1930s while  mashing  it up with the emerging bluegrass sounds of the 1940s and beyond. Features Stephanie Coleman on fiddle and vocal; Jim Collier on mandolin and vocals; Jim Nelson on guitar and vocals; Dedo Norris on bass and vocals.

1. Shady Grove, My Darling
2. Shakin' Down the Acorns
3. Cold Rain and Snow
4. Durangs Hornpipe
5. I'm Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail
6. Sugar in the Gourd
7. No Letter in the Mail Today
8. Moonshiner
9. Jaybird Died With the Whooping Cough
10. Short Life of Trouble
11. Darling Honey
12. Run Mountain
13. Old Bob
14. New River Train
15. Squirrel Hunters
16. She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain
    

"The Original Mound City String Band" came to life in the Spring of 1977. Kevin met Gail in the mid-70's at Strub Music in West St. Louis County. The performed as "Bo and Bella." Later, Kevin and Laurence met at Music Folk in Webster Groves, where Laurence taught banjo and Kevin taught fiddle, mandolin, and guitar. When they first played together, their fiddle and banjo styles fit like a handshake. Gail was the anchor. She had a perfect voice for old-time music and held a steady rhythm on guitar. The band gelled.

They drew material primarily from the old recordings of Charlie Poole, Uncle Dave Macon, the Skillet Lickers, and lots of traditional Missouri fiddle tunes. Their sound was honed for countless hours in Gail's kitchen where, "We distilled our truths from those traditions."

... This is the product of one afternoon in the studio, seeking a sound that made sense to them, that harkened back to a more authentic age. Gail used to say that she was drawn to old-time music because of its honesty. That's what you get here.
Gail Heil: guitar, vocals; Kevin Kegin: fiddle, mandolin; Laurence Sugarman: banjo, fiddle, vocals.

1. Drunken Sailor 
2. Cotton-Eyed Joe
3. Dusty Miller
4. Gray Cat on the Tennessee Farm
5. Hangman
6. Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel
7. Possum Up a Gum Stump
8. Sugar Hill
9. Which Side Are You On?
10. Tanner's Farm
11. Cold Winter's Night
12. Took My Gal a-Walkin'
13. Pretty Polly
14. Falls of Richmond

This collection of fiddle tunes was recorded in two sessions supervised by Paul Tyler over a 24 hour period on April 6 and 7, 1989. Lotus died later that year, and it was another two years before these recordings saw the light of day as part of a double cassette-only release on the Marimac Recordings label titled “Fiddle Tunes from Orange County, Indiana. That release never got the attention it deserved for a variety of reasons, including the demise of the cassette album, and more importantly, the death of Larry MacBride, the founder and driving force behind Marimac. Vigortone Recordings is proud and quite pleased to make these historic available once again. Enjoy! 

Features Fred Campeau and Steve Rosen on banjo; Jim Nelson on guitar; and Paul Tyler on mandolin and guitar.
 

1. Dickey's Discovery
2. Leather Britches
3. Ed Fleming Waltz
4. Allen Downey Two-Step #1
5. Allen Downey Medley
6. Allen Downey C Waltz #1
7. Katy Hill
8. Yellow-Eyed Cat
9. Holiness Piece
10. Albert Dougherty Medley
11. German Waltz
12. Sweet Bundy
13. Pegleg
14. Mary & John
15. Poindexter Ainsworth Medley
16. Little Bess
17. Oyster River Hornpipe
18. Bye-Bye My Honey, I'm Gone
19. Kiss Waltz
20. Forked Deer
21. John Coulter Medley
22. Tune Book Medley
23. The Baltimore

 A new release from one of today’s master old-time fiddlers. “Rugged Shirt” features 22 fiddle tunes – some rarities and some classics – played by one West Virginia’s contemporary fiddle masters, Bobby Taylor. Bobby is ably backed up by Jeff Miller’s masterful banjo playing and the solid guitar playing of Jim Nelson. Bobby is widely known as a contest fiddler and judge, and may be best known as organizer of the contests at the Appalachian String Band Festival at Clifftop, WV. On this CD, the feel is more laid back, the focus more on the old-time aspects of his playing and repertoire. Throughout, Bobby pays tribute to some of his major influences – among them Clark Kessinger, Doc Roberts, Mike Humphreys, and Sam Jarvis – while putting his own highly individual stamp on the tunes. 

With Jeff MIller and Jim Nelson

1. Rachel
2. Wild Horse
3. Folding Down the Sheets
4. Ragged Shirt
5. Richmond Polka
6. Sandy River Belle
7. Spotted Pony
8. Happy Jack
9. Fair Morning Hornpipe
10. Indian Squaw
11. Polly Put the Kettle On
12. Run, Smoke, Run
13. Molly Put the Kettle On
14. Billy in the Lowground
15. Three Forks of Sandy
16. New Five Cents
17. Muddy Lane
18. Twin Sisters
19. Walk Along John
20. Arkansas Traveler
21. Wilson's Hornpipe
22. Martha Campbell

Alice Gerrard, Chris Brashear, Cliff Hale and Jim Watson.

The Piedmont Melody Makers play old- time, country and bluegrass music and make no apologies for it. They take their name from the Piedmont region of eastern North Carolina, where three-quarters of the band now reside. One-quarter of the band is a known vagabond. 

1. Sold Old Day
2. Over the Sea
3. Piedmont Melody Makers Theme
4. Kentucky Home
5. Are You Lonesome Tonight
6. One and Only
7. Wonderful World Outside
8. I'll Be There
9. Sweeter Day
10. Trials Troubles Tribulations
11. Little Boy Loser
12. Six More Miles
13. Poor Little Orphaned Boy
14. Buehler's March
15. Troublesome Waters
16. Just Keep Waiting Till the Good Times Come

 The Midwest’s premier fiddler – Chirps Smith presents twenty-six tunes that evoke memories of front-porch music-making on the Illinois prairie and dances held in cabins in the hollers of Little Egypt, all played in a style he calls simply, and modestly, “Midwestern.” 

1. Amish Town
2. Old Missouri
3. Ten Cents
4. Charlie Wyler's Tune
5. D & G Polka
6. Chase the Banshee
7. Lost Indian
8. Old Red
9. Fishin' Limber
10. Grotts
11. Elie's Waltz
12. Down in Little Egypt
13. Joke on the Puppy
14. Rolling the Logs
15. Bowling Green
16. White's Polka
17. Polish Tune (Kujawiak)
18. Hop-Scotch Polka
19. Tippin' Back the Corn
20. Mr. Fisher's Old German Waltz
21. Illinois Cotillion
22. New Year's a-Comin'
23. Idlewood
24. Benton
25. California Waltz
26. Old Plantation

The Ill-Mo Boys played together from 1985 to 2007. Laugh and Grow Fat is their third recording and their first CD. In gathering the material for this album, the Ill-Mos have, for the most part, stuck a little closer to their home in Missouri. There are some nice tunes learned from fiddlers from all four corners of the state and points in between. They’ve also done some excavating through piles of old records and come up with some fine and spirited old songs by some of the early greats of country music. We hope you will sit back, kick off your shoes, and join us Ill-Mo style…while we laugh and grow fat…

Curtis Buckhannon on mandolins, banjo-mandolin, harmonica, vocals;Jim Nelson  on guitar, vocals; Geoff Seitz  on fiddle, vocals

1. Gone Indian
2. Tie Hacker #1
3. Farmer's Daughter
4. Saddle Old Kate
5. John Short's Tune
6. Nancy Jane
7. Going Across the Sea
8. Laugh and Grow Fat
9. All Around the Mountain
10. Salty River Reel
11. Married Life Blues
12. Duck Shoes Rag
13. I'm Rollin' On
14. Echoes of the Ozarks
15. Little White Lies
16. In the Pines
17. Bob Kings' Tune
18. Jawbone
19. Handsome Molly
20. Salt River
21. Little Dutch Girl
22. 9th of January
23. Texas Ranger
24. Shoot that Turkey Buzzard

Starry Crown, the debut CD by Rhys Jones and Christina Wheeler features the soaring harmonies of driving twin fiddles and plaintive duet singing, interspersed with some mighty fine fiddle/banjo and fiddle/guitar work. Rhys and Christina offer a contemporary take on old-time music that is bound please everyone.  

1. The Rebel's Raid
2. Johnny Bucker
3. Plowboy Hop
4. Jim Shank
5. Jack of Diamonds
6. Lazy Kate
7. Happy One-Step
8. Rake and Rambling Boy
9. Grub Springs
10. Gypsy Dance
11. Hogeyed Man
12. Oak Ridge Stomp
13. Chased Old Satan
14. Jenny Run Away in the Mud in the Night

Jones, Miller & Nelson are back with a new CD of old-time mountain fiddling – Mississippi Square Dance. They tear through 21 hot tunes, some classics and some soon-to-be classics, all learned from the masters, including Ed Haley, Doc Roberts, Clark Kessinger, Hoyt Ming, and others. 

 Rhys Jones – fiddle; Jeff Miller – banjo, mandolin; Jim Nelson – guitar 

1. Possum on a Rail
2. Sugar in the Gourd
3. Mississippi Square Dance
4. Creek's All Muddy And The Pond's All Dry
5. Chicken Reel
6. Indian Nation
7. Little Black Mustache
8. Greenback Dolly-O
9. Brushy Run
10. Charleston #2
11. One Eyed Riley
12. Sandy Boys
13. Blue Goose
14. Little Brown Jug
15. Lost Hornpipe
16. Shortening Bread
17. Irish Waltz
18. Chinquapin
19. Arkansas Traveler
20. Indian Squaw
21. Old Dan Tucker

1. Rye Straw
2. Twin Sisters
3. Half Past Four
4. Old Molly Hare
5. Blackberry Blossom
6. Silver Lake
7. All I've Got's Done Gone
8. Indian Ate A Woodchuck
9. Camp Chase
10. Cuckoo's Nest
11. Red Bird
12. Waynesboro
13. I'll Reap What I've Sown
14. Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase
15. Washington's March
16. Little Boy, Where'd You Get Your Britches
17. Bob Wills Tune
18. Brushy Run
19. Old Sledge
20. Salt River
21. Dry and Dusty