Drum Hat Buddha

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 12, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Signature Sounds
• ASIN: B00005J6Z3
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,559 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Album Notes Personnel includes: Dave Carter (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonium, organ); Tracy Grammer (vocals, guitar, violin, mandolin, percussion); Tim Darby (slide guitar); Bill Oskay (violin, harmonium); Nancey Ives (cello); Eric Park (accordion); Donny Wright (acoustic & electric basses).Principally recorded at Big Red Studios, Corbett, Oregon in December 2000.Digitally remastered using HDCD technology.Composer: Dave Carter .Personnel: Dave Carter (banjo); Tracy Grammer (guitar).Additional personnel: Tim Darby (resonator guitar); Nancy Ives (cello); Eric Park (accordion); Billy Oskay (harmonium); Donny Wright (acoustic bass); Lorne Entress (drums); Claire Bard (background vocals).Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer would be impressive as solo artists, but together they have become the up-and-coming duo to keep an eye on. Drum Hat Buddha follows the critically acclaimed Tanglewood Tree, featuring the same dense, symbol-filled lyrics set to fairly straightforward arrangements.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS is what folk music is all about!, December 25, 2001

By 

Kori Frazier (Kent, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drum Hat Buddha (Audio CD)

Over the last several months, five folk music fans, as well as Amazon and CDNow's Best of 2001 lists, have told me that this is one of best albums of this year. Finally, I decided to listen. And upon finishing my first listen of this album, I only had one question for myself: "What the heck took you so long?"

I'm going to put this plain and simple: BUY THIS CD. There is not a track to be skipped on this album, and even if one doesn't find all the songs pleasing the first time, eventually he will. DRUM HAT BUDDHA represents everything that all music should be--Dave's music and lyrics and the harmonious combination of the two's voices make this an album not to be missed. From the phenomenal opening track "Ordinary Town" to the uplifting "236-6132," to the hypnotizing "Love, the Magician," each song possesses a unique charm and pleasing quality all its own. This CD is a true musical journey--you will be enthralled by the haunting "Tillman County," moved by the gorgeous "Gentle Arms of Eden," and if you don't at least tap your toes during "Highway 80 (she's a mighty good road)," you might want to check your pulse because you might be dead. Every song on this album is an absolute gem.

However, the most important thing to keep in mind about this album is that one must not be mislead by the folk genre--this album is so unbelievable that anyone who doesn't find at least one thing they like about it, regardless of what kind of music they like, needs to have his head examined. DRUM HAT BUDDHA is surely one of the best of 2001 and is not to be missed!

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original, Brand New Yet Totally Timeless...., June 12, 2001

By 

Patrice Webb (Georgetown, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drum Hat Buddha (Audio CD)

In some ways today's Folk Scene has never been healthier; however, few modern folkies come close to approaching the kind of literary heights that Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer offer in their music. Although seemingly complex, Carter and Grammer's recipe is simple: Combine one part stellar mandolin picking, one part intuitive fiddle playing with the almost prescient harmony of two voices, throw in the Yin and Yang of Carter's lyrics, and you have one of the most original folk duos to come along in years.

In contrast with their first release, the mystically sparse "When I Go", and the Alt/Pop/Country of last year's "Tanglewood Tree", "Drum Hat Buddha" has an almost Beatlesque feel to it in that in places it is reminiscent of the Beatles "Norwegian Wood" with its delicately frenzied finger picking and Lennon-McCartney harmonies. In contrast with previous offerings, that only dance around the edges of the spiritual, this disk carries with it an almost evangelical shammanistic flavor that is as Christian, as it is Pagan, as it is Buddhist. In this CD, Carter sees the mystical in all things and sets out on an exploration of life with the Yin and its dark side, and the Yang of its light side.

On the CD's opening track, "Ordinary Town", Grammer sings of the troubles of a small town visionary and the limits such a life imposes on the desire to be artful. "Tillman County" with its images of fire and brimstone, spins a tale of Biblical proportions of living at the mercy of Mother Nature. "Gentle Arms of Eden" becomes a joyful lesson in evolutionary biology in which we are reminded to make the best of this "only sacred ground we have ever known" and of the importance of putting our fate in the gentle arms of a higher power.

Carter's singing with its charming Texas twang has always conveyed a sense of wonderment - he sings as though he is seeing the world for the first time - and Grammer's playing and singing has never been better or more confident. With music that has the feel of timeless old time folk with a modern sensiblity, this is truly a disk that will stand out as one of the more original releases of the year from a group that is one of the most original of the new millennium. This disk is a must have for folkies and lovers of the mystical alike.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful - Take a chance on this CD, January 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Drum Hat Buddha (Audio CD)

What can I say, from hearing Crocodile Man a few times on a 'sampler disk', I was so impressed that I bought this CD and also Tanglewood Tree (which has the Crocodile recording).

These songs are full of soul and you cannot miss the virtousity of the musicians - the strings ache and bring tears to your eyes in places. If there was a single theme here it would be that all of the songs tell stories - some of them contain familiar legends, others are a new viewpoint on the familiar or rather humourous/sad observations of modern rural life.

I highly recommend this and Tanglewood Tree. If you are looking for traditional folk or country, look elsewhere - this has an entirely different feeling though it shares from those forms. The songs are original and fresh even though many speak of times long past.