Customer Reviews

Fishing Music

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Even if you're not an angler, an audition of Fishing
Music's "Upstream" will have you reaching for the
flyrod and wishing you could make rainbows rise. The
covers of Duke Ellington and Corey Harris are a
pleasure, but the original music, like "Upstream" by
bassist David Thompson (of Kane's River fame), is the
real treasure of this CD. Mandolin, dobro, guitar,
fiddle and bass are sweetly woven for an acoustic folk, jazz, and swing sound that's at once fresh and genuine.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been listening to this CD a lot. Every time I get in the car, I seem to be drawn to it. It was lent to me by some good friends who brought it back from a working trip at a songwriter workshop in Driggs, Idaho. John and Jo Ann Braheny are author and speaker on music business and creativity topics. Jo Ann says she heard this CD while in a restaurant and bought it immediately.

This is one of those CDs where you are inclined to listen from beginning to end each time. There is a building of form and content across all the songs that takes you back to the days when albums were more than just a collection of singles thrown together.

One of my favorite tracks is the instrumental Upstream. This a traveling song; one designed to be listened to while you are moving. Even here, in the congested traffic of Los Angeles, I can feel like I am driving down a country road, heading off to the fishing hole somewhere in the mountains. Other favorites include the standard Lazy River and a great original story song by the producers of the CD, Madison Brown.

Fishing Music is a CD you will return to again and again over weeks, months and years, whenever you need a recharge and want to dream about somewhere where the fish are biting all the time.

Fine playing and wonderful vocals are the highlight of this eclectic disc. Superb original tunes sprinkled with some new takes on chestnuts from the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington and Django Reinhardt ensure there are songs for everyone. It has become a road trip favorite for us. Highly recommended

Producers Ben Winship and David Thompson don't actually put their names on the cover of Fishing Music, the subtitle of which is "A Collection of Folk, Blues & Swing." But either or both of them are to be heard on every cut, along with a varying cast of 24 other singers and musicians on this thematic disc. Thompson plays bass on 11 out of 16 tracks, and Winship's main axe is mandolin, though he also plays bouzouki, among other exotic string instruments. Ranging across traditional jazz, bluegrass, and even one Celtic number, the collection is devoted to songs "inspired by fish, fishing, and rivers." The players have a lot of fun with that concept, particularly on instrumentals like "Fisherman's Reel" and comic tunes like "Fish Ain't Bitin'." "Fishing Blues" and Hoagy Carmichael's "Lazy River" are perhaps obvious choices, but "The Fishin' Hole," the familiar theme from TV's The Andy Griffith Show, is an inspired find, especially since the rarely heard lyrics are sung by Mollie O'Brien. There are also more serious songs, such as "Reflections off the Water" and Thompson and Winship's own "Ocean of Dreams," but the overall tone is light and lazy, appropriate to the theme. It's hard to imagine how the producers forgot the 1951 Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong hit "Gone Fishin'," which would have made an excellent inclusion, but that's one of the few criticisms that can be offered about this enjoyable set.

This album is not just for anglers. While I am no longer a devoted fisherman, I remain committed to finding music that has a true heart. As the title cut suggests, "it ain't the fish but the fishin'..." that matters, and choosing our work for the love of the work is the best path to quality. Clearly, David and Ben have chosen well. Their love of the music, theme, and place shines through on every track, uniting a wide range of styles and moods into one complete and satisfying whole. I had the great pleasure to meet both men at their music camp in Grand Targhee, Idaho last summer and they are as genuine as their music! Like the Teton Valley itself, this album is a treasure.
Jim Warford, Tallahassee, Florida

"This CD...makes me want to sing out loud and head toward a river and go fishing."
Lori-Ann Murphy, Reel Women Fly Fishing Adventures

hi ben and david

"i got the package on saturday.. it sounds really brilliant!!! very jazzy
and cool music. i love the extra production stuff you did around the set of reels. it really
gives it an extra something. i love it and feel very priveledged to be on it.

stay upstream.
leo

"The fishin' CD is fab. I've been listening to it all tour. I'm totally impressed with the production and writing... sounds great! I want a slew of them for xmas gifts!"
- Brian Wicklund, author of The American Fiddle Method