Customer Reviews

If I Go Ten Thousand Miles

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Back in the seventies I used to drive from Norfolk, Virginia every August to attend the Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Galax, Virginia. Galax is located in Southwest, Virginia and is in the heart of the area considered to be one of the principal birthplaces of old time country music, the `Oh Brother' sound. Some of the best picking at this festival was not on the stage, but in the jam sessions that used to take place in the horse stalls around the perimeter of the field. These would last long into the night and the music was simply mesmerizing. The highest compliment I can think to give this CD is that Dirk Powell and company have channeled the sound from these jam sessions closer then any recorded music I have ever heard. And it's not all just rockin' mountain trance/dance music either. There are slow beautiful mournful pieces and wonderful vocals as well. I have been collecting this type of music for the past thirty years and without question "If I go ten thousand miles" is now my all time favorite old time CD.

I have purchased 3 copies of this CD: the first in 1996 at Merlefest where I first heard Dirk Powell, the second a few months later for my sister who plays clawhammer banjo, and a third at Christmas 2000 for a friend here in Wichita who is learning clawhammer. Why? Because Dirk is one of the best Old Time(OT)players around. His heart is in the tradition of this music. Dirk plays banjo, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, and guitar. He is accompanied on this CD by the likes of Tim O'Brien, John Herrman, Tom Sauber, Jim Miller, and his wife Christine Balfa.

My favorite track is gospel tune, I Am The Man, Thomas, with O'Brien on mandolin and two members of the Mamou Playboys singing harmony. (Oh yeah, Dirk plays Cajun music with his wife's band, Balfa Toujours). Close second is Tim singing a chilling version of Pretty Polly, then Lonesome Dove with Dirk on fiddle. There are also wonderful instrumental tracks with fiddle, clawhammer, and guitar.

"Old Time music - it's better than it sounds", is a joke you often hear around jams because the more authentic it is the less palatable it is to the average listener. But not this CD - it's authentic, and it sounds great!!

If you like old-time, string-band, mountain, etc... this is a fantastic album. If you wanted to introduce someone to this genre, you can't put on an old, scratchy, high-pitched recording...that's for the true lovers of this. This album is clean without being too clean.

My father got me hooked on bluegrass, I found one of Dirk Powells songs -cousin sally brown - on a tape he sent me and wanted to hear more. I found this cd and I loved it. One of the best fiddlers I've ever heard.