Waiting on the Gravy Train

Freight Hoppers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 18, 1998)
• Original Release Date: August 18, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B000009NTB
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,744 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Freights are even tighter on this, their second CD., September 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Waiting on the Gravy Train (Audio CD)

This group is magic as a unit. They play with awareness and respect for the old-time styles, but above all, with enthusiasm and focus. The solo ballads are also beautifully sung.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Woah! Now that's right nice music..., October 1, 2009

By 

Skeeter Hater (SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waiting on the Gravy Train (Audio CD)

Yeah this here's some fine music coming out of the Blue Ridge Mtns of NC. They are clean and clear. We had the pleasure of seeing them perform the summer of 2009, while waiting on the Great Smokey Mtn Railway excursion in Dillsboro, NC. They have changed a few members over the years, but have kept improving the sound.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars old music, new life, October 2, 1998

By 

Jerome Clark (Canby, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Waiting on the Gravy Train (Audio CD)

It's no simple trick to carry old-time Southern music into the late 20th Century, especially when those grand 1920s recordings from which the revivalist bands draw their repertoires are readily available in reissues from Yazoo, Revenant, Smithsonian/Folkways, and other labels. But the Freight Hoppers pull it off more successfully than any outfit we've heard in a while. In fact, they're surely the most accomplished neo-old-time outfit since the legendary Highwoods Stringband in the 1970s. The songs here are largely standards -- "Nobody's Business" in particular should have been left in mothballs -- but on the whole the Freight Hoppers manage to make even the worn-out sound fresh, through distinctive arrangements, unusual melodies, and pleasing harmonies. They cut right to the heart, at once dark and hopeful, of the venerable hymn "We Shall All Be Reunited," and the warhorse "Shortenin' Bread" comes roaring back to life in their accomplished hands. All in all, this engaging and entertaining exercise gives us cause for hope that even better is to come.