Customer Reviews

Waiting on the Gravy Train

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I love traditional music and I love the Freight Hoppers.

This is my favorite cd of all time. If they had Hound Chase on it I might never eject it. Frank Lee and Cary Fridley were tremendous together.. I wish this foursome had never split. Add this one to your cart and check out!

This album gives old standards fire and passion. If you are fond of mountain music and the American folk tradition, this might very well be a great pick to get you up and dancing. In a number of songs on this album, the sound-focus is primarily on the fiddle playing. More of an instrumental give-and-take might have added a little extra color in places. Yet the vocal harmonizing is really something special, and the ballads add a special beauty. I got this album after traveling through the great state of New Hampshire and hearing a song called "We Shall All Be Reunited." If you get a copy of this album for this song and this song only, you will be richly rewarded. To hear such a sweet voice singing these nostalgic and hopeful words was a true honor for me. Thanks, Cary Fridley!