Description
• Bear Family Records® presents the Brother Boys, an Americana act from East Tennessee founded in the late 1980s by Ed Snodderly and Eugene Wolf, still active these days.
• • The individual style mix of classic country, folk, old-time, bluegrass, blues, rockabilly, gospel, and singer-songwriter pop stubbornly resists any pigeonholing and still sounds ahead of its time.
• • Described by the band itself as ‘New Hillbilly Music,’ the Brother Boys carry musical traditions from the last century into the modern day.
• • The album includes nearly all of the tracks from the 1988 debut album, a host of tracks from the two albums originally released on Sugar Hill, as well as eight unreleased live and radio recordings and selections from the 2021 comeback album.
• • Compiled and annotated by Appalachian music expert Ted Olson, the double album delivers 51 songs, extensive interviews and numerous photos, some published for the first time.
• • Marcus Heumann has sensitively remastered the recordings from the original sources.
Whether in concert or on recordings, The Brother Boys – bandleaders Ed Snodderly and Eugene
Wolf and their various bandmates – for more than three decades have created music reflecting the
influence of several roots music styles while remaining original, true to their own sound. Deeply rooted
in the past yet ahead of their time, The Brother Boys have been overlooked precisely because their
music is not easily categorizable. In 1988, Snodderly, Wolf, and some bandmates recorded the
group’s eponymous debut album for their own label, New Hillbilly Records. The Brother Boys were
steeped in the histories of several musical genres, with a repertoire that drew from – but did not imitate
– classic country, folk, old-time, bluegrass, blues, rockabilly, gospel, and singer-songwriter pop.
What rendered The Brother Boys’ music distinctive was its organic blend of ingredients: Snodderly’s
and Wolf’s authoritative lead vocals and adventurous ‘brother duo’-style harmony singing; older but
not overly familiar standards mixed with Snodderly’s evocative original songs; as well as deft and
daring acoustic and electric guitar playing from Snodderly with skilled instrumental support from a
merry band of string and percussion wizards.
‘New Hillbilly Music’ compiles 51 Brother Boys recordings made between 1988 and 2022. Newly
remastered, these recordings include virtually all of the band’s ultra-rare debut album, numerous
Brother Boys classics from two acclaimed Sugar Hill Records albums, 8 previously unreleased live
radio and concert performances, several Brother Boys gems originally found on other albums, and
key tracks from the recent comeback album ‘More Mule’.
Including rare photographs documenting the history of The Brother Boys alongside a revelatory interview with Snodderly and Wolf, this Bear Family Records® album (the third album in the label’s ‘On The Honky Tonk Highway’ series) will take the listener on a rollicking drive up and down the backroads of a rolling, and at times majestically mountainous, Appalachian landscape. Embodying music traditions without being bound by them, these recordings reveal The Brother Boys to be far more than a moldy revivalist act. With fans of American roots music worldwide presently acknowledging the 100th anniversary of the emergence of the genre once called ‘hillbilly music’ (i.e., country music), ‘New Hillbilly Music’ showcases songs, sounds, and styles that coalesced in the 1920s, flourished throughout the 20th century, and continue to evolve and inspire in the 21st century.
CD1:
Wanna, Wanna, Wanna Blue From Now On The Diamond Stream Majestic The First Time Loose Talk
(You’ve Got The Look Of A) Perfect Diamond Tango Till You’re Sore Two Men Blue Days, Black Nights
Town That Never Sleeps My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You Black Fifty Ford Nickel Plate Road I’m No Longer In Your Heart Jordan Am A Hard Road To Travel Small Southern Town Pinto Pony The Great Atomic Power Gonna Row My Boat Kiss The Dream Girl Alone With You Blue Guitar Darkest Day Satellite Shack Come On In (And Make Yourself At Home) Crazy Heart Heartaches Meet Mr. Blues
CD2:
The Brother Boys with Jerry Douglas: Pearlie Mae Band Box Moonshine Grin What’s The Calling For Those Two Blue Eyes When The Day Is Done Tell Me What You Want Me To Do Strange Let’s Shake Loose Twist You Up I’ll Rise When the Rooster Crows Then and Only Then Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven Conversation With Death The Ramshackle Shack Crazy Arms I Just Roll Along In The Shadow Of Clinch Mountain Memphis Shakedown I Can’t Tell You Anymore (What I Need) Shade And River Time Sweet Riverside Goodbye
GENRE: Rock N Roll
BARCODE: 4000127176851
RELEASE DATE: 18/08/2023
