"Steel String Americana"

by Paul Asbell

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Get all 4 Paul Asbell releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of "Burmese Panther", "From Adamant To Atchafalaya", "Roots & Branches", and "Steel String Americana". , and , .

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1.	Such A Night 04:29	buy track
2.	Happy Thumb 03:28	buy track
3.	You Can't Get That Stuff No More 03:40	buy track
4.	Down In The Valley To Pray/Jesus Make Up My Dyin' Bed 04:52	buy track
5.	My Blue Hellhound 04:11	buy track
6.	Stardust 05:11	buy track
7.	Stack–A–Lee 04:16	buy track
8.	Amos Moses 04:18	buy track
9.	Bury Me Beneath the Willow/Redwing/Knuckle Breakdown 03:15	buy track
10.	I Loves You, Porgy 04:18	buy track
11.	You've Been A Good Ole Wagon 03:48	buy track
12.	Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? 03:32	buy track

about

The roots of "classic" American guitar can be clearly traced to a small bunch of gifted players who devised their own styles, musical conventions and technical strategies to enable themselves to be a self-sufficient musical world. No one will ever know what "roots" pioneers Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Maybelle Carter, or Moses Rager took from their forerunners; but no one can doubt that Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Rev. Gary Davis, Doc Watson, and Merle Travis respectively picked up where the previous players left off, fashioning solo guitar styles full of melodic detail, driving rhythm, contrapuntal complexity, and enormous influence on the players who followed them.
I've come up with the term "Steel-String Americana" to symbolize the legacy of these early acoustic pioneers. The fruits of their pragmatic ingenuity have now become tightly-defined genres, with player appreciation societies, summer guitar camps, internet newsgroups, and entire magazines specifically devoted to each stylistic thread in the fabric.
But this recording is dedicated to a very different proposition. The American folk tradition has always been the mutt at the dog show of pedigreed musical convention, winning by popular demand, to the consternation of the judges. Within these songs, many of which date back to the beginning of recorded folk history, I've tried to explore beyond the normal boundary lines, where "no-man's-land" begins... as if to say, "what would a New Orleans slow drag in the style of, say, Fats Waller sound like.... but played on guitar by, let's see.... Josh White?"
Hmmm.......

credits

released March 20, 2020

Paul Asbell- acoustic guitars, National steel guitar, vocals, feet
Sandra Wright- vocal (on I Loves You, Porgy)
Mike Sucher- Hammond B-3 (on Stardust)
Tony Markellis- Taylor acoustic bass (on Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow)

Special thanks to: Jeff Miller, Rick Davis, and Joanie Eicker, for the necessary hounding.... long-time compatriot Chuck Eller and Lane Gibson, for their great ears.... Mike, Tony, and Sandra, for their wonderful contributions.... Jeff Traugott, Julius Borges, T.J. Thompson, Santa Cruz Guitars, David Eichelbaum, and Jamie Kinscherff for their marvelous instruments, my wife Celia, for continued support and encouragement, and all the musical titans who've inspired this music.

Produced by Paul Asbell for Busy Hands Records. All recording, mixing, and mastering done at Charles Eller Studios, Charlotte, VT, by Chuck Eller and Lane Gibson.

Busy Hands Records
56 Pomeroy St
Burlington, VT 05401
www.paulasbell.com

Dedicated to the memory of my dad, Bernie Asbell.

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about

Paul Asbell Burlington, Vermont

Paul Asbell has played and recorded with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Paul Butterfield, Magic Sam, Earl Hooker, David Bromberg, Sonny Stitt, Bobby McFerrin, and many others.
Paul’s 3 solo acoustic CDs received rave reviews in Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Player, Vintage Guitar, Downbeat, and Blues Revue. ... more

paulasbell.com

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