Ken and Brad Kolodner’s skipping stones taught me a sobering lesson about judging a book by its cover.
I looked at their press release and saw “father son duo.”
Okay.
Then I kept reading and saw “Appalachian old time music.”
Groooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaan
But I figured hey, why not?
And I’m glad I gave the album a shot.
It may not be the kind of thing that gets your blood pumping, but the Kolodners sure do make pretty sounds.
I guess what I don’t like about old-time is that it sounds really busy to me. It’s the same reason I don’t care for metal. A lot of the time, the music is about getting people dancing and showing off your own chops. It’s not very melodic. That’s me, at least.
But the Kolodners have made me come around. Whether they’re giving a two-timing girl a good scolding on “down on my knees” or leisurely winding through an instrumental like “the orchard,” their music is downright stately. The Kolodners clearly have a deep respect for their source material but not to the point where they’ve trapped it in amber. This isn’t hillbilly sawing. They’re reserved and confident; they know they’re good and they love their music. While I generally like to keep my music loud, skipping stones has made me change my tune (so to speak.)
the orchard
down on my knees
the cowboy waltz/tombigbee’s waltz