1865: Songs of Hope and Home —Anonymous 4; Bruce Molsky, vocals, banjo, guitar (Harm Mundi 807549)
Back in January 2015, NPR said of this disc: “Four a cappella voices making divine music: This has been the heart of Anonymous 4's mission for nearly three decades. And as the group bids farewell this season, they're saying goodbye in a poignant way — with the release of an album that couldn't feel more timely. It commemorates the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction. 1865 — subtitled Songs of Hope and Home from the American Civil War — is the third release in what's become an Americana triptych from this quartet (less anonymously, Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer and Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek). This time around, they're joined by an excellent old-time musician, Bruce Molsky, who sings and plays fiddle, banjo and guitar. It's an organic collaboration, but the combination also evokes a specific dynamic: women tending the homefront, men on the battlefield…One hundred and 50 years on, there are still a few songs whose tunes and ideas remain familiar, including Stephen Foster's Hard Times Come Again No More, published in 1854, and Robert Lowry's 1864 Shall We Gather at the River? Another, the 1861 love song Aura Lee, found new life in another context altogether, as the melody for one of Elvis Presley's biggest hits, Love Me Tender. But some have largely receded from popular memory; if some of today's alt-folkies are looking for "new" material, there's plenty here.” Read the whole review here.
Featured Fri 1/8, Fri 1/22 (originally featured in July 2015)