Appalachian bluegrass legends Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard got together in the 1960’s over a shared love of old songs and Appalachian music and culture. Through jam sessions, the two discovered a musical kinship that found the duo quickly moving beyond the conventional bluegrass instrumentation and repertoire to include songs from all over the country, from traditional folk ditties to country ballads to old stringband songs. Sing Me Back Home: The DC Tapes, 1965-1969 perfectly captures their unique dynamic together and their love of the music they played. The set on songs came directly from Alice Gerrard’s private archive and was digitized with help from the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC Chapel Hill; only one of the newly unearthed tracks has ever been commercially released by the duo. Spanning nineteen songs, the duo sings the classic country of The Carter Family, The Louvin Brothers, and Jimmie Rodgers; contemporary hits of the 1960s penned by Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard; and barn-burning traditional standards. Sing Me Back Home is an excellent album and intimate look at two musical pioneers and their musical bond. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | The Carter Family, Ola Belle Reed, Lesley Riddle, Doc Watson