The steeldrivers cd

[Crowder]

I picked this up after reading the story on the home page and a few other reviews. After 5-6 listens, I have to say I am really knocked out by these guys. It did take me that many listens to get really comfortable with it--the production is very compressed and light on the high end, and it takes some getting used to. Now I can understand why they did it. The CD sounds like I think the band sounds, and unlike any other band. It reminds me of the tone on the Steve Earle/Del McCoury recording, "The Mountain."

There are several songs on this album that I can imagine will be lifelong favorites--they're just very well-crafted tunes. Since discovering the band, I've caught a few videos on You Tube, one of which is "Can You Run," a great song that didn't make the CD but will also remain a favorite.

Disclaimer: if you're a bluegrass purist, please skip this record. It's not for you. If you just love good music, don't miss it.

I couldn't be more excited about the future of bluegrass music. I think the music is finally mature enough, you could say strong enough, to withstand the energy of new ideas and material being brought to the table. The Steeldrivers, the Steep Canyon Rangers, Chatham County Line, and lots of other bands are writing new material, incorporating different instruments, and BUILDING ON the tradition of the music. I would say that these bands are closer to "real bluegrass" than some performers who have been accepted by traditionalists over time (like the Seldom Scene, or Tim O'Brien), but such distinctions really seem less important than ever to me.

If you haven't checked out The Steeldrivers yet, a good place to start would be the CMT site where they perform four songs in the studio and sit for interviews. The only downer is that three of the songs feature the mandolin player on slide guitar instead, so you will have to check out the YouTube selections for mandolin content.

[Steve Cantrell]

I think it's really good. Love the vocals--the guy makes me think of a Van Zant. It's not an instrumental blowout, but it doesn't have to be. All of these players put their pieces together and really make it work. I particularly like "Midnight Train to Memphis", "East Kentucky Home" and "Drinking Dark Whiskey". Whiskey, trains and Kentucky? They're definitely on the right track.

[Jean Fugal]

Check out their My Space page. "You put the hurt on me". Blows me away.

Here

http://profile.myspace.com/index.c....7169343 (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=67169343)

http://#######.com/2x96f7

.............Jean

[Landgrass]

I knew Mike Henderson and Mike Flemming back in the 70's as part of the music scene in Columbia, Missouri. They were in a "Bluegrass" band call The Mid-Missouri Hell Band and were pretty much local legends around town. Mike Flemming played a mean banjo and Forrest Rose was the base player. Henderson also played in a Blues band playing harmonica and slide guitar, both of which he excelled at. I lost track of him after college but re-discovered him when I visited an old college roommate in Nashville who was a music promoter. He gave me a copy of Hendersons solo album "Country Music Made Me Do It", a rockabilly sounding album. When I saw the story on the home page it brought back a lot of fond memories of these guys. I'll definately have to pick this one up.

[mrmando]

Shoot, I'll buy anything with Tammy Rogers on it. Check out her solo CD, or the duo CD she made with Don Heffington.

[Jonathan James]

Yeah, its great. My favorite cut is "Heaven Sent".

[Dando]

i saw the steeldrivers at joe val '08. the whole group was sick with a cold, and voices were a bit on the raspy side. stapleton's vocals were unbelievable live. i mean that with all the intensity i can. he really let it rip, giving presence and tension to his efforts. really good!!!! i sat in the front row at joe val and listened to both sets intently. the album is great, but i can say they were even greater live. we need to see more of this group in the future. i can't wait to see them at grey fox.

[Roger]

Going to hear them tonight at Kimbros in FRanklin, TN. They are great live. I have had the cd since day 1 and listen frequently.

[smokinop]

I love the cd, it's been in the car for weeks. I love the harmonies & especially Tammy's fiddle playing. Chris Stapleton sounds like a young Dan Penn to me, soulful! The quality of the songs are what keeps me coming back to listen to it again & again. The rhythm section is strong between the bass & mando but the few mandolin solo's on the cd doesn't sound consistent in the mix, to me. Other than that minor issue, it's my favorite release of 2008, so far.

[mandopete]

Yes, I suspect there will be quite a bit of buzz in the bluegrass world about this recording. #One of the cuts I especially liked is called Sticks That Made Thunder. #Anyone here know the story behind that one?

The colors flew high and they danced in the sky
As I watched them come over the hill
Then to my wonder sticks that made thunder
And such a great number lay still

[Crowder]

Yes, I suspect there will be quite a bit of buzz in the bluegrass world about this recording. #One of the cuts I especially liked is called Sticks That Made Thunder. #Anyone here know the story behind that one?

The colors flew high and they danced in the sky
As I watched them come over the hill
Then to my wonder sticks that made thunder
And such a great number lay still
I like that track too. If you listen closely to the first verse there are plenty of clues to the POV from which the story is told. It's a unique angle to say the least.

The choruses of "Heaven Sent," "Sticks..." and "Can You Run" have such strong hooks. They're simple melodies but they just get me every time. Wish I could learn to write that way.

[mandopete]

Agreed. #I think that's one of the key elements that they've taken from bluegrass.

[Landgrass]

Pete...I think this is about a Civil War battle.

Some were the color of the sky in the winter (Grey)
Some were as blue as the night (Blue)

...Little white trees that don't bend in the breeze (crosses?)

The colors flew high (Union and Confederate flags?)

[mandopete]

Excellent - thanks!

I was kind of thinking that that it was about missiles (sticks) and in my mind it made me think about about more recent wars. I guess the "sticks" could be guns instead.

[Wesley]

I like what I've heard so far. I think this one is really going to grow on me and be one of my favorites.

[loafers glory]

Evenin'....
This band is kicking it now...I've caught 'em twice at the Ststion Inn,sellout both nights .The young man singing really reminds me of the young Alan Obryant and Russell Moore.He has the power to sing as he pleases and the musical sense to know just when to kick it up a notch...the boy can sing.
And..if you want a photo of laid back....just watch Richard Bailey and his banjo...not busy,just tasteful...he lived in my old house in Nashville...he and David Grier...good grief..them two were a mess now.I'm right proud of him,growed up to be a goodun....

RE

[mandopete]

See now ya started something. #I just spent the last 30 minutes jammin' along with Hear The Willow Cry. #What a great set of chord changes to jam to!

[nashvillebill]

I knew Mike Henderson and Mike Flemming back in the 70's as part of the music scene in Columbia, Missouri. They were in a "Bluegrass" band call The Mid-Missouri Hell Band and were pretty much local legends around town. Mike Flemming played a mean banjo and Forrest Rose was the base player. Henderson also played in a Blues band playing harmonica and slide guitar, both of which he excelled at. I lost track of him after college but re-discovered him when I visited an old college roommate in Nashville who was a music promoter. He gave me a copy of Hendersons solo album "Country Music Made Me Do It", a rockabilly sounding album. When I saw the story on the home page it brought back a lot of fond memories of these guys. I'll definately have to pick this one up.
Henderson has been around Nashville for 20 yrs- he used to have a band called "The Kingsnakes", then shortened to "The Snakes". For years after "The Snakes" he played about every Monday night at the Bluebird Cafe as "The Bluebloods" and then "The Mike Henderson Band"- featuring such stalwarts as Reese Winans, John Jarvis on keys; Glen Worf on bass and John Gardner on drums. The Snakes made one album back in the early '90s which is awesome- out of print, but if you ever run across it, buy it. He's basically a blues guitar/harmonica/vocal god. He wrote "Powerful Stuff" which was a hit for "The Fabulous Thunderbirds". I've got a demo version of Mike doing it with The Snakes that blows the T'birds version away...

[slow_hand]

See now ya started something. I just spent the last 30 minutes jammin' along with Hear The Willow Cry. What a great set of chord changes to jam to!
I'd like to do that but I can't figure the chords out myself.

[mandopete]

I'd like to do that but I can't figure the chords out myself.
Here ya go...

F#m / C#7 / E / B
F#m / C#7 / E / F#m

D / A / E / F#m
D / A / B / C#m

[slow_hand]

Thanks Pete. I'll give that a try.

[Patrick Sylvest]

I like the cd but I think a dobro player would do them good

[Crowder]

I like the cd but I think a dobro player would do them good
Henderson is known as a slide guitar player and plays some slide on a National metal body during their shows. Check out the material on CMT Unplugged 360 (via the web). Three of the four songs, he's playing slide. However, neither the fiddle player nor the banjo player do much of anything in the way of a chop, so I miss the mandolin when Mike's playing slide...

[EggerRidgeBoy]

Yes, I suspect there will be quite a bit of buzz in the bluegrass world about this recording. #One of the cuts I especially liked is called Sticks That Made Thunder. #Anyone here know the story behind that one?

The colors flew high and they danced in the sky
As I watched them come over the hill
Then to my wonder sticks that made thunder
And such a great number lay still
At Joe Val they introduced that song by explaining that it was written from the point of view of the trees at the Battle of Gettysburg. They were trying to imagine how a tree would make sense of armies fighting - thus the term "sticks that make thunder", etc.

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

When Bill Monroe meets Lynyrd Skynyrd would be my personnal definition of this ASTOUNDING band !!! I love them ...[B] http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[rekx]

I like the CD a lot but there is not enough mandolin. And I agree with what someone said above that they could use a dobro. The singer reminds me of Warren Haynes. I listened to it again this morning actually and it is definitely growing on me.

[Bobbie Dier]

I get see them tonight and for free!!! I'm really excited. I haven't been to a concert in a while. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[RI-Grass]

Mandopete wrote:
Here ya go...

F#m / C#7 / E / B
F#m / C#7 / E / F#m

D / A / E / F#m
D / A / B / C#m

This is a great song.
I get the following:

F#m / A / E / D
F#m / A / E / D

D / A / E / F#m
D / A / B7 / A#7

I usually do better trying to figure out the chords on guitar as I think you can be more "exact" than on the mando. For guitar (and those who don't mind a capo on the mando), capo on the 2nd fret and play as
Em/G/D/C,Em/G/D/C,C/G/D/Em,C/G/A7,B7

Fire off and let me know if I'm dead wrong.

[Rroyd]

Thunderstick was a common descriptive name applied to rifles and muskets, most generally by those being exposed to them for the first time; I suppose that would apply to the trees as well. My first thought upon reading the lyrics in Mandopete's post was that it was written from the point of view of an American Indian; I suppose the symbolism could apply to many eras of conflict, however we might choose to interpret it.

[Chad Stein]

Yes, I suspect there will be quite a bit of buzz in the bluegrass world about this recording. #One of the cuts I especially liked is called Sticks That Made Thunder. #Anyone here know the story behind that one?

The colors flew high and they danced in the sky
As I watched them come over the hill
Then to my wonder sticks that made thunder
And such a great number lay still
At Joe Val they introduced that song by explaining that it was written from the point of view of the trees at the Battle of Gettysburg. #They were trying to imagine how a tree would make sense of armies fighting - thus the term "sticks that make thunder", etc.
I saw them in the Birchmere about 3 or 4 months ago..they absolutely blew me away.

But I think Mike mentioned he had noticed this huge tree in the field where the battle of Nashville was fought, and thought it would be cool to use in a song. He said that Chris showed up that night and said"You're going think I'm crazy, but I want to write a song about a tree." So who knows if it really happened that way, but I thought it was a cool story.

Also as far as not having enough mando I think it's pretty mando heavy. There might not be a lot of leads but Mike's chops drive the whole thing when I listen to it.

[ssternlight]

I saw them at the Strawberry festival last weekend. They were one of my favorites. The vocals and the fiddle stood out the most. The mandolin playing wasn't too my taste sorry to say -- he did write all the cool songs though...

[Jim Broyles]

Mandopete wrote:
# Here ya go...

# F#m / C#7 #/ E #/ B
# F#m / C#7 / E #/ F#m

# D #/ A #/ E #/ F#m
# D / A #/ B #/ C#m

This is a great song.
I get the following:

F#m / A / E / D
F#m / A / E / D

D / A / E / F#m
D / A / B7 / A#7

I usually do better trying to figure out the chords on guitar as I think you can be more "exact" than on the mando. For guitar (and those who don't mind a capo on the mando), capo on the 2nd fret and play as
Em/G/D/C,Em/G/D/C,C/G/D/Em,C/G/A7,B7

Fire off and let me know if I'm dead wrong.
Not dead wrong, just wrong. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif #The second chord is definitely a C#. Pete's is closer to the record, but the chorus goes:

# D #/ A #/ E #/ B
# D / A #/ B #/C# Major - could be C#7, but A#7 is definitely wrong and I don't think it's minor. Theoretically, C# is the 5 of F#, and the 5 major resolves to the 1 minor stronger than than the 5 minor does, plus, the major punctuates the end of the chorus better to my ears.

[Bobbie Dier]

Wow!!!!What an awesome show. These guys have a great sound(their own). I bought both of their CDs even though they have a few of the same songs on them. One is a live show.

I love Chris Stapletons voice. The fiddle player use to be in the ETSU bluegrass band I think at one time. I think she use to be married to Adam Steffy?? You can tell the mandolin player has been hanging out with Ronnie McCoury. He has that Monroe sound down. They are my new favorites. Those CDs will be getting a LOT of play around here!!!

[Hardesty]

F#m-C#m-E-B
F#m-C#m-E-F#m

D-A-E-B
D-A-Bm-C#

The rule book says those Bs should be minors and that last C# should be a major but I think they stretched the rules a bit.

Sorry to dig this up. It was requested that I learn learn it for a jam this week. How these chords sound to you guys?

I am also working up a mandolin part to fill the shoes of the fiddle stuff. Let me know if you guys have any cool ideas for that.

[300win]

The song "Sticks That Made Thunder" is written from the standpoint that there are several trees still living on Civil War battlefields that witnessed the battle. I often wondered at looking at huge trees , if only they could talk, the stories they could tell. the line in the song ' so many numbers lay still" pertains to the killed. Not unless you're a Civil War buff, which I am, you probably would not know this, but there were more deaths in the Civil War { over 600,000 } than all other wars that America has been in combined. It was the first modern war fought with modern weapons, but with outdated methods. Men lined up and marched into the mouth of rifled cannons and muskets that could kill huge numbers at great range with one volley. Men were literally vaporized by cannons shooting grapeshot and canister rounds, like huge shotguns that could do this damage from 200-300 yards away. I've always been a huge reader of American military history. I believe the only modern battle that could be compared to the horror of battles in the Civil War, was the battle that the U.S Marine Corps fought on Iwo Jima. On that beach men were literally vaporized. Nothing glamorous about war.

[Skip Kelley]

Their new release "Reckless" is great. Check out the song "Peacemaker" Too cool!

[chip]

I agree. Steeldrivers are smokin. Too bad Chris left but Gary fills the shoes perfectly. Both CD's are equally outstanding and hope there's many more down the road...

[AshleyCrapp]

Here ya go...

F#m / C#7 / E / B
F#m / C#7 / E / F#m

D / A / E / F#m
D / A / B / C#m

Hey there, I don't suppose you can help me out? I am new to the mandolin, I have recently purchased myself a 110 year old french one as a spur of the moment purchase and I am really loving playing it! I was hoping you might have an idea of how to play to the Mandolin part for 'Heaven Sent' by the Steeldrivers? :)

[onionz]

Yes, I suspect there will be quite a bit of buzz in the bluegrass world about this recording. #One of the cuts I especially liked is called Sticks That Made Thunder. #Anyone here know the story behind that one?

The colors flew high and they danced in the sky
As I watched them come over the hill
Then to my wonder sticks that made thunder
And such a great number lay still

This is definately a view of a battleground from a Native Americans perspective. This brave was either watching a battle between the white man or a battle he was actually in. Sticks that made thunder - rifles. Describing all he see as compared to nature.

[aphillips]

I think it's actually from the perspective of a tree on the battlefield. The first stanza is:

My roots are deeper than the bones, the others
My colors that change with the sun
My branches, were higher
Than anything on the hillside
On the day that I watched them all come.

[Michael Bridges]

Yeah you got it right, it's from a tree's perspective. That first verse lays it out.They even stated that before they did it in the show I saw last month. I'm a huge Steelhead, love their songwriting and harmonies. They put on a GREAT show.

[Willie Poole]

I watched The Steeldrivers on a TV show called "Jubilee" and the sound set up was so bad ( not the bands fault) that all I could hear was a loud banjo and a loud fiddle, couldn`t hear much of the singing...I only watched about four songs because of that, Maybe one day someone will film them with a good sound system...

Willie

[Michael Bridges]

Agreed,Willie A poor sound mix ruins any chance of getting a real picture of how any artist sounds. Luckily, if you visit Youtube and search "Steeldrivers", there's a ton of video available. Some really decent quality, some looks and sounds like it was recorded on a smartphone. I just really like these guys.