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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZOLD SCHOOL FREIGHT TRAINA string band that plays dawg music. What is dawg music? The term was invented by multi-instrumentalist David Grisman, who had played with Maria Muldaur, John Sebastian, Peter Rowan, Jerry Garcia, Vassar Clements, and later made a duet album with Stephane Grappelli. Muldaur is Now making classic Blues albums; the others include stoned rockers, the greatest living country fiddler and one of the greatest jazz fiddlers. When Grisman made a string band album in 1977, critics called it ‘newgrass’, but Grisman was tired of labels. He called it dawg music. A dog will eat anything that smells interesting; similarly, some musicians who will play anything they want. Old School Freight Train are good at it. Their hero was Grisman; they sent him a demo, and he liked it: their live CD, Run (2005), was issued on Grisman's AcousticDisc label, and next thing they knew they were sharing bills with their hero. Their first album was self-titled, on the Courthouse label, and had Ann Marie Simpson on fiddle; their second was Pickin' on Wilco: Casino Side 2005 on CMH, a label that specializes in tributes played by bluegrass groups. By the time of Run the quintet was Jesse Harper, guitar and lead vocals; Ben Krakauer, banjo; Nate Leath, fiddle; Pete Frostic, mandolin; and Darrell Muller, bass. All are experienced musicians (Leath is a student at Berklee), and all are music freaks, listening to everything from Beatles to Bollywood. When they had an extra fiddle they played the Bach double violin concerto; on the way to a gig in the car, they might be listening to Chick Corea. After a set at a music festival, Harper might cut an interview short because he wants to be front-and-center to see somebody else's set. On Run they covered tunes by Stevie Wonder and Randy Newman; Harper chooses the covers, because he's the one who has to sing them, but they each write original stuff. They do all the arranging as a group, because it's the arrangements that have to work. They'll throw in a Latin-American feeling (there's a tango on the album); Krakauer will play one of Wonder's funky riffs on the banjo; Muller will transcribe a George Harrison solo for upright bass (they've started covering 'Someone' since the album was made); and their original work is laced with fiery instrumentals. Their musicianship allows them to stay out of each other's way, and Run was recorded straight to two-track analogue tape: dawg music musn't be over-produced; if it is, it will turn into what the British call a dog's dinner. |