Today as I looked down the Folk DJ Chart for November 2010, I spotted an artist, who falls into that group of artists that I should have be listening to but haven’t, John McCutcheon. His new CD Passage was number 19 on the list last month! So I went to Rhapsody and put the album on the MP3 player and. well, you know the rest, “What was I thinking!”. John is a native of Wisconsin, now living in Avondale Estates, Georgia, so I guess he is a Damn Yankee! (That’s one who stays!) He is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter. A master of the hammered dulcimer, he also plays guitar, banjo, autoharp, mountain dulcimer, fiddle, and Jew’s harp and he is a terrific songwriter a talent is very evident on this new album!
The album was recorded in Decatur, GA and in Nashville and a bunch of great musicians, who are also John’s friends, help out on the album, including: Kathy Mattea, Suzy Bogguss, Tim O’Brien, and sister Mollie, Stuart Duncan, and John Jennings. I have heard John’s music before in passing but never gave an album serious listening, uh, mistake! The songs on this album are great as is John’s voice and the music!
I could gush about all the songs which cover such topics as: mining “One More Day’ and “Your Age”, relationships with your father “With My Father” (a favorite) and “Iowa”, and friends “Friendly Competition”, and other songs about life and love! The songs from the album that appear on the Folk DJ list are “Glory Hallelujah” and the aforementioned “One More Day” A quote from his website is right on!
“no one explores the uncharted, unspoken territories of the grown-up heart like John McCutcheon”
You can find out more about John and his music at his Myspace page John McCutcheon. As for me, once again I have a lot of catching up to do! Twenty four plus albums worth!!
Here’s a fantastic video of McCutcheon hammered dulcimer prowess on “Step by Step”