There’s something intensely satisfying about skipping rocks. Each ripple rings away in perfect circles as the stone breaks the water’s surface. Ken & Brad Kolodner’s new album Skipping Rocks follows suit.New tunes are ringed by Appalachian tradition and old tunes get a splash from the duo's fresh sound.
You'll notice that the Kolodners play in lock step, like they have a uniquely deep connection, and that's because they do: they are father and son.
“Playing as a father-son duo feels very natural,” says Brad Kolodner, who plays banjos, fiddle and adds vocals. “Besides being musical partners, we’re great friends. When we’re rehearsing, jamming, performing on stage or in the recording studio, we’re always locked in. Our musical sensibilities are very aligned.”
Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished hammered dulcimer players in the US, Ken Kolodner shines more than ever on Skipping Rocks. His gentle groove is the calm water over which Brad’s percussive banjo skips.
Drawing extensively from the canon of Appalachian old-time music, the duo can blaze through a melody with wicked precision or carefully deconstruct a tune, such as “John Brown’s March,” with inventive new arrangements. They also compose new songs to add to the tradition, such as Brad’s “The Orchard,” and Ken’s “The Reunion,” each with a backstory that you can almost hear through the notes.
The overall sound of the album is comforting and familiar, perhaps because the tracks were recorded in the Kolodners’ living room. “There was something very special about recording our album in the house where my father raised me,” says Brad. “My father and I will stay up some nights until the wee hours playing tunes in our living room. Being able to capture those magical jams in the same living room was ideal.”
From the faint creaks in the worn floorboards to the chirps of the tree swallows outside the window, the Kolodner's latest album brings us right into their lives. Even the below track, which was recorded in a studio, exudes a familial warmth, but don't take my word for it. Give a listen, and let us know: does Skipping Rocks make you feel at home?
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9WnYn3thbs#t=129
* Post adapted from Hearth Music media release.

You might call John Showman a West Virginia export. Born to a native of The Mountain State, he was raised in Canada. At just six years old, he picked up the violin, never imagining that the instrument would be propped on his shoulder lifelong or that it would lead him back to his momma's mountains. Today, he's the frontman for New Country Rehab, a Canadian band with wide-ranging influences (Latin grooves to surf-rock) that still holds tight to its bluegrass roots. John and his bandmates have been tearing up Toronto's acoustic scene for years and wracking up accolades on both sides of the border...and beyond. The British magazine UNCUT called them "Canada’s answer to the Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons." Chris Pandolfi of The Infamous Stringdusters said they were the highlight of the 2012 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards in Nashville. Next week, the band heads south again. On Friday, October 11, they take the stage at The Festy Experience, a three-day, twang-laced festival in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. For John, it's a musical homecoming of sorts. He'll be within spitting distance of his mother's home state and playing in the land where bluegrass was born. He's been rehearsing for the show nonstop but took a break this week to talk about mountain music and why he'll be avoiding brisket on this trip. He also shared a toe-tapping backyard session of his band's hit single "Home to You." What do you think of New Country Rehab's sound, and where else should they be playing in the Appalachian South?

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TR: Alright John, let's start with the fiddle. How did a nice Canadian boy like you end up playing such a Southernfied instrument? JS: I started playing violin when I was six and went to Indiana University for classical violin performance. I got sick of it and put it down (I thought!) for good in 1991. Then I heard Irish fiddle for the first time and also bluegrass fiddle. I picked up the instrument again and got a gig with a Montreal band that played both styles. TR: How did fiddling get you to where you are now? JS: I just stuck with it. I stayed with the Irish band until I moved to Toronto, where there was, and is, an excellent acoustic music scene—lots of bluegrass and old-time. I formed a new, acoustic group (Creaking Tree String Quartet) and a bluegrass band (Foggy Hogtown Boys), the latter of which is still going strong. In 2008, I decided to make a group where I could front a band and do all the lead singing. New Country Rehab was born. TR: When I listen to New Country Rehab, I hear a bunch of different influences. How would you describe your sound? JS: We start with a template of a country band—fiddle, electric guitar, double bass and drums, and just take the music into outer space. For every traditional element there is something original and exciting...crazy guitar riffs, Latin-flavoured drum and perc grooves, surf-rock bass lines, big fiddle melodies. The thing that keeps it all together is the intent of the band. We are singing about timeless and time-honoured themes: love, loss, spirituality, crime and redemption, sinners and saints. TR: How has mountain music—old time and bluegrass—shaped the band and your musical life? JS: I was always drawn to the sound of the fiddle played in the southern styles. I don't know why—I never grew up around it—but it just feels like the right way to use the instrument. Once I started getting into the songs and the musicians who were playing it, it was game, set and match. I'm hooked for life. TR: When you've toured around the South, have you found favorite spots to play? JS: Lexington and Nashville are great. Virginia looks like it will be a great place to discover. And my Mom grew up in West By God Virginia, so I'm hoping to play some shows there. We feel like kids in a candy store at this point...American audiences are great, and we are thrilled that we're being well-received. TR: What about favorite spots to eat? I mean good eats is half the reason to go on tour, right? JS: At this point, we're all just trying to stay lean! Southern cooking is a vortex of flavour and fat. I try to get salads as my main course whenever possible and whenever the spirit stays strong, although I'm a sucker for brisket. I'm gonna start writing songs about arteriosclerosis soon. TR: Finally, I have to ask...is Showman your God-given name? It couldn't be more perfect for your chosen career! JS: Yup and yup. I'm glad it suits what I'm doing, because in grade school people turned it into bad things. "Shitshow" and "Showgirl" were some of the funniest. Sometimes I still get "Snowman" from well-meaning and short-sighted hotel clerks. As for the name itself, it's pretty rare. There are only a few of us up in Canada. I think there are maybe a couple hundred in the U.S. though! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiBUrnMY_Qw

Georgia native Caitlin Marie Bell has breathed new life into Appalachia's gothic tradition. Her latest album Blood and the Water (iTunes: Amazon) builds on a musical heritage that stretches back hundreds of years. Lyrics about ghost children and murdered lovers harken to the death ballads of an earlier time.
"River Song" for instance, the album's first tune, is sung from the perspective of a woman who drowned while waiting on her beloved. The lyrics alone are sad, but Caitlin's high, haunting voice imbues them with a pleaful desperation that brings the character—this dead woman—back to life. It reminds me, with its plaintive sound, of the later works of Ralph Stanley and old tunes about the thin line between love and loss like "Katie Dear."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNcvNNIrrhI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfNcvNNIrrhI&nomobile=1
The rest of the album mixes original tunes and new arrangements of traditional folk songs. "The original compositions on the album are somewhat of an ode to my family and my childhood," said Caitlin, who was raised near the base of the Appalachian Trail and now lives in New York City. But even these new songs were, in part, inspired by older numbers.
"Like me, many of these traditional tunes 'grew up' in Appalachia," Caitlin explained, "And I feel deeply connected to them." She recorded these classics, like "Three Little Babes" and "Omie Wise," with reverence for the way they've traditionally been sung but also with an eye for innovation. She said that she was trying to "shine a new light on these historic folk songs."
Do you think Caitlin hit the mark? Please leave a comment below and let us know how you like her album, both the new tunes and the old.

In the heart of bluegrass country, a super-sized festival has taken root. Centered around the arts and music haven of Floyd, Virginia, the aptly named FloydFest is now in its twelfth year, and it's drawing some of the biggest names in the unplugged scene.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Old Crow Medicine Show. Rising Appalachia. They all steered their tour buses to Southwest Virginia a week ago and were greeted by somewhere near 20,000 fans. (Organizers are still counting.)
Given my druthers, I would have been right there in the throng with my folding chair and beer cozy, but alas, I have a finite number of vacation days. While music lovers were jamming in the Blue Ridge, I was manning the office 5-x-5 and listening to my own little honkfest from traffic outside my window.
I suspect I'm in good company. If you didn't make FloydFest either, don't despair. You can still catch the best of the event thanks to the interwebs. YouTube has surfaced some downright amazing tunes. Which is your favorite? And what would it take to get you to FloydFest next year?

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Old Crow Medicine Show, "Wagon Wheel": The only song I know that mentions my hometown of Roanoke. Fittingly, it's rhymed with "toke."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbEyIvKKUxc&feature=related&nomobile=1
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, "Home": Lead singer Alex Ebert drums up some of the best audience interaction I've ever seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZO_xafpz4w&nomobile=1
Rising Appalachia, "Swoon": The gals from Asheville woo the crowd with their sensual world beat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhgmRQ2pUDg&feature=relmfu&nomobile=1
Michael Kiwanuka with The Boston Boys, "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay": Never heard of these fellas, but they do Otis Redding proud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=7iva-vQhDkw&nomobile=1

“You can’t go wrong if you play it right.” These simple but profound words were spoken years ago by the Cajun duo Octa Clark and Hector Duhon, but they fit the mind of 81-year old fiddler Fletcher Bright perfectly. For over seventy years, Fletcher’s been fiddling up a storm in Chatanooga, Tennessee.
He was there when Arthur Smith’s 78 rpm records were the hottest fiddling around. He was there when bluegrass was perfected by the Monroe/Flatt/Scruggs trinity. He was there studying when newcomers like Mark O’Connor and Byron Berline revolutionized the bluegrass violin. He was there when another new generation, led by The Punch Brothers, again redefined bluegrass, and he was an inspiration to a young Noam Pikelny. And he’s here now, 13 years into a new century as bluegrass has attained a greater grip on the American cultural mainstream than ever.
But let the generations come and go, let time roll on by, Fletcher Bright won’t change his course. He’ll keep steering his riverboat fiddling straight ahead, taking time to explore some of the many divergent streams of American fiddle traditions, but never veering too far from the main current of bluegrass fiddle that he’s been navigating all the way from the original source of the music.
[youtube]nKJk3TazIJ0[/youtube]
Fletcher’s new album, Fine Times at Fletcher’s House, is a gloriously impromptu affair, a series of lively and joyful duets with the great American banjo player and scholar Bill Evans. The two friends met at some of the many music camps they both teach at over the years. Fletcher’s known as a gracious and inspirational teacher, but he’s also the kind of person who can put his own ego aside and join other classes to learn new tunes and new riffs on the fiddle.
Bill Evans became a favored jamming partner for Fletcher, and when Bill approached Fletcher to cut this album, Fletcher agreed readily, figuring he’d better record it before he got too much older. For Bill, this album is a more traditional outing than his last recording, 2012’s In Good Company, which featured guest spots from celebrated bluegrass musicians and was widely acclaimed for its inventive arrangements. For this album, Bill looked to focus solely on fiddle and banjo duets, one of the oldest combinations of instruments in American roots music.
Together, Bill and Fletcher retreated to Fletcher’s home on Lookout Mountain, and sat down for a few days together playing some of Fletcher’s favorite tunes. This music wasn’t extensively rehearsed, and it was recorded with minimal interference. This is exactly how the music is played and enjoyed off the stage today–just two friends reveling in the tunes they love so much. There’s something beautiful and refreshing in how much fun the two are clearly having together.
The tunes come fast and furious here, from the rapid-fire fiddling of the Benny Martin tune “Two O’Clock,” to the haunting ancient tones of Marcus Martin’s “Polly Put the Kettle On.” Fletcher’s diverse taste brings tunes like the Shetland classic “Da Slockit Light”–given a tastefully subtle accompaniment from Bill’s banjo–and “Going to Israel,” learned from Seattle fiddler Ruthie Dornfeld. Generations touch hands across the decades, as with the Arthur Smith tune “Fiddler’s Dream,” which Fletcher first heard Bill Monroe’s band play in the 1940s, and the tune “Greasy Coat,” an old-time tune whose setting on the album comes from three young Berklee College fiddlers that Fletcher heard a few years ago.
If Fletcher’s album seems eclectic, that’s because he came of age at a time when the separations between music genres weren’t so distinct as they are now. That’s why you can hear so many different influences in his music. You can hear the droning, keening wail of Tennessee’s Appalachian mountain traditions, you can hear the swift edginess of modern bluegrass solos, you can hear the old call of the original Celtic roots of the music, and you can hear the simple joy of the tune, as two masters sit down to hammer out some great music together.
* Post provided by Hearth Music.

This time of year, you can't skip a rock in the North Carolina mountains without accidentally hitting a musician or music venue. The region is chock full of bluegrass nights and music festivals, front porch bands and big name acts.
If you've ever felt a little lost trying to pick between them, then you're in luck. The new book Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina makes it easy to discover the best in North Carolina mountain music.
It starts by breaking the state's western side into six distinct regions. Within each, it emphasizes local flavor. You can learn about the best music hubs; find maps and driving directions; and read profiles of prominent musicians from the area, like Doc Watson and Nina Simone. The guide even has a companion CD that cross references with the book, so you can connect more than twenty tunes to the areas where they originated.
Written by documentarian and folklorist Fred C. Fussell, Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina is the product of a new collaboration between The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership and North Carolina Arts Council. The two organizations have launched an initiative that shares a name with the book--Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina--to promote traditional music from the Tar Heel State.

You say mountain music, and I imagine the plingy-plang of a bluegrass band, but this relative newcomer is pre-dated by a slew of traditional Appalachian styles. We've got soaring Sunday hymns of both Anglo and African American varieties; we have old mountain ballads adapted from Scottish, Irish and English tunes; and though it's usually associated with the deep South, we even have our own strain of the blues.
The mountain cousin of the Delta blues--that's what the fine folks over at Smithsonian Folkways call it. With music professor Barry Lee Pearson and archivist Jeff Place in the lead, they've compiled an entire album entitled Classic Appalachian Blues. In an interview with NPR, Pearson and Place describe the style:

Place says that Appalachian blues is distinct from Mississippi blues because it's more melodic. It's dominated by fingerstyle guitar, rather than the percussive playing of Delta blues, and is heavily influenced by ragtime.
"There was a lot of emphasis put on the instrumental dexterity and letting your guitar playing do your talking for you," Pearson says. "It's a little more of a back-porch style of singing."

Who was sitting on that back porch didn't much matter. Blacks and whites lived separately when these songs were popular, but they often got together to play music. "You could listen to some 78s of music from there and not know if it was a white or black [musician] playing it," Place says.
What do you think of the Appalachian blues? Does it hold its own against its Delta cousin? Know anyone who's keeping this musical tradition alive?
 
[youtube]QBNWboh0rgE[/youtube]
 

What do you picture when you think about Washington, DC? Out of touch politicos? Conniving K Street lobbyists? CIA operatives coming up with wacky plans to free hostages in Iran?
As a DC resident, I’m here to tell you, yup, yup and (much to Ben Affleck’s delight) yup. We manage to fulfill every political stereotype and movie plot line ever thought up, but DC is also a functioning city where real people live. We shop at Costco, struggle with our bills, go bowling—all the normal stuff—and a surprising number of us really dig bluegrass.
You wouldn't picture it would you? A bunch of bureaucrats sitting on hay bales, clapping along to The Seldom Scene?
But it happens. I've heard that bluegrass got its start here when migrants swarmed the District post World War II. Seeking jobs, people moved from surrounding areas, including the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains. Those that had them, brought albums from Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, which was a new band then, and the seed was planted. Over the next thirty years, bluegrass grew by leaps and bounds. The Washington Post says that, by the 1970's, DC. was arguably the center of the bluegrass world.
Living here, I’m not too surprised. Every club seems to have a bluegrass night, and many restaurants host a bluegrass brunch. We even have our own 24/7 radio station dedicated to the genre, which makes it easy to stay in touch with your mountain roots when you're in our nation's capital.
Below are some of my favorite bluegrass haunts, but I'm sure I've missed something good. Leave a comment below about your preferred bluegrass venues, bands, picking sessions, or players in and around DC.

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Bluegrass Country 105.5 FM: Since I listen to it daily, I have to start the list with this homegrown radio gem. Operated by WAMU, a public station out of American University, 105.5 plays bluegrass and old time music 24/7. The best part is that you don't have to live in DC to hear it. You can listen online from anywhere in the world.
[caption id="attachment_7401" align="alignright" width="232"] Poster for 2012 Kingman Island Festival.[/caption]
Tiffany Tavern: The Washington Post has called it "the area's best bluegrass venue." I used to call it my neighborhood watering hole. I lived around the corner from Tiffany Tavern for years and would meander down after 9 pm on Fridays or Saturdays. That's when the bluegrass bands get started. If you go, order a slice of their tasty apple pie and try to snag a seat upfront. You can get within two feet of the lead singer and munch while people of all ages tap their toes and sing along.
FireFlies: With a permanent stage and upright piano right in its front window, this restaurant is committed to music, and it should be. The house band, Big Hillbilly Bluegrass, has put this off-the-beaten path eatery on the map. Fans flock to the charming Del Ray neighborhood every Sunday for FireFlies famed bluegrass brunch.
Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival: Held on one of DC's lesser known nature preserves--Kingman Island--this annual event attracts both bluegrass bands and a bevy of food trucks, serving everything from lobster rolls to Dogfish Head beer. While the 2013 list hasn't been released yet, last year's line up included King Street Bluegrass, Patuxent Partners, Split String Soup, Hollertown, and By and By.
Everything Else: You can find out when bluegrass is coming to dozens of other venues by clicking on DC Bluegrass Union's calendar. (Yes, the town has its own bluegrass union. I told you it was big here!) On the site, you'll also find a list of local bands, event photos, and membership info.

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For more stories on Appalachia's influence beyond the region's borders check out the “Appalachian Influence” series on the right.

If you're like me, you can't even wait until the end of Thanksgiving Day to start playing Christmas music. I'm still cooking the bird when I crank up Elvis' "Blue Christmas" or Loretta Lynn's "Country Christmas" or that Chipmunks Christmas album I've had since 1975. Just ask anyone who sits near me at work; Christmas music is in my ears and on my tongue all season long.
This year, my repertoire has an exciting addition. An Appalachian Christmas is a seasonal album like no other. Built around the violin, it brings together the best of American vernacular music and classical sensibilities. You might say it marries the instrument's two personas--the down-home fiddle and the refined violin.
It's no surprise that a bunch of celebrities have shown up for this wedding. Alison Krauss sings on the album. So does opera superstar Renée Fleming. It also features folk legend James Taylor and cellist virtuoso Yo-Yo-Ma.
Only one guy could bridge this instrument's split personality and, at the same time, pull together such a varied crew. Mark O'Connor has quietly built a reputation as one of the nation's foremost string musicians. More often than not he's played on other people's albums, serving as a session musician for such luminaries as Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Randy Travis, and The Judds. While he's not yet a household name himself, O'Connor's own albums have drawn critical acclaim:

"All Christmas music should be played so elegantly on violin." The Boston Globe
“One of the most important pieces of American music in many, many years, uniting the strains of classical music with American hill country music.” President Bill Clinton on O'Connor's composition "Appalachia Waltz"
“Mark is so facile with his instrument and so completely on top of it. He’s really one in a million.” James Taylor

An Appalachian Christmas came out in 2011 and has steadily grown in popularity ever since. This year's tour drew full houses across the country, and the opening cut "The Christmas Song" topped the bluegrass charts this month on Amazon.com. Here, O'Connor performs this hit at the historic Boulder Theater.
[youtube]gwLoC-5pK3E&feature[/youtube]
Though he is a Seattle native, O'Connor is no stranger to Appalachia. He competed in fiddle contests throughout the region as a teen and young man, winning many of them and developing a deep respect for musicians from the region. Speaking on the musical diversity found in our homeland, O'Connor writes on his blog...

I believe Appalachia had more jazz violin players than New York did in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. African American blues, spirituals and ragtime have roots in Appalachia of course going back even hundreds of years. More recently even pop icons and a guest on An Appalachian Christmas, James Taylor, has North Carolina ties as he lived there for some time. Appalachia gave birth to some of our best pop, rock, gospel and country styles. And of course there are symphony orchestras all over Appalachia and they embody the spirit of that region of the country too.

An Appalachian Christmas was inspired by these musical traditions and composed to honor an area we all know and love. Want to hear a little more of the album or add it to your collection. Check it out on iTunes or Amazon, and tell us what you think.
Is this a new Christmas classic? Will it make your holiday playlist? And what else are you listening to this time of year?

No need to drag your folding chairs to this hoedown. Mountain Song at Sea is the first ever floating bluegrass festival. It sails from Miami on February 1. The luxury ship Norwegian Sky will provide everything you need as you cruise the Atlantic with other bluegrass aficionados and some of the biggest names in the business:

• Del McCoury Band
• Punch Brothers
• Steep Canyon Rangers
• David Grisman Sextet
• And more

In addition to rollicking performances, the cruise will feature activities that you can't find at other music events, including a poker tournament with Steep Canyon Rangers, a bourbon versus whiskey challenge, a banjo “petting zoo” where you can play instruments from Deering Banjo, and intimate Q&A sessions with the artists.
Inspired by the close relationship that bluegrass artists have with their fans, Steep Canyon Rangers organized this one of a kind festival in partnership with Mountain Song Productions. “The genre of bluegrass has always fostered a unique connection between the fans and the performers,” Steep Canyon front man Woody Platt recently told Garden & Gun magazine. “No music could survive without the fans—so spending time with them on this festival at sea seems natural to me.”
Can't wait until February? Then check out the Mountain Song at Sea playlist. The good folks at Garden & Gun assembled it to get you in a beachy bluegrass mood.
http://vimeo.com/47729016

While the celestial calendar tells us otherwise, it sure seems like summer starts on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day. These long weekends are like bookends. Between them, you find volumes. Entire stories set on front porch swings. Adventures in forests and fields. Intrigue at public pools. Love among the laurels.
Each tale has its own pacing. Some are as slow as sweat beads edging down an icy glass. Others tear through the months like a hotrod on hazy asphalt. This pace create a rhythm, and, inevitably, the rhythm begs for a song.
I think this is the essence of summer music. It should make your heart race as if you're spinning two hundred feet above a fairground, panicked about ride inspections. It should remind you of floating in the river with your eyes half shut and only the wash of green treetops in sight. It should brings back memories.
Since this is July, your summer stories and soundtracks are still taking shape. Now is the perfect time for an infusion of new tunes, music to play in the background while you're holding hands in the grass, churning ice cream, or skinny dipping; songs that will help you remember summer adventures long after January's snowdrifts set in.

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Old Crow Medicine Show - Bootleggers' Boy
Discovered by Doc Watson some time back, Old Crow has been riling up audiences for more than a decade now. This spirited ditty is from the band's new album, Carry Me Back, due out on July 17.
[youtube]dxrrswX12dE[/youtube]
 
Rising Appalachia - Filthy, Dirty South
Leaving it to the beguiling ladies of Rising Appalachia to break your heart sweetly and deliver an important message at the same time. Seriously, has a political song has ever sounded so pretty?
[youtube]U7rh8A-SLJI[/youtube]
 
Avett Brothers - Live and Die
North Carolina based Avett Brothers will release a new album in September, but you can hear one of its peppier tunes now. The sound quality in the live video is a little rocky, but it's fun to watch. A studio version is also available, and it's all spiffy and clean.
[youtube]-q6csQ762yw[/youtube]
 
Whiskey Shivers - Gimme' All Your Lovin'
The mountain-kitsch band Whiskey Shivers has a new album called Rampa Head. This song's not on it, but I couldn't resist. It sure does capture summertime fun.
[youtube]wC6DuckeJUM[/youtube]
 

I just got an email from Stuart Mason, the feller behind the blog FiddleFreak. He and a couple of buddies have a new album out.
Their band is called Little Black Train; the album is called Barn Dance; and they're letting folks download the new tune "Old Black Dog" for free.
Give a listen. Let us know if it sets your toes to tappin.