Banjo Gathering -
100% pure old-time banjo: unobscured, unaccompanied & unadulterated.
Instructors from the Swannanoa Gathering, a music camp in the mountains outside of Asheville, NC, joined forces with other players for this "snapshop of what 23 contemporary old-time musicians do with their banjos when nobody is watching." I have three tracks: Sugar Babe (played on a fretless gourd banjo), A Hammons Piece (that turns out to be a version of 'Calloway'), and Walkin' In the Parlor.
This collection is an intriguing and eminently listenable album of tunes that range from the elegantly funky to the sublime. The pacing of the tracks and variety are frankly astounding and you will hear the rhythmic subtlety and melodic beauty of this instrument when it is not backing up a fiddler or buried in a band. I highly recommend this disc.
All profits from its sale go to benefit the Swannanoa Gathering's scholarship fund for young musicians. A good cause and a great collection of performances.
$20
Double CD 
samples of Scott's tracks are available by clicking
on speaker icons
(ONE:3, TWO:6 and TWO:20)
CD ONE
- Cumberland Gap
- Sail Away Ladies
Hammons'
Piece- Old Man Can Your Dog Catch a Rabbit?
- Little Billy Wilson
- Liza Jane
- Rolling Mills Are Burning Down
- Sally Gooden
- Fish on a Hook
- Brushy Fork
- Reuben
- Jack Wilson
- Bony Crossing the Alps
- John Henry
- Bell's March
- Shortening Bread
- Arkansas Traveler
- Last Chance
- Little Betty Ann
- Twin Sisters
- Miss McLeod's Reel
- Will there Be Any Stars in My Crown?
- Hello Coon
- A Fiddle or a Dram
- Grey Eagle
CD TWO
- Hook and Line
- Tempe
- Chilly Winds
- Indian Squaw
- Mole in the Ground
- Walkin'
In the Parlor
- Sugar Baby
- Piney Ridge
- The Little Doctor Fell in the Well
- Uncle Norm's Tune
- Protect the Innocent
- Sally Ann
- French Waltz
- New River Train
- Sally Gooden
- Mississippi Sawyer
- Jenny Get Around
- The Boatman
- Lost Gander
- Sugar
Babe
- Sail Away Ladies
- Old Sally Brown
- Lonesome John on Clinch Mountain
- Last Chance
- Sandy Boys
Reviews
Go off to CD Baby to see what folks are saying about these CDs. Listen to other mp3 samples there, then come back and support Scott as well as the Swannanoa Gathering when you purchase the CD directly from Cattail Music.
The Players
- Scott Ainslie
- Steve Baughman
- Paul Brown
- John cohen
- Da Gellert
- Alice Gerrard
- Gail Gillespi
- Cathhy Fink
- John Herrmann
- Gordy Hinners
- Phil Mamison
- Brad Leftwich
- John McCutcheon
- Terri McMurray
- Bruce Molsky
- Joe Newberry
- Brett Riggs
- Tom Sauber
- Mike Seeger
- Rafe Stefanini
- Bob Thornburg
- David Winston