THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS - IRONTO SPECIAL (LIMITED LP)

The Black Twig Pickers Ironto Special on Limited Edition Vinyl LP

Ironto Special is an album of traditional Appalachian old-time tunes (and two originals) that the Black Twig Pickers learned through study of both local old-time musicians and old-time records and field recordings. The instrumentation is all-acoustic and features some of the old-time usuals, fiddle/banjo/guitar, and some less-routinely-heard-in-today's-old-time-scene implements like washboard, bones, fiddlesticks, mouth harp and jaw harp. Plus (on one song) a one-of-a-kind baritone resonator 12-string guitar.

Old-time music served, and continues to serve, a variety of functions in Appalachian life  from dance music to somber solo performance to raggier blues and everything in between. Ironto Special is an attempt to celebrate this variety in the old-time tradition through the band's process of learning and growth as they explore the music's many facets.

Recorded throughout 2009 in the Shred Shed in Ironto, Virginia, Ironto Special is entirely recorded in single takes. There are no overdubs on the record in any form. Ironto Special is the Black Twig Pickers contribution to the continuously flowing tradition that will eventually be passed on to the next generation of players.

The Black Twig Pickers Ironto Special Track Listing

1.  Don't Drink Nothing But Corn
2.  Last Payday At Coal Creek
3.  Dead Man's Piece
4.  Smoker Wedding March
5.  Lay Ten Dollars Down
6.  Ducks On The Pond
7.  Saro O Saro
8.  Craig Street Hop
9.  Fire On The Mountain
10. Old Jack Gillie
11. Bonaparte's March Into Russia
12. Love My Honey I Do
13. Pickin' Out The Devil's Eyes
14. Walls Of Jericho
15. Rockin' In A Weary Land