As a casual fan of music, I usually stumble upon new musicians every week or so that I really get into. Whether it's Folk, Trad, Celtic, World, Bluegrass, Pop, Electronic, House, Rock, Hip Hop, or any other genre, I think Music is one of the few languages that nearly everyone can speak and understand. Folk Music is no exception. This week's spotlight is going to be put on an album with a collaborative group of some of the best musicians in each of their fields, The Goat Rodeo Sessions.
Four titans of their fields; Yo Yo Ma on Cello, Stuart Duncan on Fiddle, Edgar Meyer on Bass, and Chris Thile on Mandolin all came together to record the album in 2011. With over 25 Grammy awards between them, and with 2 MacArthur Genius winners, the album was destined for greatness from the start.
The album holds a runtime of 57:18 and it is pretty much great music from start to finish. All of the musicians move instruments within the album, and it is basically a masterclass on how to blend genres and on how to hold a "goat rodeo."
'Goat Rodeo' is a term that means a cluster of situations where just the right conditions have to come to fruition for everything to work out, and this album is no exception. 4 tremendous musicians with enormously different backgrounds and training all collaborate to create exceptional music.
To save you from spoilers, and I really do recommend this album, I want to introduce the first track of the album. 'Attaboy' feels like two tunes in one. It opens with Thile on mandolin playing a grounding theme to the piece. As each layer of music is added on, this theme comes back and forth throughout. The opening theme is beatuiful, but the best part of the song is the vaguely celtic tune that comes in for the second half. It's really hard to listen to the track without moving your feet, and it gets me pumped every time I hear it.
If you find yourself with a few extra moments on YouTube and want to experience American Folk Music at its finest, give this album a chance. I promise that it won't disappoint.
