Name: Kilby Snow: Country Songs and Tunes with Autoharp by Kilby Snow
Brand: Kilby Snow
SKU: 829410716253
Price: 9.9 USD
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 3 (126 reviews)

ALBUM

This is yet another production for the valuable Smithsonian Folkways line by busy Mike Seeger. He would complain about how long the company would sit on projects, and in this case it would be about four years before this recording of Kilby Snow saw the light of day. Seeger's own enthusiasm and skill at the autoharp is clearly behind his enthusiasm for this artist, whose recording is not stunning but is certainly endearing, with some tracks -- such as the artist's "Autoharp Special" -- having great appeal. As a vocalist Snow is strictly there to establish a friendly story-master sort of presence, and the marvelous sound of his instrument does a long way to cover up the fact that his accompaniments are not particularly diverse or challenging. He is at his best when he is not singing and is able to focus on delivering an arrangement involving complicated string work. Some of his best sounds on the autoharp are when he narrows down to a few strings to create a harpsichord-like shimmer or somehow creates enough pressure on a bass string to get something of a plucked, even twangy sound. Some of the best tracks feature a few additional musicians, sometimes just Mike Seeger or the second autoharp of Mike Hudak. When a whole gaggle of pickers get together on "Flop-Eared Mule," the results are a riot and make one wish there had been another Snow album in which more extensive use of backup players was made. Fans of mountain music and the old-timey sound will find this a delightful record. The recording is of the warm and fuzzy variety, although overmodulation from the vocals mars a few of the tracks. ~ Eugene Chadbourne

Kilby Snow: Country Songs and Tunes with Autoharp

Product information

Release options

1. Molly Hare

2. Greenback Dollar

3. Wind and Rain

4. Budded Roses

5. Sourwood Mountain

6. The Cannonball

7. Mean Women

8. The Road That's Walked by Fools

9. Autoharp Special

10. I Will Arise

11. The Old Crossroads

12. No Tears in Heaven

13. Lonely Tombs

14. Flop Eared Mule

15. 'Round Town Girls

16. Two-Timing Blues

17. Woodrow for President

18. Shady Grove

Technical Specifications