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Kentucky Wild Horse takes its name from an old eastern Kentucky fiddle tune played by Wolfe County fiddler Darley Fulks (1895-1990) who possessed a vast repertoire of pre-Civil War tunes. Kentucky music from the 19th century down to the present, especially its fiddle and banjo traditions, has been our love and our inspiration.
The bluegrass music we have all played through the years in various bands and combinations has led us back to the older music that bluegrass evolved from. Bluegrass was but one of the many outcomes of the creativity and innovation that abounded during the golden age of rural southern music in the 1920s and ’30s. But the dividing line between Monroe’s 1945 band with David “Stringbean” Akemon on banjo and other bands of the late ’30s—like the Mainers or the Snuffy Jenkins-Pappy Sherrill group, that already featured 3-finger banjo picking and a driving bass—was never as clear cut as the distinction most people make between old-time and bluegrass music today. In Kentucky during this formative period, there was as much 2-finger and even 3-finger banjo picking as so-called clawhammer style, and there was as much attention given to expressive and emotional singing as in later bluegrass. Because of the sense of place that informs the music of a region, we find a consistency in deriving most of our music, whether old-time or bluegrass, from Kentucky sources. For us the two worlds are one, giving us the freedom to do what we like, combining the old with the new.
Unlike most old-time bands today, we use instrumental solo breaks and fills and occasional harmonies rather than one, two, or three instruments playing the melody straight through. We collect and value fine old instruments and we like to hear their sounds coming through. We liken it to the aesthetic that prevailed in the wonderful gatherings that once took place in the Kinney brothers’ barn on Salt Lick in Lewis County where the musicians were so attuned to each others’ styles that they never tried to play all together as in a jam but rather passed the fiddle around so that each individual could be heard and appreciated in their own way of playing. They got it in them, so let the boys pick! Then on the other hand, unlike most bluegrass bands, we keep old-time Kentucky fiddle tunes at the center of our repertoire and gravitate toward older songs and newly-written songs that have that old-time feel.
We believe the best original songs today are coming not from Music Row, but from real people, smart and observant, living in and listening to the heart of the country. The best songs are an expression of the place we live in, the people who are fighting to survive, and those who are working to keep our culture meaningful and strong for the next generation. They’re going to need it.
John Harrod (guitar, lead vocals, tenor vocal) has documented, recorded, and performed traditional music for more than 35 years. In the 1970s and ’80s, he played with a number of bands such as the Progress Red Hot String Band, the Bill Livers String Ensemble, and the Gray Eagle Band that re-introduced old-time musicians such as Bill Livers and Lily May Ledford to Kentucky audiences. During this time he also worked for three years as a folk artist-in-residence in Kentucky schools. Along with Mark Wilson and Guthrie Meade, he has produced a series of field recordings of Kentucky fiddle and banjo players that is available on Rounder Records. John received the 2004 Folk Heritage Award of the Governor’s Award in the Arts for his work in traditional music.
Paul David Smith (fiddle) learned his craft from legendary Pike County fiddler Snake Chapman. He has played with a number of different bands over the years and has been featured as a guest artist and master fiddler at such prestigious gatherings as the Appalachian String Band Festival at Clifftop, West Virginia, the Augusta Heritage Workshops, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and Fiddlers’ Grove. He accompanied Snake Chapman on his two Rounder CDs and is featured on his own Rounder CD, Devil Eat the Groundhog (Rounder CD 0409).
Jeff Keith (mandolin, tenor vocals, lead vocal) from Bowling Green, Kentucky has performed with the Hogwash Revival, the Wayward Members of the Mud Bay Jug Band, the Shanty Hollow Boys and more recently with the Red State Ramblers. Jeff is a graduate student in American History at the University of Kentucky.
Jim Webb (banjo, baritone vocal, lead vocal) is a legendary songwriter and performer in Kentucky, known for his work with the Falls City Ramblers, the Old Louisville Express, the Buzzard Rock String Band, the Gray Eagle Band, and the Juggernaut Jug Band. He has worked for a number of years in Kentucky’s artist-in-the-schools program and grows vegetables on his farm in Nelson County.
Don Rogers (lead guitar and lead vocal) has deep roots in old-time Kentucky music. His grandfather and great uncles recorded on the Gennett label in 1930s as the Kentucky String Ticklers. Silas Rogers, the leader of that group, was well known throughout central Kentucky for his fiddling and step-dancing. Don has revived and updated his family tradition with his own group, the New Kentucky String Ticklers. Don and his wife Carmen also perform their original songs as the Flat Bottom Fantods (see Huckleberry Finn for an explanation of that one.)
Kevin Kehrberg (bass fiddle and bass vocal) has toured and recorded with the Wildwood Valley Boys and more recently with the Chris Sharp and David Long Band. Kevin is a graduate student in musicology at the University of Kentucky with a special interest in the music of Bill Monroe. Kevin knows every part to every quartet number Bill ever recorded.
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