Watch this spring for a new CD from superb young Chattanooga fiddler Joseph Decosimo. He's just finished recording the project at Joe DeJarnette's studio on Floyd, VA. Most of the tunes are from source musicians from TN, some elder fiddle & banjo players that he learned from directly & some from field & old commercial recordings of those gone on: fiddlers such as Charlie Acuff, Bob Douglas, Jesse Young.
I first met Joseph when he was a teenage undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill & was just beginning to play fiddle & banjo. He learned a lot about the banjo from Brett Riggs & from Harriman, TN fiddler Mike Bryant. And now, as a folklore grad. student 10 years later, he has become one of the most accomplished traditional style old-time musicians playing today, winning awards at fiddlers conventions, teaching at camps, and always delving deeper into the sounds of his home state. I was honored that he asked me to accompany him on a few tunes from a section of Tennessee just west of Chattanooga where the banjo players had a pre-bluegrass 3 finger style.
Here's Joseph's facebook notification:
Today I'll be finishing up my recording project. It's mostly Tennessee tunes many of which haven't seen much action, and it's recorded live. I'm thrilled about Karen Celia's driving guitar, Luke Richardson's choice clawhammer playing, Gail Gillespie's percolating fingerpicked banjo, and Kasey Poole Decosimo's growling cello. Joseph Dejarnette has guided us painlessly through the process, capturing some super sound. I can't wait to drop this thing (as the people in the industry say). More details to come. -Joseph