What is up StackStans (working on it)—hope you all had a great weekend. This is Promontory Paul, Train Songz's In-House Curator of Old Stuff, chiming in on ye olde Smokestack for the very first time.

It’s been said by others so I won’t overdo it—but I, too, deeply reject the advancement of immersive social media. Less of a Luddite thing, and more a disdain for that feeling of needing to “keep up,” especially when 98% of the stuff you end up consuming is pure sludge. It’s really is nice to keep this little conversation going away from the publicly traded, morally ambiguous apps for a bit. Total honesty—FOMO still keeps my screen time at depressing levels, but I personally welcome the newsletter-pocalypse that we are currently experiencing as a way to get what I like and leave the rest. I hope you feel the same way, and we’re honored that you’re down to clown with us.

This third installment is a weird one because it’s kind of the first without a gimmick—the first one was the ~first~ one, the second one was a St. Paddy’s Day takeover, and now we’re just vibing. And we will continue to do so. We’re just popping into your inbox on a Monday morning—maybe the coffee is still hot, or maybe you’re already on the dregs. You’re peering through the screen as we’re trying to do our best little dance number...

That is all to say that IMPACT of the content will ebb and flow with the calendar and current events, but for right now? We’re between Billy shows, between Zine issues, between seasons—we’re in Ordinary Time, my brothers and sisters. 

And just like the Ordinary Time they talk about in The Good Book, it's the time to grow and mature our faith…in trains, bluegrass, and other rootsy Americana. So without any more rambling, we got some goods for you this fine Monday. 

Your tube is my tube

One website where I indulge the Olde-head in me with (almost) zero guilt is a little place I like to call MFing You👏Tube👏dot👏com👏 (I’m currently trapped in a horrible habit of watching vids until 2am then sleeping for 5 hours, then taking a weird trippy nap at my WFH desk somewhere in the mid-morning). 

Today’s vid stash is really focused on the history and the tradition of the music—past and present. These are just a few of the interesting ones that I’ve encountered in the last few months, and I tried to include a smattering of different lengths based on whatever time ya got. 

If you need something to slack off to at work or to keep you company in the wee hours, might I suggest…

Fiddlin' Around

‘Fiddlin’ (2018) 1hr 32mins — Pretty awesome (and contemporary) documentary about the old-time music tradition today, centered around the annual Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, VA. This is a somewhat well-known doc, but it really opened my eyes on how deep the culture runs, and how cool the OG old-time/bluegrass festival scene is.

I’m sure that many here know, but for the uninitiated: there are bluegrass festivals, and then there are Bluegrass Festivals—this is for sure the latter (I know it’s technically an old-time festival—but they are close cousins). I had always been aware of the festival/competition circuit, but this really opened my eyes to the culture. Its also a really well-made documentary that rarely drags (which, I will admit, some of the older and more primary source-driven ones do at times) and has a few familiar faces in it as well... Some really great Doc Watson lore at the end as well.

A Complete Treasure

Rainbow Quest by Pete Seeger: The Stanley Brothers + The Clinch Mountain Boys, Cousin Emmy (1965) 52 mins — I’ve been a Rainbow Quest Stan for a long time, so when it got (kinda) dragged in A Complete Unknown as a sober, tucked-in-shirt, public-television-ass counterpoint to Bobby’s increasingly rock n’ roll lifestyle (valid, tbh)… I was pretty stoked.

I think these Rainbow Quest episodes are a total treasure—and lucky for us, every single episode is available on YouTube (we made a playlist of the full series on the Train Songz YT page—light plug there). This is a great episode because it’s one of the very few, rare filmed performances of the Stanley Brothers, since Carter Stanley died within a year of filming. This is some of the real OG juice—skip to 12:45 if you want to jump right into their performance and skip some of sweet old Pete’s meandering (no judgement). Super fun peek into the showmanship of the olde Bluegrass guys—somewhere between a concert and a stand up comedy show.

PB & S

Folkways: Music of Surrey County (2010) 27 mins — Local PBS stations often have The Juice when it comes to niche areas of history/general interest, and this guy is no exception. While it only focuses on one area of North Carolina, it’s really interesting to see how regionality impacts bluegrass music, and how those region-specific flavors can still peek through even as cultures and sounds have homogenized in the modern era. Some great foot-stompin’ along the way.

WOODY!

Library of Congress Recordings: Woody Guthrie [Playlist] (1940) 29 tracks — This is a playlist of the LOC session that Lomax did with Woody Guthrie (ears only—you can also check it out on Spotify, etc.). Not exactly bluegrass, but to me this is one of the definitive recordings of the American songbook. Some familiar songs that seeped into the bluegrass repertoire, and a really rate and amazing story time with the legendary Woody Guthrie in his prime. Lots to be learned here about these songs, and the spirit behind them.

...and then there's us

If you’re really looking to waste some time, you can also check out our YouTube channel. The idea is a combination of companion viewing/listening with each Zine (see: the Olde Tune Revue playlists featuring old recordings and obscure performances of old songs), as well as just general night-on-the-couch curation. It’s small for now, but y’all are our earliest Newsletter Friends, and we’d love your input on it—let us know if you like this kind of curation, or if it’s lame/uninteresting. Jury is out as far as I’m concerned, but we want to Get Good™️…