Several of the songs draw from Hartford’s quirky album Aereo-Plane. On The Road is a rich sampler of fifteen songs, with such standouts as the Infamous Stringdusters take on the eternally melodic splendor of “Gentle On My Mind” and Todd Snider’s rich reading of “I Wish We Had Our Time Again.” It’s a harbinger of the good picking you come. Here we get to hear Blake sit in with Jerry Douglas on “Tall Buildings,” pairing Hartford’s son Jamie with John Carter Cash on lead vocals and recorded at the Cash Cabin studios.īush kicks off the album with a rollicking “On The Road” that highlights his mandolin picking and the interplay with guitarist Stephen Maugin and Scott Ventral on banjo. Hartford’s seminal Aereo-Plane featured Vassar Clements on fiddle, Norman Blake on guitar and mandolin and Randy Skaggs on bass. Throughout, the imagery of the river comes to life in such songs as “Delta Queen Waltz” by Railroad Earth and Horseshoes & Hand Grenades’ “Let Him Go On Mama.” Making appearances are former contemporaries and compatriots Sam Bush and Norman Blake.
The trio listened to a lot of Hartford during its making and it was surprising they didn’t include one of his songs.īut now a new album On The Road: A Tribute To John Hartford ( LoHi Records) is being released that connects generations past and present to pay homage to the great progenitor of bluegrass, its melding with contemporary “newgrass” and helps to cement the role Hartford played as an unsung granddaddy of what we now call Americana. Thomm Jutz wrote “Hartford’s Bend” in honor of the songwriter for his own solo album and last year with mates Peter Cooper and Eric Brace for the trio album Riverland. Captains of boats would often blow their whistles when they passed in tribute to the lifelong enthusiast of river life who might have himself been a steamboat operator had he not been drawn to music and songwriting.
If you’re familiar with nautical maps you may notice a point on the Cumberland River called “Hartford’s Bend.” The late famed songwriter John Hartford who was best known for penning “Gentle on My My Mind” had a house overlooking the river.
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