SOUTHERN SOLDIER is a collection of songs and melodies which were well known to Southerners and Northerners alike; tunes that were a familiar and comfortable part of life in the years leading up to the War Between the Stat... more »es. Many of these compositions were written by the likes of Stephen Foster and Daniel Emmett, who were giants of the popular music industry of their day. Some of the titles, OL' DAN TUCKER, DIXIE'S LAND and ARKANSAS TRAVELER are still familiar to the modern-day ear. Other titles on this album, though not familiar to the eye, will be quickly recognizable to the ear. ALL selections on this album are performed on authentic instruments of the period and were chosen for the appealing nature of their rhythms and melodies. They are presented with as unique and individual a spirit as one might expect from a true Confederate camp band of the era. Over the years since 1989, when the band was formed, we have made a concerted effort to grow in the music and the history of those times. This collection of songs and melodies that the soldiers brought with them from home to the war represents the fruit of that growth. It was and continues to be our intent as a group of musicians and living historians to try to capture the spirit and emotion of those tumultuous years. We believe that this album, SOUTHERN SOLDIER, has succeeded in that effort.« less
SOUTHERN SOLDIER is a collection of songs and melodies which were well known to Southerners and Northerners alike; tunes that were a familiar and comfortable part of life in the years leading up to the War Between the States. Many of these compositions were written by the likes of Stephen Foster and Daniel Emmett, who were giants of the popular music industry of their day. Some of the titles, OL' DAN TUCKER, DIXIE'S LAND and ARKANSAS TRAVELER are still familiar to the modern-day ear. Other titles on this album, though not familiar to the eye, will be quickly recognizable to the ear. ALL selections on this album are performed on authentic instruments of the period and were chosen for the appealing nature of their rhythms and melodies. They are presented with as unique and individual a spirit as one might expect from a true Confederate camp band of the era. Over the years since 1989, when the band was formed, we have made a concerted effort to grow in the music and the history of those times. This collection of songs and melodies that the soldiers brought with them from home to the war represents the fruit of that growth. It was and continues to be our intent as a group of musicians and living historians to try to capture the spirit and emotion of those tumultuous years. We believe that this album, SOUTHERN SOLDIER, has succeeded in that effort.
"The rendition of Old Dan Tucker alone is worth price of the CD. The combination of old-style banjo, fiddle, fife,vocals, and rhythm instruments like bones makes for great listening. Tunes like "Southern Soldier," "Dixie's Land," and "Jackson in the Valley" definitely come to life at the hands of these talented musicians. My father, who was known as "Reb" rather than his given name, was always singing "Old Dan Tucker." Listening to this CD brings back some good memories of him."
Fine little camp band
Bedford | the upper south | 05/21/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I received this CD after returning home from a Civil War re-enactment. Popped it the player and collasped in my easy chair.Wow, what a surprise! Hadn't heard anything like this before. I closed my eyes and felt like it was 1863. Thought I smelled wood smoke from the fires and heard the noises of camp life along with the sweet sounds of a fine little Civil War camp band. Not sure but I think I saw "Marse Robert" down by the officer's tents.Gotta' get the other CDs."
Traditionally Excellent
Jonathan Brown | Fair Oaks,, CA USA | 06/27/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The band plays period music - no slick bluegrass but innovative arrangements of songs that were popular during the civil war. There is a good collection of music - which gets even better with their second album - Hard Times. I liked both and think you will too. Old Dan Tucker is one of the best pieces on the CD - but all of the tunes are fun. You get a good idea of what people heard during the time of the war."
It Don't Get Any Better Than This
William B. Baer | Newton, Ma. USA | 05/27/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is "old time music" at its finest. This is the Band that
all other bands playing this kind of music listen to when they
want to hear how "its really done". This group has raised the bar and given everyone else the target to focus on. The only thing better than listening to the Second South Carolina String Band is seeing them perform live. Just go buy the CD and listen for yourself it will be money well spent."
Finally Real Sounding Minstrel Music
D. M. Clements | Freeland, MD USA | 01/26/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Quite simply, no other person or group currently recording captures so well the rhythm and infectiousness of minstrel songs as does the 2nd South Carolina String Band. Bob Flesher is a master of the minstrel banjo style, but his singing does not begin to capture, as these guys do, the essesce which helped make minstrel music America's primary popular music for around 70 years. Likewise, Douglas Jimerson, who has several Stephen Foster CDs out, sings well and is rhythmic in his presentation, but still sounds like a classical performer singing folk songs. Joe Weed barely registers on the scale and all of the choral performances with which I am familiar fail as well. Only the 2nd South Carolina String Band truely captures the original minstrel sound through their skilled and spirited performances.If more people had the opportunity to hear the 2nd SCSB perform, they would finally come to really understand what there was about minstrel music which made it so special.The first time I heard "Southern Soldier" was one of those revelatory moment in my life, an epiphany of sorts, where I knew, almost intrinsically, that, for the first time I was really hearing minstrel music as it should be performed. I was alone at the time and my verbal response was just a simple, "damn." That seems to sum it up pretty well. Buy this album, sit back, and enter another world and another time in American History and go there first class."