Artist: The Ebony Hillbillies
Album: 5 Miles From Town
Label: Self-released
Release Date: 1.4.2019
The string band Ebony Hillbillies hail from New York City and have already created quite a stir by appearing on television and hallowed venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. This is their fifth recording. They are carrying on the traditions of black American string bands that extend back to bands like The Mississippi Sheiks, The Memphis Jug Band, and certainly more recently, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Theirs is a mission to both revere tradition and leverage this legacy to offer current social commentary.
The Ebony Hillbillies seamlessly blend pop, country, bluegrass, folk, blues and jazz organically to get feet stomping, and more importantly to shake consciences too. As such, they have become prominent at festivals, workshops, visual artist collaborations and school programs. Material here ranges from traditional fiddle jams like the opening “Hog Eyed Man” to Willie Dion’s “Wang Dang Doodle” to Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” to recent police shootings as heard on “Another Man Done Gone/Hands Up Don’t Shoot” and “I’m On My Way to Brooklyn.” There are the requisite gospel touches too both in the latter and “Where He Leads Me.”
The seven-piece group is led by Henrique Prince (fiddle, vocals) with Norris Bennett (banjo, mountain dulcimer, guitar, vocals), Gloria Thomas Gassaway (vocals and bones), Altanah Salter (shaker, vocals), Newman Taylor Baker (washboard, percussion) and A.R. (Ali Rahman) (”cowboy” percussion). Key member acoustic bassist William “Salty Bill” Salter is a three-time Grammy winner with pop hits like “Where Is the Lord” and “Just the Two of Us.”
Theirs is a raw, unadorned acoustic sound that could just as easily come from a front porch as a recording studio. Yet, the background vocals and ambient sounds are at times urban too. Mixing three instrumentals with mostly vocal tunes, the band shares lead vocals and varies both instrumentation and rhythmic approaches throughout. Passion burns strongly, especially on the socially conscious tunes. Yet, they display a remarkable range, taking on romantic material like the Bonnie Raitt tune, and the cautionary “Fork in the Road.” Passion burns strongly, especially on the socially conscious tunes.
The paradoxical fusing of the traditional sound and instruments with current issues and musical influences has a way of taking you back in time but somehow the lasting impression is remarkably contemporary.
—Jim Hynes
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