Renowned Seattle roots duo Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons have gained recognition and fans through their unique celebration of blues and folk music. Together they explore the history of music and regions and channel it into their own style, which is steeped in pre-blues a cappella field hollers, fiddle and banjo breakdowns, and early jazz. When it came time to put together a new album, Hunter and Seamons decided to focus on something that stretched beyond just blues music: Black Americana. They sought to pull together the many threads of black American roots music and in the process show the underlying meanings behind the black experience in folk music. Through their new studio effort the duo has a goal to capture another side to Americana that can help expand the genre’s boundaries. To make this music, they’ve recruited good friend and touring partner Phil Wiggins, an eclectic legend of American blues harmonica (who received an NEA National Heritage Fellowship this year).
The result of the work of these three talented musicians is A Black & Tan Ball, due out on July 28th. As a collection of songs, the album is both a fascinating cross-section of American roots music as well as a beautiful display of chemistry between three musicians eager to get the most out of each other. Many of the songs on the album are creative renditions on classic jazz and blues recordings from the likes of Louis Jordan, The Mills Brothers, Leadbelly and more. One of the standout tracks is “Shanghai Rooster”, which we are excited to premiere on Glide Magazine today. The lively fiddle tune was taught to the musicians by Frank Maloy and Mick Kinney, and was originally an old time tune from the state of Georgia that Frank Maloy learned from his Uncle Joe Bullington. Played in the “greasy” style, “Shanghai Rooster” is the kind of tune you can picture being played at a rowdy gathering in the deep South at the turn of the century.
Sharing the story of how the tune came to be on the record, Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons have this to say:
“We learned ‘Shanghai Rooster’ from our good friends Frank Maloy and Mick Kinney. Some old’ time Georgia musicians that we met a couple years ago. Georgia fiddlin’ has a great tradition, and we find it particularly special with it’s greasy-like lines that find themselves imitative of the sounds of life around them. Songs like ‘Shanghai Rooster’, or ‘Rabbit Under A Collard Leaf’ suggest a deeper understanding, perhaps even a closeness to the country-life and the sounds that make up that environment.”
LISTEN:
A Black & Tan Ball is out July 28th. For more music and info visit benjoemusic.com.
