Fiddle player, violinist and singer-songwriter Peter Stampfel is perhaps best known for his work in the psychedelic folk band The Holy Modal Rounders, but these days he often plays with his project the Atomic Meta Pagans. This group of talented friends are interested in keeping things loose and focusing on paying homage to the canon of American roots music. On the band’s upcoming album Ordovician Era, out January 18, 2019 on Don Giovanni Records, Peter Stampfel and Atomic Meta-Pagans become even more like themselves.
The album features the vocal stylings of the Stampfelettes, magical overdubs by Mark Bingham, higher quality improvs by award winning experimental vocalist Shelley Hirsch (Singing, The Big Gundown), Peter Stampfel (Holy Modal Rounders, Fugs), and more. Ongoing jolliness beckons! The band members asked Mark Bingham to do the sequencing, and he started with an improv, “so improvs won’t be like dirty stepchildren.” The improv-heavy atmosphere continues in the same vein as the band’s previous LP The Cambrian Explosion.
Today Glide is excited to premiere “Casey Jones”, one of the standout tracks on Ordovician Era. The song is not a Grateful Dead cover, but rather a reimagining of the chugging country blues number best known for being performed by blues guitar legend Furry Lewis. This version features Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Jones on vocals, who elevates the tone of the song as a more serious piece, which contrasts with the free-flowing cacophony of guitars and train noises happening behind him. Even in the recording, the song feels like a natural gathering of musical minds, as if the band members are sitting in the kitchen and all jamming out while passing a bottle of whiskey. Obviously the song itself is rooted in old timey blues, but the group of musicians adds an almost surreal level of sonic textures to the mix to give it a freshly unique sound.
Peter Stampfel offers his own thoughts on the song:
“This is based on the Furry Lewis version of Casey Jones, from the Harry Smith Anthology. In 1970, fellow Holy Modal Rounder member Robin Remaily suggested taking an old country blues song and having the whole band play just the guitar part. Right here, the whole band isn’t playing the guitar part, but most of us are. Also featured is my long standing desire to add a harmony to a country blues song. We did this on the first Atomic Meta-Pagan album with Charlie Patton’s ‘Mississippi Boll Weevil Blues'”.
LISTEN:
