Rough Carpenters

To say that The Black Twig Pickers have “done their homework” would be an understatement. The Virginia string-band revival quartet is deeply in love with the music, history, and lore of the Appalachian Mountains. They mine the string-band catalog and jam with historically enthusiastic song circles. The Black Twig Pickers\' 2013 album *Rough Carpenters* could be one of the few things keeping old-time mountain music intact during the 21st century. The instrumental “Blind Man’s Lament” sets a haunting tone, with Jim Ganglof’s spare fiddle parts scratching out drones and birthing beautiful melodies all at once. Things pick up in the title track: a bouncy ditty with barn-burning banjo picking by Nate Bowell and rhythmic harmonica by Isak Howell. Under old-timey vocals, the interplay between these two instruments is amazing in that just a banjo and a harmonica can create a very danceable song. And much of *Rough Carpenters* serves to remind us that people danced to string bands. Washboard strums give the train song “Elkhorn Ridge” a locomotive pace, while “Jack of Diamonds” waltzes romantically.