Red Tail Ring//Woods That I Know

Northern Music for a SoCal Friday: Local Music Friday
What's up with Local Music Fridays?

It's been a while since I was able to deliver a proper Local Music Friday and I don't want to keep you waiting any longer.

It seems a little wrong to be posting this from where I'm sitting in this Orange County 90 degree heat, since this music is so, well, northern. It's right for tbe cold-weather, perfect for cozying up in a cabin in the woods.

Dear friend Michael Beauchamp and his lady Laurel Premo have conceived of a project that provides some updates on the content of old timey folk songs, while keeping the feeling of the music perfectly intact. Indeed, the project is so dead on in execution that if not for the high recording quality, you might wonder if Michael and Laurel were singing to us directly from some remote appalachian hill in the 1930s. Keep on the sunny side. Or, maybe not. A lot of these songs are deliciously dark or at very least recontextualized in a thought-provoking way.

The song included here is actually a Premo-original, the only one on their first (and recently released) EP, August Roads. Picking a song was hard, as many of the tracks have a lot going for them. This one was selected because it's one of those songs that I cannot get out of my head once it's there. It's just there forever and ever and there's a reason for that. It's a well constructed song with a infectious banjo hook that's mirrored by the vocal melody. Laurel's banjo work constantly stands out as a highlight in the band. It's totally amazing to listen to (and watch live). I'm going to stop typing about it now. I will give you fair warning though. If you listen to it, you're going to want to listen to it again. And then you're going to be listening to it in your head for the rest of the day.

Red Tail Ring tours ferociously all over their home state of Michigan, so if you're lucky enough to live there, check 'em out. They occasionally make it out of the midwest too. You can get updates on their dates here.



Woods That I Know.mp3

I'll take my hand,
Lead myself to places only I know.