Huckleberry Records has released a mighty lonesome number from two of the lonesomest guys we know, Jeff Brown and Wayne Taylor. Both have spent their lives devoted to bluegrass music and Appalachian storytelling, Jeff with Larry Sparks and with his own band, and Wayne with Blue Highway.
Together they have recorded The Ballad of the Dry Fork River, a song written by Barry Clevenger about a region he knows well in West Virginia, and a tragic story of love and betrayal.
Brown says that he reached out to Clevenger when it was time for he and Taylor to record.
“Having known the songwriter for many years, and recorded some of his material on previous projects, I felt like he would have some songs stashed away. And he had this good ole straight-ahead bluegrass song. In my opinion, he has written a dandy and I hope you enjoy The Ballad of the Dry Fork River!”
Jeff and Wayne sing it as a duet, with strong support from a cast of brilliant players. But Taylor says that the script ws flipped on him at the last minute.
“This song was brought to us by Jeff. It conjured up memories of songs I had grown up with, so I was all for recording it.
We were at the studio getting ready to do vocals, and I told Jeff to go ahead and lay down a lead vocal for me to sing tenor to. That’s when he laid the reality on me: ‘No, no—you’re singing lead on this!’ That changed things a bit, but we were able to get it done.
We hope everyone enjoys listening to this song as much as we did recording it.”
Studio assistance comes from Austin Brown on guitar, Scott Vestal on banjo, Alan Bibey on mandolin, Adam Haynes on fiddle, Randy Kohrs on reso-guitar, and Wayne Taylor on bass.
They certainly did get it done.
The Ballad of the Dry Fork River is available now from popular download and streaming services online, and to radio programmers via Get It Played.
