The Chieftains   •   Down The Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions

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  • Down The Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions
    • 2002 - BMG RCA 09026-63971-2 CD (USA)
  • Tracklist
    1. Down The Old Plank Road — w/John Hiatt, Béla Fleck, Jeff White & Tim O'Brien
    2. Country Blues — w/Buddy & Julie Miller
    3. Sally Goodin — w/Earl Scruggs & Glen Duncan
    4. Dark As A Dungeon (Merle Travis; arr. Moloney) — w/Vince Gill
    5. Cindy — w/Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
    6. Molly Bán (Bawn) — w/Alison Krauss
    7. Don't Let Your Deal Go Down — w/Lyle Lovett
    8. Medley (Reels) — w/Béla Fleck
      1. Ladies Pantalettes
      2. Belles Of Blackville
      3. First House In Connaught
    9. Whole Heap Of Little Horses — w/Patty Griffin
    10. Rain And Snow — w/The Del McCoury Band
    11. I'll Be All Smiles Tonight — w/Martina McBride
    12. Tennessee Stud (James Driftwood; arr. Seán Keane) — w/Jeff White
    13. Katie Dear — w/Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
    14. Give The Fiddler A Dram (Finale) (Trad. Arr. Paddy Moloney, Seán Keane, Kevin Conneff, Matt Molloy & Derek Bell) — w/Various Artists
  • The Chieftains
    • Paddy Moloney: Uilleann Pipes & Tin Whistle
    • Seán Keane: Fiddle
    • Kevin Conneff: Bodhrán
    • Derek Bell: Harps, Harpsichord, Tiompán & Keyboards
    • Matt Malloy: Flute
  • Guest Musicians
    • Buddy Miller: Vocals (Track: 2)
    • Julie Miller: Vocals (Track: 2)
    • Vince Gill: Vocals (Track: 4)
    • Ricky Skaggs: Vocals, Mandolin (Tracks: 5, 14)
    • Alison Krauss: Vocals, Viola, Backing Vocals (Track: 6)
    • Lyle Lovett: Vocals (Track: 7)
    • Patty Griffin: Vocals (Track: 9)
    • Del McCoury: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar (Track: 10)
    • Martina McBride: Vocals (Track: 11)
    • David Rawlings: Vocals (Track: 13)
    • Gillian Welch: Vocals (Track: 13)
    • Shannon Forrest: Drums, Percussion (Tracks: 1-4, 6, 8-9, 12-14)
    • Jeff White: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar (Tracks: 1, 3-9, 11-14)
    • Béla Fleck: Banjo, Violin (Tracks: 1, 4, 6, 8, 14)
    • Glenn Worf: Double Bass (Tracks: 1, 4, 8, 12, 14)
    • Tim O'Brien: Mandolin, Backing Vocals (Tracks: 1, 4, 8, 14)
    • Matt Rollings: Piano (Tracks: 1, 4, 11, 14)
    • John Hiatt: Backing Vocals (Tracks: 1, 14)
    • Marc Savoy: Accordion (Track: 1)
    • Jeffrey Lesser: Backing Vocals (Track: 1)
    • Bryan Sutton: Acoustic Guitar, Clawhammer Banjo, Mandolin, Octave Mandolin (Tracks: 2-3, 6, 9, 11, 13-14)
    • Barry Bales: Double Bass (Tracks: 2-3, 6, 9, 13)
    • Earl Scruggs: Banjo (Track: 3)
    • Glen Duncan: Fiddle (Track: 3)
    • Randy Kohrs: Dobro (Tracks: 4, 12-14)
    • Jim Mills: Banjo (Track: 5)
    • Mark Fain: Double Bass (Track: 5)
    • Cody Kilby: Acoustic Guitar (Track: 5)
    • Andy Leftwich: Fiddle (Track: 5)
    • Steve Buckingham: Mountain Dulcimer (Track: 6)
    • Viktor Krauss: Double Bass (Track: 7)
    • James Gilmer: Percussion (Track: 7)
    • John Hagen: Cello (Track: 7)
    • Robbie McCoury: Banjo (Track: 10)
    • Jason Carter: Fiddle (Track: 10)
    • Mike Bub: Double Bass (Track: 10)
    • Ronnie McCoury: Mandolin (Track: 10)
    • Stuart Duncan: Mandolin (Tracks: 11-12)
    • Jeff Taylor: Accordion (Track: 11)
  • Credits
    • Produced by Paddy Moloney
    • Recorded at Sound Emporium Studio, Nashville, Tn, April And May 2002
    • Recording Engineer: Jeffrey Lesser
    • Second Engineer: Erick Jaskowiak
    • Assistant Engineer: Jason Gantt
    • Mixed at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland, by Paddy Moloney & Brian Masterson
    • Additional Recording at Windmill Lane Studios May 2002
    • Engineer: Brian Masterson
      • Track 1: Additional Recording by Tony Daigle at Electric Comoland, Lafayette, LA
      • Track 4: Additional Recording by Neal Cappellino at The Doghouse, Nashville, TN
      • Associate Producer: Jeff White
      • Track 6: Additional Recording by Neal Cappellino at The Brown Cloud, Nashville, TN
      • Track 7: Additional Recording by Jeffrey Lesser at Bizmeaux Studio, Austin, TX
      • Track 11: Additional Recording by John Mcbride at Blackbird Studio, Nashville, TN
    • A&R: Larry Hamby
    • Mastered by Leon Zervos at MASTERDISK NYC on June 20 21, 2002
    • Associate Producer: Steve Buckingham
    • Production Assistant: Jennie Billo
    • Photography: Michael Wilson
    • Earl Scurggs Photo: David Strasser
    • Art Direction & Design: Buddy Jackson/Karinne Caulkins for Jackson Design
    • Very Special Thanks to Jeff White for researching this project
    • Special Thanks to Michelle Findlay
    • Whistles in the Key of B, Bb, & A Supplied by Michael Burke

Sleeve Notes

THE FIRST TIME I SANG "The Long Black Veil" in a pub. the bartender asked me how I came to know such an "Irish" song. I didn't have the heart to tell him it had been written and recorded in Nashville in 1959. When I went to a village dance, I was delighted to hear the band performing Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and Faron Young's "It's Four in the Morning" alongside Irish favorites. Part of traditional country music crossed the Atlantic with Irish immigrants, and musical influences have drifted in the opposite direction as well.

THIS ALBUM "CONNECTS THE DOTS" between our cultures by digging for the shared roots of an Irish shamrock and a Tennessee mountain laurel. It reminds us that it is only a hop, skip and jump from jigs, reels and hornpipes to square dance melodies like "Sally Goodin" and "Cindy." Old-time Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon sang a version of "Old Plank Road." and North Carolina's live-fast. die-young songster Charlie Poole popularized "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" in the 1920s. But neither song has ever sounded as Celtic as both do here. Just as I found in that pub. both traditions love a tragic romance, whether it's more popular on the east side of "the pond." like "Molly Ban," or the west, like "Katie Dear" (better known in the States as "Silver Dagger").

IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE that the creative spark for this extraordinary roots collection came from The Chieftains. The world's most popular Irish band first recorded in Nashville for its 1992 RCA CD Another Country. That album prefigured the explosion of interest in Southern roots music that has since occurred. The record you hold in your hands confirms the group's status as the ultimate bearer of tradition.

BLUEGRASS STARS DEL MCCOURY AND JEFF WHITE find a new kind of "high and lonesome" here. Instrumentalists Bela Fleck, Ricky Skaggs and Earl Scruggs lean toward the Celtic and The Chieftains lean toward the country for some stunning collaborations. Troubadours John Hiatt, Lyle Lovett, Patty Griffin and Buddy & Julie Miller come from various points on the musical compass, but all melt comfortably into the fusion sound created when the Emerald Isle meets America. Meanwhile. Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch & David Rawlings sound as if they've been strolling on the seaside rocks of Donegal all their lives.

AND WHO BUT THE CHIEFTAINS could reach out to superstars and have Vince Gill rework the 1947 Merle Travis coal-mining classic "Dark as a Dungeon" or Martina McBride revive the sweet, sad 1879 waltz "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight"?

THE SHEER JOY IN THE PASS-THE-BOTTLE-AROUND FINALE is all you need to hear to realize that high spirits are kindred spirits. When you go to rural Ireland — and surely you will — you'll find that there's something vaguely familiar about the music and people. It's that something we call "country."

Robert K. Oermann
Nashville, Tennessee