Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons are a roots music duo based in the Pacific Northwest. In 2014 they were part of the backing band for Dom Flemons, founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, on his debut solo album Prospect Hill and toured with him behind that album. These two are what you might call songsters with deep roots in the blues and folk as well as jazz, ragtime, gospel and really the whole panoply of pre-World War II American music.
Those roots are fully on display on their debut album Take Yo Time. It sports Anglo-American folk songs like “House Carpenter” and “Tom Dooley,” ragtime instrumentals, gospel, a little jazz and lots of acoustic blues from various regions and periods. “Mississippi Heavy Water Blues,” for instance, one of my favorites, is a fine example of Atlanta blues. It was inspired by a historic flood and originally recorded by Robert Hicks, also known as Barbecue Bob. This is a spare arrangement with banjo and some bones or spoons backing the tenor lead vocal and beautiful bass harmonies.
Another highlight is “Goin’ To German,” a Gus Cannon jug band song from 1929. This is just a fine, fine take on the sad, weary, trouble-with-a-woman song, all relaxed and loose. As is their intricate and soulful version of Big Bill Broonzy’s “Long Tall Mama,” with sterling interplay between the guitar and fiddle, slipping into and out of counterpoint and unison. Check out this superb video from Seattle’s KEXP:
There’s much more, including a banjo-fiddle cover of Ellington’s “Jungle Nights In Harlem,” the haunted shout blues of Robert Johnson’s “Preachin’ Blues,” Texas-style fiddling on “Beaumont Rag,” and Charley Patton’s woeful, lyrical “Some Of These Days.” It’s all music that invites you to sing along, push back the furniture and dance, and even grab an instrument and join in.
On their website you can learn about their Rhapsody program of concerts and workshops for schools, and they’re also on Facebook.
self-released, 2014
