The Lonesome Ace Stringband brings grit, skill and abandon to old-time, Appalachian folk songs and fiddle/banjo tunes. These are songs and tunes for life and all of it’s occasions: festivals, dances, wars, parties and funerals. The music comes from a tradition that has inspired and brought together generations of people. It’s themes – love, loss, hard work and hardship, faith, and everyday life – speak to everyone. The members are Chris Coole on banjo, John Showman on fiddle and Max Heineman on bass. Together they bring a deep respect for the roots of the music, a keen sense of innovation to the performance and material, and a passion for the sound that transcends both. This is old-time music for today’s old soul.
“When The Sun Comes Up” is the third studio record by the Lonesome Ace Stringband. Written and recorded over the summer and fall of 2017, this album of mostly original compositions focuses on the group’s predilection for the spiritual and redemptive side of the music, where characters come to life in song to confront mortality, impossible choices, and the relentless pressures of change.
Like the first two records, what is captured is the energy of three passionate musicians playing their music live together, in a room surrounded by microphones. Engineered by Gavin Gardiner of Wooden Sky, the difference is in the intent of the record: whereas the first two records are collections of American old-time songs and tunes that pay homage to the tradition, this new record is a statement of purpose that focuses on the unique meaning and voice of each original song. From the layering of banjo and fiddle tracks to organic spatial effects, from hummed vocal pads to shifting tape delays and varispeed, the listener will hear the group expand it’s groove and feel in subtle ways that bring the message and emotion of each song to life.