Teddy & The Rough Riders – Down Home
At first listen you’d think it’s old fogey stuff. Grandpa’s music. But this duo kicks ass in its country-flavored bluegrass rock n’ roll hybrid. There’s a definite feel of Bill Monroe’s genre here & a Grateful Dead-type groove running through with measures of Ozark Mountain Daredevils & Hot Tuna. I must have been hitting that whisky heavy last night.
I like this. The first tune “Bullet” is the handclapping side slapping rollicking tune & it doesn’t stop there. “Fast Livin’” & “Trouble Sleeping” seep with vintage Goose Creek Symphony (“Do Your Thing But Don’t Touch Mine” LP) heaviness—lots of versatility & genuine musical fertility.
These musicians make an old bottle of moonshine sparkle in the sun with the 11 potent swigs from Down Home (Drops Oct 11/Appalachia Records/33:11) produced by band & Jake Davis. They’re faithful to the primitive prosaic beauty of the music while adding lots of whiskey to the milk. It’s like the joke Gene Hackman (Clyde’s brother) tells the kidnapped Gene Wilder & Evans Evans in the back seat of the Bonnie & Clyde car in the 1967 film. “Whatever you do son, don’t sell that cow.”
What’s smart about this music is that they’ve treated each tune individually. Nothing sounds like the one before. It’s all fascinating throughout. Even something you’d think a city slicker wouldn’t relate to like “Catfish Summer,” is terrific.
It’s a shame that a musician like Jerry Garcia is no longer here to participate with these fine musicians because this is where Garcia was most accomplished & comfortable. Ironically, Jerry’s wife & den mother to The Grateful Dead (Carolyn Garcia) was called “Mountain Girl” & Teddy & the Rough Riders produced one of their finest tunes with that title.
The Country potency is equal to the poignancy they inject into songs like “Love After Life” with all its delicate interplay & smart melodicism. The instrumentation is always intricate yet loose in a potpourri of friendly toe-tapping music.
I’m impressed with how well these musicians have shaped their final product. There isn’t a sour note in the barrel. Besides the Goose Creek comparisons (a much larger musical congregation) this unit is a cross between the most countrified Grateful Dead-era material, Hot Tuna patchwork & duos such as Lowen & Navarro. Yet, they succeed so well in supplementing their music with pinches of their own originality & fervent creative touches.
Highlights – “Bullet,” “Fast Livin’,” “Catfish Summer,” “Trouble Sleeping” & “Mountain Girl.”
Musicians – Jack Quiggins & Ryan Jennings
Cover photo courtesy of Jake Davis. CD @ Amazon + Apple & https://teddyandtheroughriders.com/