"Bruce Molsky & Big Hoedown," released in 1997 on Rounder Records, is a trio old-time recording featuring Bruce Molsky (fiddle, banjo, vocals), Beverly Smith (guitar, vocals), and Rafe Stefanini (fiddle, banjo). All three were central figures in the old-time revival — Stefanini, Italian-born and Appalachian-trained, and Smith, a North Carolina traditional guitarist, were natural collaborators for Molsky's rural Southern repertoire. The album arrived as the Smithsonian's reissue of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music had renewed wide interest in pre-war rural music; two tracks come directly from the Smith Anthology. The trio plays in the tradition older than bluegrass — modal tunings, deliberate tempos, the raw grain of the source material — making this a defining document of the 1990s old-time revival.
Tracklist
- 1 Sugar Babe alt version 3:04
- 2 Five Miles Out Of Town 2:49
- 3 Pretty Saro 3:39
- 4 Half Past Four alt version 4:03
- 5 Wagoner's Lad 3:44
- 6 Shove the Pig’s Foot a Little Further into the Fire Source Recording 3:24
- 7 John Henry alt version 3:12
- 8 Rocky Mountain 3:32
- 9 Paddy Won't You Drink Some Good Old Cider 3:01
- 10 Robert's Serenade 2:53
- 11 Old Paint 4:52
- 12 We'll All Go To Heaven When The Devil Goes Blind 3:07
- 13 Shady Grove alt version 3:15
- 14 Train on the Island alt version 4:07
- 15 The Blue Tail Fly 1:56
- 16 Clyde's Hiccups 3:15