Day By Day (Smithsonian Folkways / Plectrafone, 2021) is Norman Blake's debut on Smithsonian Folkways, recorded in single takes in one afternoon at a studio thirty miles from Blake's home in Rising Fawn, Georgia. At 83, Blake performs alongside Nancy Blake (cello), James Bryan (fiddle), David Hammonds (vocals), and Joel McCormick (guitar, vocals) as the Rising Fawn String Ensemble, balancing solo performances and ensemble pieces through a program of originals and traditional material. The album drew wide attention as a rare Folkways release for a figure whose career had previously included sessions with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and it was received as a late-career summation from one of acoustic music's most enduring voices.
Tracklist
- 1 When the Roses Bloom 4:03
- 2 Just Tell Them That You Saw Me 2:39
- 3 I'm Free Again 3:37
- 4 Old Joe’s March 2:39
- 5 Montcalm and Wolfe 6:25
- 6 Three Leaves of Shamrock 3:29
- 7 Time 2:55
- 8 Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie alt version 3:42
- 9 My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains alt version 4:40
