“Brand New Tennessee Waltz” was written by Jesse Winchester, the American singer-songwriter who had moved to Canada, and it appeared on his self-titled 1970 debut album. Winchester always said it was the first song he ever wrote — and later called it “cryptic,” saying he eventually turned to plainer, more direct writing.
For all that, the song’s images of dances, partings, and a waltz that keeps turning have a haunting pull, and its melody is gentle and memorable. It was quickly picked up by other artists in the early 1970s.
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys recorded “Brand New Tennessee Waltz” in 1971, an unexpected choice for so traditional a band and a small sign of how widely the new singer-songwriter material was reaching, even into the heart of old-time bluegrass.
