About this item

Much like the North Carolina wilds it reflects, ‘Needlefall’ waxes and wanes from mysterious and unsettling to ecstatic and awe-inspiring, capturing the sacred dimensions of the natural world. Magic Tuber Stringband draw on a host of fellow travellers to realize Needlefall’s intricate arrangements, exemplifying the diversity of contemporary folk movements, placing their work in the tradition of modern innovators like Moondog, Harry Partch, Pauline Oliveros, and labelmate Sally Anne Morgan.

Magic Tuber Stringband are Courtney Werner and Evan Morgan, accompanied by their regular bassist Mike DeVito. Morgan is an organizer within the local music community, and Werner is a dedicated naturalist involved in local land stewardship. ‘Needlefall’ answers the question “What does a modern string band sound like?” with powerful new arrangements of traditional songs and transcendent originals. The album is teeming with life, translating abundant ecosystems into arcing melodies and shimmering, mystic drones. The band explain: “If you spend enough time out in the woods you inevitably see or hear things that are hard to explain. I’ve been in caves where it’s total darkness and you’re enveloped by the disorienting sound of dripping water. The natural sights and sounds in these places are often repetitive, percussive, expressive, sometimes unsettling - the way that water carves patterns into rock or tree trunks appear in endless rows.”

“Magic tuber stringband makes old-time music for postmodern people” - Indy Week

“This Durham, North Carolina stringband intersperse shruti box drones with fervid Appalachian banjo and fiddle freakouts. Like fellow travellers Pelt, a band alive to the experimental possibilities of American roots music, both in its traditional forms and in where it can be stretched.” - Mojo

“The duo’s music also engages in mythologies of people and their relationship with the natural world in an intoxicating fashion.” - Aquarium Drunkard

For fans of Sally Anne Morgan, Daniel Bachman, Natural Information Society.

TRACK LISTING

A Dance On A Sunday Night
Days Of Longing
The Hermit’s Passage
Water Dripped Upwards
The Long-Suffering
Needlefall
Twelfth House
Piney Woods Burn