For those who have their own musical histories or paths tamped down in the rich soil of bluegrass and roots music, the name John Reischman elicits responses of “perfect tone” and “flawless flow” when referencing his playing. His songs and melodies echo through our consciousness and the tone that he pulls from his instrument is unrivaled. His latest recording New Time & Old Acoustic (out August 9th) keenly focuses on the then and now, both in its sonic architecture and the ensemble that John has arranged around it.
The entire record plays host to a “who’s who” of the current bluegrass and roots landscape. From heavy hitting heroes to the new crop of pickers wowing folks on festival stages and post-show campfire jams. Bridging a gap between generations and the historical groundwork of bluegrass, old time and roots with the contemporary aural topography we are living in.
The latest track “The Coyote Trail” features Chris Jones, Mike Witcher, Sharon Gilchrist, Sullivan Tuttle and Trent Freeman. Entering with an immediate calming nature that grounds you for the expedition ahead, Reischman’s mandolin fully centered, rises like a gentle tide in a safe harbor. The substance and power of each yearnful note is helped by a slow and steady, yet sturdy, latticework of delicately played instrumentation beneath. The mandolin then politely bowing out to chop and add rhythm to give the fiddle, guitar and dobro their due at the melody. A conversation in the truest sense with each instrumentalist adding their own style, feel and guidance to the melody. There is structure, but its anything but stringent and stale. Allowing the space to find the little crevices that make John’s arrangements so special and unique. The most beautiful moment occurring when the rest of the band drops out and the mandolin sits on its own to complete the journey we are taken on through ‘The Coyote Trail’, each note with a grace and airiness that is juxtaposed by the weight each one carries as it stands on its own just as strong as it does with the support of a full band behind it. Magical.
John’s tunes have the feel of age old instrumentals that we have all learned to better hone our craft, many of his songs becoming staples in fiddle tune jam circles. Familiar, but exciting. This tune is no exception. He is a master in the truest sense of the word.
In speaking with John about this project, he referenced the cross generational weaving of artists when speaking on a previously released track from the collection called ‘Salt Spring’. He states, “Playing with the younger generation of players has been extremely satisfying. It is one of the things I wanted to feature on this recording. I’ve known Molly since she was a little kid and it’s been amazing seeing what a wonderful musician she has become. Max Schwartz is someone I had a chance to play music with a year or so ago. We travelled to a gig together and I was struck how there seemed to be no age gap, when there was actually at least 40years. He is very mature, musically and otherwise. I’m not sure he was even born when I wrote Salt Spring! It’s gratifying to know I’ve had some influence on young players and that they know my tunes.”
The past few years have seen a torrent of beautiful instrumental records amongst the roots music community, but the penning of these instrumental tunes has been a long standing tradition. I am always curious about the creation, muse and feeling that births these songs. Particularly those that are named for or after a specific a place. So, I asked John. He said, “Tunes come to me in a variety of ways, sometimes noodling, and sometimes without an instrument, while out walking. Salt Spring came to me while playing a friends old Martin guitar. It had such a beautiful tone that I found myself playing new things. It was easy to name- I was in Salt Spring Island at the time.”
Though in this day and age, other songs and melodies may take root in more modern sources. He continues, “Sometimes I think of a concept for a tune and something new can come pretty quickly. I was looking at Instagram and there was a post from Peghead Nation announcing a lesson from Mike Witcher teaching a waltz in D. I picked up my mandolin and the tune called Sarafina just laid right out. And it’s a waltz in D. I had already planned on including Mike on this recording.”
We find our musings as artists in the strangest of places on occasion, though, perhaps, there is nothing that can take the place of being in a place and time as Reischman puts it, “Location or circumstances can definitely have an impact on tune.”
He reflects on another example of such. “I was preparing a video for the British music camp called Sorefingers. It was on playing in a tuning with the E’s dropped to D. I’ve used this for D tunes and G tunes, but it occurred to me that it might work for Bm as well. As soon as I tried it this moody tune came out. I named it The Old Road to Kingham because Kingham School is the location of the Sorefingers music camp, and that pace was in my mind.”
There is never any shortage of collaborative efforts that live and breath within the ever expanding genre where his songs tend to take a seat. The first more intimate example of such was the first time that I met John where I was filming and recording the artist sessions for Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival. Eli West mentioned that he was arriving with John and wanted to record a few tunes together. What initiated as an impromptu session quickly became one of my most treasured moments of that weekend. Culminating with John and Eli joining the trio Lonesome Ace Stringband for a completely unrehearsed take of a tune.
“I love collaborating with other people and I always choose musicians that I think will make the tunes sound as good as possible,” he says. “I also choose folks who I have a positive relationship with as well. Trent Freeman, who plays fiddle on a lot of the recording always came up with something appropriate and inspiring. He’s so versatile and musical, that I was never disappointed. As far as arrangements, I mostly had an Idea of who I wanted to solo where, and a basic arrangement. On Cascadia, there is a section that only happens twice, and it is a line that I imagined all the players playing in unison. Both Todd Phillips and Chris Eldridge came up with more of a counterpoint ideas that worked much better than my concept. So I am definitely open to outside input.“
Give a listen to ‘The Coyote Trail’ today, as well as the other previously released tracks, and keep an eye out for more from John’s latest recording, New Time & Old Acoustic.
