Paste Studio “On The Road” rambles on, this time to Wilkesboro, North Carolina for the 36th annual MerleFest! The festival was founded in 1988 in memory of Doc Watson’s son Merle, and features “traditional plus” music, described by Doc Watson himself as, “the traditional music of the Appalachian region plus whatever other styles we were in the mood to play. Since the beginning, the people of Wilkes Community College and I have agreed that the music of MerleFest is ‘traditional plus’.” Old Crow Medicine Show fits the “traditional plus” bill perfectly, sharing two songs from their current record Jubilee, and an unreleased song poking fun at our two-party political system.
Full Session
“Wolfman of the Ozarks”
Multi-instrumentalist Cory Younts takes lead vocal duties on the first song “Wolfman of the Ozarks,” joined in three-part harmony by frontman Ketch Secor and percussionist Dante’ Pope during the choruses. The song might reference The Ozark Howler, a mythical beast from the deep dark woods, but the main character in this story is mostly a party animal who’ll “have you dancing ’til three.” And the band throws in an interpolation of Beyoncé’s “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” for good measure, too.
“The Donkey and the Elephant”
Next up is “The Donkey and the Elephant,” an unreleased song that balances in the rare position of being overtly political, while also being a ton of fun. No red or blue ideology here, it’s more of a plea to hurry up and get the 2024 election over with before we all lose our minds.
“One Drop”
For their third and final song, Old Crow Medicine Show plays the last song on Jubilee, which features Mavis Staples on the studio version. This session features the same vocal trio from “Wolfman of the Ozarks,” plus Chris “Critter” Fuqua and PJ George rounding out the vocal quintet. Morgan Jahnig holds down the low end on upright bass throughout the session, and guitarist Mike Harris swaps his resonator for Telecaster on this last tune.