Combewl!

Here's a nice thang with Cindy Cashdollar, Larry Campbell, Theresa Campbell, and Amy Helm. I've been fortunate enough to see two of these performers, Larry and Amy, a few times now.
I've seen Mr. Campbell with both Dylan and Amy's daddy, Levon. They just don't come any better than him. Skilled, tasteful, smart, plays well with others. I've been impressed and reimpressed.
I've seen Ms. Helm with Levon and with her band, Olabell. They are very worth a listen. Great roots music, lots of vocals, awesome old Telecaster Bass. Check them out. I also had the opportunity to sort of meet her at a rehearsal she was having with Donald Fagen, up at Bearsville studios, thanks to friend and engineer Ben. That's when I found out about said bass, after asking about it whilst releaving myself in the loo next to the bassist.
Now for our feature presentation:
The sound kinda sucks, but 's'alright.


Here's something else. Involving Larry. For Nerds.
I do a lot of recording. Music. I do a lot more fiddling around with instruments and samplers and computer sequencing and synths and such than creating actual product/music, but it's a constant hobby. I hope to make a living as a mixing engineer some fine day.
I'm not much on using premade loops in my recorded music, although I've done it from time to time. These are ussually (maybe always) percussive loops of some sort. Sometimes it's just as a songwriting tool with drum loops, and sometimes I use percussion loops because it's simpler. If i have a good sounding premade loop of a shaker on every quarter note, there's probably no reason for me to rerecord it, since it's deaddumb simple, and what i'm looking for. So there you go.
Back to Larry, THE MAN HAS A SAMPLE CD!
This is probably the only instrument loop/sample cd I've ever been seriously considering for purchase.
It's called Whole Lotta Country (for christ's sake).
It fills me with joy. Fiddle, mandolin, pedal steel, banjo, dobro, hi-string guitar, Telecaster, 6-string bass, and gut bucket. All Larry Campbell, all the time. I've seen the man play a few of these, and he's consistently perfect. Awesome.
And it actually sounds really really good, and usable.
Listen and worship here, here2, and here3.
And for anyone who hasn't tried it, if your a recording guitar player, I suggest giving the "high strung guitar" a go yourself. Just get a bunch of high e strings, .10 gauge or so, and string six of em up. then tune standard, but an octave or two up for each string (except the top two). There are other variations of this as well. It gives a nice jangly, full sound for choruses, intros, etc, especially when doubled with a standard guitar.
The sample set is 99 bones, or clams, or whatever you call them. I'm trying not to buy anything for a while. We'll see.