Bob Carlin's latest recorded outing as artist and producer features Malian Jeli Cheick Hamala and shows the connections between African and Early African and Anglo-American music, with Bob's gourd, minstrel and metal strung banjos included in the ensemble.

John Hartford's last studio recording before his untimely death in 2001. Recorded live in the studio, and cut very quickly, this tribute to John's musical roots features the Hartford Stringband, with Bob on banjo.

Bluegrass music's great young hope, with one foot in the tradition and another in the modern world. We crafted this, their first real studio CD, with months of rehearsals and reshaping of material, allowing the band to knock out these tracks in rapid succession.

Mark Simos is one of the great songwriters of our time, placing five song with Alison Krause and others with Laurie Lewis and Del McCoury. Mark is also a fine crafter of fiddle tunes, and this is the first of two volumes featuring his tunes played with a traditional string band. And, although it's hard to believe, I didn't realize (although Mark claims he had) that we were referencing the Beatles on this arrangement.

Malian Jeli musician Cheick Hamala recorded these tracks in a DC-area recording studio that his wife had chosen out of the phone book! John Plymale and I went into Overdub Lane and shaped the raw tracks into a rocking, tradition-based CD. Includes Cheick's own playing of guitar and West African lute (ngoni) along with balaphon (xylophone), kora (harp), vocals and lots of percussion.

The dominatrix of the Spanish resophonic metal bodied guitar, Del Rey gathered some of Seattle's finest for this rockin' collection of originals and acoustic blues and swing classics.

Live in the studio again, with the last of the North Carolina African-American fiddlers. Bob is on banjo, along with guitar and string bass.

The band to watch, with one foot in oldtime fiddle music and another in the alt-country camp. Fiddle and banjo tunes, along with old country gems, combine with great original songs and singing on the band's sophomore release.