Some Strange Country
by Crooked Still

$12.99

Crooked Still is an ensemble effort of inspired music making that moves the bands' impossible to pigeonhole style in new directions while honoring their folk roots. "It's hard to pin down our music," bass player Corey DiMario says. "We play improvised old time music, bluegrass, folk and our own songs within the broad context of a string band. Like a lot of today's bands, we have modern and traditional influences that confuse the boundaries. We want to keep blurring those lines to make something all our own."

Crooked Still's 4th album is an elegant package of superbly crafted musical styles taking country/folk as the deep foundation and veering off into exhilarating and exciting directions. It's amazing music and it can hardly be called "bluegrass" or be locked into one genre. Where Ray Charles gave us Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music back in 1962, Crooked Still bring those expressions into the new millennium. Recorded during a long blizzard in rural Virginia, Some Strange Country expands on the band's unique blend of Appalachian-based string band styles combining with chamber music strings and pop sensibility, all supporting Aoife O'Donovan's sultry and sometimes spooky vocals. The album was produced by Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Nickel Creek) and features guest contributions of bluegrass legends Ricky Skaggs and Tim O'Brien and vocals from rising star Sarah Jarosz.

1. Sometimes in this Country

2. The Golden Vanity

3. Distress

4. Henry Lee

5. Half of What We Know

6. I'm Troubled

7. Locust in the Willow

8. Turning Away

9. Calvary

10. Cold Mountain

11. You Were Gone

12. You Got the Silver