Album Notes

"The musicianship, choice of material, vocal renditions . . . were all great,
and the whole CD has fresh appeal which kept me listening to the end." -- Jean Ritchie

On Thursday, September 30, 1993, there was to be an evening of acoustic music with a group of musicians that had thus far never played together. Four of the players from that session - Tom Wilson, Alex Wright, Fred Sanders and Steve Rankin - discovered a special chemistry between them that led to many an evening of "...play the song once, play the song twice, now let's play it again 'cause it sounds so nice..." And so, from newfound friendship, laughter and celebration, the Eight Hand String Band was formed.

At the heart of the band was the inspirational guitar work of Tom Wilson. His level of playing made all of us want to be the best that we could. So, with Alex on banjo, Fred on acoustic bass, and Steve on mandolin, we surrounded the guitar with a solid rhythm background and tight, three-part vocal harmonies. Our musical tastes were all varied, and instead of choosing one particular style, we sampled everything from bluegrass, folk, rockabilly, and country, to blues and jazz. When asked what kind fo music we played, we said "we are a non-traditional, American grassroots string band."

Then, ironically, almost three years to the day of that first evening, we tragically lost our good dear friend Tom. We spent the next year searching to replace a missing part. What we discovered, as new friends stood in with us, is that nothing was missing. Tommy was always going to be there. So we included one of Tom's good buddies, Charlie Otte, on the fiddle, and an added attraction of the sweet, high-lonesome vocals of Susie Glaze - and once again we recaptured the energy of that evening in September those years before.

The music contained in this our first CD was recorded at various times and places and is representative, in all its rawness, of this whole journey. We hope you enjoy it. And if you listen closely, you can hear a little bit of Tom in every song.
- The Eight Hand String Band, January 2000