Gregg Weiss
Essencial P
© 2005 Gregg Weiss (611357611421)
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Original oldtime music, think appalachia but remember i hail from nyc.
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notes
Essencial p was recorded in Weaverville, North Carolina when Jason Dilg, Jessica Johnson, JD Ilkins and P. George Wheeley agreed to hole up with me in a house for two weeks of bluegrass and old time music in February, 2005. Dave Muhlethaler (Artemis Pyle Band) showed up with some fiddle on Happy Man, Ass Rider, and Lighthearted. I cajoled him out of his sick bed with promises of a good dinner after JD’s fingers started to bleed.
Jason and Jess are also an old time duo that gig in the Western, NC. Jason is also the guitar in the now defunct, yet ever legendary string band “High on the Hog” (Colorado). During the two weeks we also recorded Jason and Jess’ material. A collection of 12-14 fiddle tunes and standards.
I doubt Essencial p could have happened in the world of mainstream music. Nobody was told what to play, and not one thought was reserved for pre-imagining they way the songs would be received by the public. Tom Adams (Banjo, Rounder records) says the collection is an example of “real people playing real music”.
Richard Plank of Cornwall, UK’s www.acousticart.co.uk says essencial p is
“A fine mix of Old Time and Mountain music, with contemporary songwriting... Honest and pure,” adding that this recording “is not to be missed.”
the collection was engineered by me on Pro-tools LE with 6 mics and an i-mac G5. Mixed by me as well. Me is Gregg Weiss, songwriter and essencial p meister.
Go ahead, take a gander….
reviews
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Fine Poetic Appalachian Singing with Fiddle, Banjo and Guitar
author: Jim GiddingsI love it when singer-songwriters combine genuine poetry with acoustic music that is easy to listen to and grows on you with each hearing. That's what's going on in this album. I haven't actually listened to it enough to write a review; each song's lyrics present some new puzzles each time I listen, but I know I have to start soon or I'll never get anything written down. The common theme seems to be something like "calm acceptance of hard truths." "Dan Holloway" talks about the Appalachian hollers, the modern American culture of violence, and the civil war and its legacy all at the same time. I think "Grape Song" is what the Victorians called a "song of happy love", but it leaves out any implication of permanence and loyalty. "W" seems to be remotely about a certain President, but it's also about freedom, paranoia and a dozen associated feelings and issues. "Watch Tower Revisited" is a parody of the Bob Dylan original that subtly changes Dylan's in-crowd jokes into something we can all relate to now. "Road Rage" (aka "Ass Rider") is about tailgaters; it's funny and old-timey, but it is not for US radio play, due to the scatological references that the F*CC doesn't understand. "Not the Wrong Road to Heaven" is one end of a long-distance conversation between a man and a woman over a phone; it may or may not be about breaking up, but it's so quiet, gentle and accepting in tone. The Devil's Highway is about acceptance of one's lot in life; it refers obliquely to conventional religious ideas seen as insufficient guides. One of the things I like about Gregg Weiss's delivery is the occasional "Incredible String Band"-like ornamentations. What I specially like about this album is the spontaneity of the music, like sessions I remember from my younger days, picking and singing around a campfire with friends and relations.