Album Notes

~ "...Hunter Robertson is a highly talented traditional musician. Sings Songs for the Masses is as strong a solo CD as I’ve heard in quite some time."
- Sing Out!

~ "...Songs for the Masses is for neither the masses nor the timid. But if you're up for a walk through the lonesome valley that stretches across the moonless landscape of the old, weird America, Robertson will show you the way."
- Rambles.Net

~ "...The banjo playing is solid clawhammer with a light, sure touch. Not traditional old-time music as I know it, but eclectic and distinctive."
- The Old-Time Herald

~ "...So - this is the second CD I've received this month for which the words 'strange and worthwhile' seem appropriate..." "All of the playing is pretty quirky - and extremely interesting..."
- Musical Traditions (www.mustrad.org.uk)


This CD is firmly rooted in traditional Appalachian music, with a few deviations. It has a fair amount of banjo playing on it, banjo being my main instrument, including traditional pieces like Soldier's Joy, Bonaparte's Retreat and Ducks on the Millpond, a northern Greek tune, Milo Mou Kokkino and a tune of my own, Threw Down, which are played clawhammer, as well as some old-time three finger tunes, Pretty Polly and Red Wing (which is played on a fretless gut-strung banjo my father made), and again, some of my own pieces. There's one number played on a 2-stringed instrument made out of a tin can and a song, You Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond, played as a one-man-band with slide banjo, kazoo, bass drum, high-hat and pseudo throat singing. There are a few 12-string guitar pieces to round it out, and one on electric guitar. I figured if Hobart Smith could get away with it, why shouldn't I?