Album Notes

A contemporary folk fusion featuring old-time tunesmithing, world-beat percussion, and three-part vocal power.

Immersed in the joy of northern New England’s rich musical traditions, Vermont’s WAGTAIL fuses the well-loved sounds of fiddle, guitar and mandolin with percussion and fine vocals, bringing to the stage a blend of old time jamming, Celtic melodies, American song-styles and world-beat rhythms. With original writing as their foundation, WAGTAIL offers a fresh approach to traditional music that’s fun, funky and deeply moving.

Susannah Blachly is a fiddler, tunesmith & singer/songwriter from Marshfield, VT. She has released two CDs of all original material and twice ranked on the Top Ten Best VT CDs of the Year in Seven Days, VT’s premier arts weekly. In 2005 SingOut! magazine published her song “Secret Place” and featured it on a compilation disc with such folk luminaries as Pete Seeger and Maria Muldauer.

George White lives in an old farmhouse in the hills of Tunbridge VT, and that’s where his inspirational guitar, octave mandolin and vocal parts for WAGTAIL first find voice. George is responsible for much of the unique Celtic groove, rock rhythms and raw passion that shapes the WAGTAIL sound.

Kristina Stykos was born with a guitar in her hands, and brings a decidedly gritty and energetic flatpicking style to WAGTAIL, as well as mandolin chops. Like Susannah, she writes for the band and adds an edgy quality to their old time vocal harmonies. Her solo CD “In the Earth’s Fading Light”, recorded at her home in Chelsea VT, was acclaimed “VT Album of the Year (2005)” by Central VT’s largest daily newspaper, The Times Argus. Says arts reviewer Art Edelstein: “Bruce Springsteen may have gotten all the hype for his latest effort “Devils and Dust,” but for my money Stykos has written far better songs, delivered them with wonderful style, and can play the pants off of the King of Asbury Park.”

In a deeply syncopated pocket, Carter Stowell grooves with gratitude for the many master drummers and inspiring musicians in North Carolina and northern California, in Senegal, West Africa, the Caribbean, and now in Vermont who have helped to shape his percussive voice over 15+ years. With Wagtail, Carter uses hands and feet with various sticks, skins, shakers and shouts to provide a percussive understory for Wagtail’s kaleidoscopic melodies.