River Fools & Mountain Saints

Ballad of a Retired Man

One Woman

From the album "Grandpa's Guitar" -  This hard-to-record emotional track is an honor to Whitey's Grandfather, the man who taught him how to play guitar and educated him on country music.  Comes out December 16th, 2014.  

itunes

Grandpa's Guitar

Wedding Ring

Austin

Highway 377

Asheville, NC string band Town Mountain revisited some old connections to produce the band’s latest single “You Can’t Win Em All.”  Written by Town Mountain mandolin player Phil Barker, the tune is a swaying lament and reflection on love lost and decisions made. “I envisioned this tune as a last-song-on-the-jukebox kind of vibe…when everything is winding down and you’re left with the quiet of the evening to think back on the way life and love has gone,” says Barker. “Not just with regret, but also with acceptance on how some things work out for the best in the long run.”

“We tracked the beginnings of the song on a day off of tour last fall, and had been wondering how to further develop it. So with everybody musically quarantined for the moment, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to do some remote collaboration to fully realize the vision of the tune.”

To that end, the band enlisted long time friend and Grammy award winning producer Joel Savoy. Barker adds, “We met Joel years ago at a festival in Canada and became good buddies with him, and big admirers of his brand of cajun and country music. From recordings we’ve heard that he’s played on and produced, we knew he would be the perfect person to give the song the fuller sound we wanted and we knew that the crew of musicians he works with down around Lafayette, LA are all top notch players. Seems like everyone down there plays so soulfully and is all about the classic tones. We’re thrilled with what they added to the tune.” 

The result is a Wurlitzer-tinged, country landscape where banjos and steel guitars easily intertwine and pull on the forlorn emotion of days gone by. Paired with heartfelt vocals and elevated by stirring bluegrass fiddle work in the tune’s closing minutes, “You Can’t Win Em All” delivers a hauntingly soulful addition to the classic americana jukebox.

About Joel Savoy: Founder of the Louisiana-based Valcour Records, Joel Savoy is a GRAMMY-winning recording engineer and record producer as well as a ten-time GRAMMY nominee. Recently appointed the Artistic Director of the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington, Joel is a versatile fiddler and guitarist and has played and taught music around the world for the last 20 years. Visit Valor Records at www.valcourrecords.com

“You Can’t Win Em All” - Town Mountain
(Phil Barker / Picket Rick Music, BMI)

Produced by Joel Savoy
Mixed by Joel Savoy
Mastered by Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering, Charlotte, NC
Recorded by Aaron Youngberg at Swingfingers Recording Studios, Ft Collins, CO 
Chris Stafford at Staffland Studios, Lafayette, LA 
Joel Savoy at Valcour Records, Eunice, LA

Personel:
Robert Greer - guitar, vocals
Jesse Langlais - banjo
Zach Smith - bass
Bobby Britt - fiddle
Phil Barker - mandolin, vocals
Chris Stafford - pedal steel, keyboards
Bill Smith - drums

You Can't Win Em All

Arlo McKinley & The Lonesome Sound

I've Got Her

Old fashioned and new fashioned. Simultaneously. 

Wedding Ring

Grady Spencer & the Work