The Tillers don’t just sing and play their homegrown brand of joyful, driving oldtime – they holler, stomp, swagger, and swing, fearlessly throwing themselves into the music and winding up in the hearts of their audiences.  The trio hails 
from Cincinnati, just across the Ohio River from the hills of Kentucky and at 
the northwestern edge of Appalachian coal country, where much of the band’s 
traditional style comes from.   But they’re not your typical folk revivalists – the 
self-described recovering punk rockers balance the drive and grit of their roots in 
Cincinnati’s hardcore scene with the country traditions of their old-time material. 

Recorded straight to tape, Hand on the Plow debuts the band’s new lineup, featuring multi-instrumentalist Mike Oberst with brothers Sean Geil on guitar and Aaron Geil on the upright bass.  The winners of 7 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, the trio are audience favorites for their live performances.  And Hand to the Plow brings all that verve to the album, from the swampy blues of “I Gotta Move” (featuring harmonica madman Col. J.D. Wilkes of the Legendary Shack Shakers), to the joyous fiddle licks of “Treehouse,” to the ode to the band’s Cincinnati stomping grounds in “Old Westside.”

 "Playing folk music, you have to be just as much a historian as a musician," says Mike Oberst.  And through his family’s past, Mike is deeply connected to the very history documented in many traditional tunes.  In the 1940s, his grandfather was forced to sign away his farmland to the Sunshine Coal Company, and like many Americans driven from their land by the growth of coal companies, never received most of the money he was promised.  It’s a story straight out of the coal ballads and protest songs of the Appalachian valleys, and so when the The Tillers cover 
union hymns and sing about the lot of poor folks in America, they do so with a deep awareness of that history.  They’re also known for putting their music in the service of their convictions, playing benefit shows for homeless communities and collaborating with Ohio Citizen’s Action to combat mountaintop removal.

The Tillers are at once heirs to the tradition of Appalachian song and protest, and relentless innovators of the genre.

11 Weary Soul

10 Treehouse

09 500 Miles

08 Long Summer Day

07 Can't Be True

06 Tecumseh on the Battlefield

05 Willy Dear

04 I Gotta Move

03 Shanty Boat

02 The Road Neverending

Blue collar country music. Construction by day and Honky Tonk by night.
Muddy Roots Music Recordings 2017

12 Slow Down

11 Big Wheels

10 That Was Then

09 Blue Eyed Girl

08 Burgundy In The Rain

07 Highway Bound

06 Wild Crazy And Free

05 They Know My Name

04 Rose

03 Good Times

02 All He Can Do

01 True Blue

Written while homeless, floating around Europe for a short time.  "Make It Back Home" touches on the longing to do just that. Be home with your your love, despite your shortcomings. A sentiment for anyone away, overseas, or even just out on a job a bit too long.

PAT REEDY & THE LONGTIME GONERS - Make It Back Home

Muddy Roots Music

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