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Sunday 7 July 2019

Chatham County Line



When Mrs CC was amassing her pile of  Country CDs in a charity shop in St Andrews I sneaked one in when she was not looking.
It was IV which, not surprisingly, is the fourth album by Raleigh, North Carolina  bluegrass band Chatham County Line. From 2008 it was released on the ever wonderful Yep Roc label.


It is bluegrass but with a modern slant. Not necessarly as fast and relentless as the traditional stuff but with plenty of banjos and mandolins on display.
The first track The Carolinian could potentially have been one for George's State of the Union series had it specified either North or South and if it hadn't actually been about a train.
On a more serious note the second track  Birmingham Jail is about the murder of four young black girls by the Ku Klux Klan in 1963
This being Alabama those responsible were not charged and jailed until 1977 in one instance,2001 and 2002 in  two other instances and with the 4th alleged murderer dying before he could be charged.
Although the suspects were all identified by 1965 the case was closed by the FBI, under the instructions of J Edgar Hoover, in 1968.
Such a thing couldn't happen today in Trump's America, could it?

Chatham County Line - The Carolinian

Chatham County Line - Birmingham Jail

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