Ketch Secor may not be a household name. He is, however, the founding member and frontman of Old Crow Medicine Show, and co-writer of their worldwide smash hit “Wagon Wheel."
Now, he's going solo.
Secor’s debut album under his own name is Story the Crow Told Me, which narrates, often in carnival barker-style, his road from a train-hopping street busker to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Best known as a guitar player, Secor displays his talents on nearly a dozen different instruments on the record, including the spoons. Although he is steeped in old-time, country and gospel, he realizes there is a need to bring those sounds into the present.
Secor is, on one hand, a traveling man of the world, while also deeply rooted in Nashville. He has dabbled in writing children’s books, presenting TED Talks and consulting with documentarian Ken Burns on his Country Music series.
Guests on the record include big OCMS fan and country legend Marty Stuart, former bandmates Willie Watson and Critter Fuqua, and Secor's bluegrass star wife, Molly Tuttle.
Songs like "Busker’s Spell," "Talking Doc Blues" (Doc Watson was an early fan of OCMS) and "Dickerson Road" detail the travel and difficult, yet whimsical, life of a musician who plays on sidewalks across the nation. His song "Holes In the Wall" highlights the dive bars and taverns — sticky floors and all — that populate the careers of so many musicians and music fans alike.
Labeling the music as bluegrass, country, honky-tonk or Americana is pointless as these up-tempo, bouncy songs pick you up and bring you along for the ride that has been Secor’s life as a musician.
Think of a highly caffeinated Tom Waits with a banjo! This record will roll you, rock you and bring your ears a sound from yesterday and today.
Must listens
- "Busker's Spell"
- "Talkin' Doc Blues"
- "Ghost Train"
- "Dickerson Road"
- "Holes In The Wall"
