After calling both Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz “master guitarists and writers,” the beloved, late music writer and historian Peter Cooper described their upcoming collection, Lost Voices, just like this: “These are new kinds of bluegrass songs, informed by mutual heroes Tony Rice, Norman Blake, John Hartford, and Gordon Lightfoot, yet not beholden to any prior influence, other than the influence of the American experience.”
The latest example of the American experience’s influence on Stafford and Jutz’s songcraft is their new single, “The Blue Grays,” a song about the legendary semi-pro Negro League baseball team who made a mess of the competition for two decades straight between 1935 and 1955. “The Blue Grays” finds the longtime Blue Highway guitarist (Stafford) and the long-respected Nashville songwriter and session man (Jutz) crafting verses about a group of men who not only duked it out on the diamond but helped make strides in the ongoing fight for civil rights as well. “Well they took on every rival but they also fought Jim Crow,” Stafford sings in the second verse. “They played under difficult conditions, but tales of their ability and escapades are still being told,” says Stafford, who based the main riff of “The Blue Grays” on Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues.”
Stafford and Jutz would like to recognize and thank Cedar Grove Foundation, Inc. and Jacey Augustus for their research and documentation of the Elizabethton Blue Grays.
When it came time to lay down all fourteen Stafford- and Jutz-penned songs on Lost Voices, the pair decamped to Jutz’s log cabin studio outside of Nashville with a crew of like-minded greats including Shaun Richardson on mandolin, Ron Block on banjo, Tammy Rogers on fiddle, and Mark Fain on bass. Dale Ann Bradley joined the group to sing on the album track “Callie Lou”—a song that was based on a scene from Harriette Arnow’s ground-breaking novel The Dollmaker. When all was said and done, Stafford and Jutz ended up with an album of all original music that perfectly reflects the depth of both knowledge and skill—and an effortless cool—that the duo possesses; an album of tunes that the aforementioned Cooper called “Songs that bring American history—mountain culture, steam trains, vaudeville, race, baseball, strife, and grace—to technicolor life.”
Fans can hear “The Blue Grays” today at this link and pre-order or pre-save Lost Voices ahead of its February 3rd release right here.
Lost Voices Tracklist Take That Shot Enough To Keep You Going For A While The Blue Grays The Ballad Of Kinnie Wagner Callie Lou The Wild Atlantic Way No Witness In The Laurel But The Leaves Vaudeville Blues Code Talker The Standing People The Queen And Crescent High Mountain Rising Revolutionary Love Lost Voices
More About Tim & Thomm: Mountain Fever Records is very proud to announce the signing of Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz; two of the most prominent and prolific songwriters in bluegrass music, for the release of their forthcoming duo project, Lost Voices.
Their love for history, vintage guitars, and well-crafted songs brought the two together five years ago. “I’m such an admirer of Tim’s writing, singing, and playing. Making a duo record with Tim was a logical step and a dream come true for me,” notes Jutz. Stafford says, “Thomm is such a great, unique writer, player, and singer – we connected and found so many ideas that spoke to us both. Recording was a breeze!”
