Old Crow Medicine Show

by James Christopher Monger
Mountain music revivalists Old Crow Medicine Show spin traditional folk and bluegrass yarns with a rock & roll attitude. Critter Fuqua (vocals/banjo/resonator guitar), Kevin Hayes (guitjo), Morgan Jahnig (upright bass), Ketch Secor (vocals/fiddle/harmonica/banjo), and Willie Watson (vocals/guitar/banjo) may specialize in rags, hollers, and pre-World War II blues but they were weaned on Nirvana and Public Enemy. The quintet -- who are all from different states -- met in New York, hit the road, played before an impressed Doc Watson in front of a North Carolina pharmacy, and were promptly scheduled to play the folk icon's Merlefest. The group relocated to Nashville, found themselves gracing the stage at the Grand Ole Opry, opened for the likes of Dolly Parton and the Del McCoury Band, toured with Merle Haggard and Marty Stuart, and appeared on NPR's Prairie Home Companion. They signed to Nettwerk America in 2003, began crafting their own compositions among the jug band standards and reels that had become the backbone of the group, and went into the studio to make a record with Gillian Welch's other half, guitarist David Rawlings, at the helm. The self-titled debut, which was recorded in RCA's legendary Studio B (Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings), as well as Woodland Sound Studios (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), arrived the following year. The group's second album, Big Iron World was produced by Rawlings and appeared in August of 2006.