r/Bluegrass

One of the Missouri Ozarks' most famous residents, Marideth was a storyteller, a singer & a folklorist.

To me, she always spoke and felt like some living embodiment of a Thomas Hart Benton painting. She could so perfectly discuss those balances between nature and man, or how politics and circumstances could affect the lives of Missouri residents throughout centuries of its history and lore. 

She actually spent two decades as a small town Missouri journalist in West Plains, Later she became a public radio host at KSMU at Missouri State, regularly sharing the local Ozarks culture and folklore, and she played music. Sometimes with the very talented local Ozarks band Blackberry Winter, and she wrote books. 

It was a book signing that lead to her consulting both music and production on an upcoming movie heavily featuring the Missouri Ozarks, set very close to her hometown on the border of Arkansas.

If you haven't seen Winter's Bone, it does an absolutely exceptional job of depicting the determination and grit and beauty of the Ozarks, with an extraordinary story and cast. The film was a breakout role for Jennifer Lawrence, released less than two years before Hunger Games made her a superstar.

And the movie prominently featured a really moving musical example of Missouri Bluegrass by Sisco, who was accompanied by a host of Missouri musicians. It really shined a spotlight and gave a voice to a very unique brand of bluegrass tradition carried on in the Missouri Ozarks.

It was Marideth's appearance & musical contribution to the four-time Oscar-nominated breakout hit movie that made her a celebrity as a senior citizen. 

The movie's success lead to numerous tours, performances and appearances, and Marideth seized those opportunities to evangelize her beloved Missouri music, culture and lore.

Her speaking was honest and entrancing, and she sang like an angel.

Sadly I only came close to having the privilege of seeing Sisco perform live, but I'm one of I'm sure many Missourians who regard Sisco as one of Missouri's most cherished cultural personalities, deserving of a place among the likes of Benton, Twain, Wilder and Truman. she was a grand library of Missouri history now gone, but we're all lucky she recorded so much.

If you don't know Marideth's music or her storytelling, do yourself a favor and have a listen. It'll make you proud of Missouri. I left some links below. 

Here's singing playing "The Missouri Waltz" a cappella like an angel:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2FNzPltbVh0ac59vInEHmW?si=45899214076b42e1

The most recent Farm & Fiddle on KOPN was an extended tribute to Marideth including really interesting and long interviews: 
https://spinitron.com/KOPN/pl/22458519/Farm-and-Fiddle

Here's Marideth Sisco on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1yG8CZoFHTMtR1rYrYzdvF

Here's Marideth Sisco on the Winter's Bone soundtrack
https://open.spotify.com/album/3YZEtKK8JCArRZkHmnh1qE?si=xu1l8XgBT_eQN9maj8q1eg

And Blackberry Winter's "Still Standing": 
https://open.spotify.com/album/5uIO9PIPDbm7FcIRb96Ttz?si=SQK5b_UFQdSiDv4-Fd2vhg
Travelers down Highway 63 may recognize the little farmhouse around Vichy, Missouri that's been defiantly standing for decades, though is now, also, sadly gone.

Here's Sisco's Spotify: 
https://maridethsisco.com/

Here's Sisco's Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marideth_Sisco

And here's one of my most favorite songs of hers:
https://open.spotify.com/track/4oRBSxk4tbm1Qo6SolWrXa?si=682d8be8e4a342c0

I have to be careful with this one. I played it to death during some hard years. A decade on, it's still heavy.

I have the melody and some lyrics, and I'm hoping someone could help me remember the name. ive heard it before by some old singers like the Stanley brothers and the other night i heard it live so its fresh in my head.

The lyrics I remember go "Sing Song, Live Life, And Something (love that?) music!, its the only kinda Something we could ever understand"

Any help would be nice. Thanks.

I took all the advice and have been trying to improve with it. Same song, what do you think?

“Ida Red” is one of the most enduring American folk pieces, and Puckett’s version is among the earliest electrical recordings of the tune. His warm baritone and fluid guitar style helped define the sound later associated with the Skillet Lickers.

This has been a blast to listen to!

My podcast guest this week is Sierra Hull and we’re chatting about her instrumental project The Movements.

We talk about how the piece came about, as the result of a Freshgrass Concerto commission, how she approached writing the piece, with and for her current band, and the challenges presented by releasing a project like this.

We also discuss how the piece has developed since it was first written and how she and the band incorporate it into their live shows, as well as what it was like going back into the studio to record live, filmed performances of the tracks.

It’s a wonderful piece of music and, as always, it was a treat getting to chat with Sierra.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sierra-hull-the-movements/id1556697198?i=1000768708156

for example, Old Joe Clark, demonstrated in the Lessons with Marcel video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz9l_uQ1mBM&t=274s

sounds nothing like the 'Old Joe Clark's on Spotify by John Hartford, Grisman/Rice, Sam Bush

perhaps my bluegrass listening is just so untrained that i can't pick up the shared melody at all with the increased tempos on studio recordings, but i'm really not hearing any similar licks

i'm reviewing some of these Marcel videos to get a general idea of the melody, then want to learn to play them by ear, but all the recordings sound so different

is there an artist or two that has studio recordings of fiddle tunes that would be the most appropriate versions to learn by ear? feeling a bit lost trying to follow the guidance of learning fiddle tunes, but all the recordings are vastly different interpretations... looking to find the most standard versions