Climbing the Creaking Tree

Cameron, my friend from the Great White North, recommended today’s selection: Toronto’s Creaking Tree String Quartet. This is some interesting stuff. They explain on their web site:

This ensemble, made up of violinist John Showman, guitarist Brad Keller, mandolinist Andrew Collins and bassist Brian Kobayakawa, has a distinct sound that lives in the cracks between idioms. It’s acoustic roots music that combines intricate phrasing with imaginative rhythms. Too outside for bluegrass, but too driving for jazz; too free to be chamber music, but too structured for the avant-garde.

Their web site has a good number of downloads which I’ve been checking out for the last couple of weeks. My selection for you leans more toward bluegrass. I guess I’m lamenting the fact that I’m missing this year’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival. But I will be back in 2006. Oh yes, I will.