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The Old Church

by Roscoe Holcomb

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  • MRI-135 Black Vinyl First Pressing
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    160 gram black vinyl LP in gold & black color reverse-board jacket. Co-release with Jalopy Records.

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1.
Single Girl 03:23
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John Henry 04:28
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about

A LOST RECORDING OF UNTAMED APPALACHIAN MUSIC.

In 1972, the renowned and singular folk musician Roscoe Holcomb left his home in rural Daisy, Kentucky and embarked on a west coast tour with Mike Seeger, which included a performance at The Old Church in Portland, Oregon - a beautiful Carpenter Gothic church built in 1882.

Decades later, two particular reels were discovered deep within a pile of 1/4” tape in a shadowy corner of the KBOO Community Radio archives in Portland. Incredibly, those tapes contained the sole surviving evidence of a strikingly intimate and raw performance by Roscoe Holcomb, whose cascading and haunting banjo, guitar and voice echoed and saturated the room and hushed audience.

In contrast to Roscoe’s rarely documented (and at times restrained) live performances at folk festivals and television programs, Roscoe seems to have felt more familiar and spiritually moved in the old church that night. Heard here are standout versions of Appalachian folk-blues classics such as Single Girl, John Henry, East Virginia Blues, Swanno Mountain and more.

Once cited as Bob Dylan’s favorite singer, Roscoe Holcomb appears at the peak of his powers here, showcasing his immense vocal talents on an extended a cappella version of “The Village Churchyard”. The recording itself is warm and mysterious, sounding like the room itself is alive with the spirit, while the rumbles of trucks and hints of city sounds peek through the walls from the outside streets.

Recorded live at the Old Church, Portland, Oregon, 1972

160 gram black vinyl LP in gold & black color reverse-board jacket. Co-release with Jalopy Records.

credits

released December 3, 2021

Audio restoration & mastering : Don Fierro
Tape Transfer : Gordon Ashworth
Photographs: John Cohen, courtesy of Rufus Cohen
Layout & Old Church Drawing: Gordon Ashworth
Produced by Eli Smith, Gordon Ashworth, & Cyrus Moussavi

Acknowledgements;
Brooks Lynn Overton
The Halcomb Family
Rufus Cohen
John Cohen
Mike Seeger
KBOO Community Radio

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Mississippi Records Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mississippi Records was dreamt up 20 years ago.

Vital but often overlooked music made accessible through quality and affordable records and tapes, with respect to artists and their vision.

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