Return to Voyager Home PageVRCD363 GARY LEE MOORE: UNCLE PIG
Gary Lee Moore, a 4th generation Oklahoma fiddler and multi-instrumentalist living in Seattle, has been playing fiddle for 45 years. Uncle Pig is his terrific first recording, one which might have gone unmade if it hadn't been for the gentle but constant prodding of his musical friends.
I watched Gary Lee in a jam circle at Wintergrass this year, and I remember thinking, "wow, there's the real stuff." Sitting there in his hat and overalls, slapping time on his Gibson, barking at the fiddler across the circle to"git it, boy!" he was strangely out of place among the mob, in the best possible way. He was authentic. That was something that stuck with me.
The buzz about this record is as one might expect when a guy who's been loved and respected for years finally puts some playing down on tape. Gary Lee's self-written liner notes reveal his childhood inspirations and tune sources. His casual, familiar references to great old-time fiddlers like Orville Burns are a delight, as are the tunes with names like "49 Cats in a Rain barrel" and "Whoa Mule, Can't Get the Damn Saddle On!" it quickly becomes obvious that Moore specializes in what he calls the "different stuff." He's spent a lifetime gathering songs, playing the greats all over the country, and it's all condensed here in a sweet little hour-long listen. (Jim Smith, Dusty Strings Acoustic Music Store, Seattle, NorthwestAMP Magazine)
*****
While skulking around the woods and between the motorhomes at the Darrington Bluegrass Festival, I was drawn toward the sound of some people playing better than the "name" acts on stage and having so much fun I wondered shy no one had gotten the law after 'em. I found myself standing behind Gary Lee Moore, who was barking orders and encouragement out from under one side of his bushy mustache to a couple of harried-looking young fiddlers, while slipping saucy asides from under the other to jam pay Pete Martin. I'd never seen Pete laugh so hard. I sure couldn't tear myself away: Gary Lee Moore is part Uncle Dave Macon, part Bill Monroe, and part shy genius who, by his own admission, had to be dragged into the studio by Martin and Phil Williams to "record a keepsake album." Friends, this is no mere keepsake. This is a smash, a must-own, a nominee for record of the year. For starters, Moore plays with the same glee in the studio that he does in jams, and pushes accompanist Martin and encourages him to push back. Some judicious overdubbing of tenor guitar and tenor banjo gives the record the full string band sound, so this is not some "documentary", this is a foot-to-the-floor pickin' album. The next thrill is with the tunes themselves. Moore has a reputation among the fiddle crowd as the keeper of the weird and forgotten, old specials that he learned as a boy in Oklahoma from relatives and competitive fiddlers and early heroes Clark Kessinger and Orville Burns. and what great tunes! "49 Cats in a Rain Barrel"! "Rat Cheeze"! "Kill 'Em"! Moore plays them with all the sass and gusto their titles suggest. Other titles are more familiar, but Moore gives them all his own twists. In his "aw, shucks" liner notes Moore always calls the originals better, and excuses his including the canonical ("Bill Cheatum", "Soppin' the Gravy") with "Hell, it's just a good old tune" . . . . but he's too modest. These are some of the best versions out there. Get this CD today! (Tom Peterson, Victory Review)
*****
Oklahoma turned Seattle fiddler Maori presents a collection of 27 favorite tunes that range from the familiar ("Bill Cheatum,""Hell Among the Yearlings") to the not-quite-so-well-known ("49 Cats in a Rain Barrel,""Kill 'Em). Moore's style is lively, fluid and energetic, and occasionally ventures into the key of F, likely to make him an instant favorite of guitar players everywhere. (Sing Out!)
*****
Gary Lee Moore is not the kind of fiddle man you're apt to find hanging out with 5-string banjo players. He lives in Seattle, Washington and plays a complex, chord-rich style sometimes called Texas contest fiddling. If you happen to visit the National Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho you will often hear folks refer to this styles as simply "old-time fiddling," though this description might be a stretch for most, considering how different southern hoedown fiddling is to Garry's jazzy, laid-back style. Just glance at the tune list, though, and indeed you'll see a few familiar tunes you'd be likely to hear in a contest or around the campgrounds at a fiddlers convention in the Southeast.
As it turns out, the great Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson was a major fan of West Virginian, Clark Kessinger, and spent hours spinning the old Kessinger Brothers 78s, learning tune after tune, adding his own phrasing and syncopation. Many of the tunes of Uncle Pig are, in fact, from Kessinger, such as "Everybody to the Puncheon,::Fourteen Days in Georgia," and "Hell Amongst the Yearlings." Some of the pieces re the great American standards, such as "Bill Cheatum,""Old Grey Mare,""Forked Deer," and "Shortenin' Bread," the last being Gary's own wondrous spin on the Doc Roberts classic. Having spent years hearing older players like Thomasson, Gary's touch on the fiddle is a bit sweeter than many of the up-and-coming contest style fiddlers. He plays with the precision the style requires, but he is so lyrical with his variations that even a die-hard hoedown fiddle fan would find it hard to keep from smiling at the ease in which he glides from one idea to the next. As is customary for this kind of a jam session, Gary is joined by a couple of guitars - Pete Martin and Rich Levine, a tenor guitar by Lee Roy Jackson, and not s frequently heard in this setting, a tenor banjo, played by Chester Butterworth. All the back up players are solid and equally unobtrusive, moving through the chord figures smoothly but with plenty of drive. Fortunately for us, Voyager Records has captured and expertly preserved Gary Lee Moore's music - a style of fiddling that is seldom recorded. If you want to hear some fiddling that evolved directly from the likes of Eck Robertson, Red Steely and other old-time Texas greats, check this one out. (Adam Tanner, The Old-Time Herald)
*****
Some nice fiddle work by this gentleman who plays mostly in a Texas contest style. He credits an impressive list of sources for the 20 tunes here, including Clark Kessinger, Herman Johnson, Dick Barrett, Louis Franklin and Orville Burns. Good tunes, good playing (with Texas "Sock Guitar" backing). (County Sales Newsletter)
*****
For those of you who have shied from old time fiddling from America's West, this album will get you hooked. A great fiddler and favorite curmudgeon of Northwest fiddling, Gary Lee Moore has finally committed some of his repertoire to a CD. For those who already are in love with this style, Uncle Pig is a must-have. Hey, I'm not kidding. Get that check in the mail! This is solid fiddle playing with an old time Texas flavor, from a guy that has spent much of his life traveling the country and learning from some of the great fiddle players that have come before - guys like Orville Burns, Louis Franklin, and Clark Kessinger.
Not the sometimes over-technical contest stuff, this one's got the beauty of wabi, and you can take that to a Japanese dictionary! You can almost smell the sipping whiskey as the boys rip through a bushel of breakdowns, rags and waltzes. Just fiddle here, no distracting madolin or guitar solos, and Moore obviously puts feeling into every note. There's lots of great rare numbers and the pieces you may have heard before are recast in the vision of Moore's own deep understanding of fiddling.
All the cuts are winners, including "Honey Boy,""Kill 'Em,""Redskin Rag," an absolute killer version of "Rat Cheese" (a.k.a. "Pike's Peak"), "Whoa Mule Can't Get the Damn Saddle On," and twenty-two others.
Peter Martin, and Rich Levine do most of the back up work on guitars, and they are right on the money, highlighting Moore's hard driving, syncopated, slidey fiddle. A couple of Moore's other buddies also chime in, but I'll leave the accompanying notes to describe them. These notes can give insight into the fegrile imagination of Gary Lee. It's been a long wait, and the results are well worth it. (Stacy Phillips - Fiddler Magazine)