On Rawhead & Bloodybones

Originally released on Dust-to-Digital in 2015, Rawhead & Bloodybones was the final album in the “Berea Trilogy” — projects that came out of the time I spent working in the Berea Appalachian Sound Archives in Kentucky (the other two, American Winterand Silent City came out on Atavistic Records in 2007 and 2009).

Rawhead & Bloodybones brings together folk tales mostly told by children and recorded by Leonard Roberts in the 1940s. The tales are humorous, gruesome, and full of meaning and character. They are weaved together with archival samples and newly composed instrumental parts. The combination of youthful voices and often-grisly tales is a striking contrast, one both beautiful and, well, creepy.