From A Heritage Tree is the forthcoming new solo album from Daniel Sherrill. It’s worth stating from the start that this is not your typical collection of clawhammer banjo tunes, something you become aware of very soon after listening. Even if you are not familiar with the tunes, you are aware of transformations within the music.
Made during the isolating pandemic, Sherrill was able to give the time and contemplation to these tunes, which he seems to know inside out. One of the most telling aspects of this comes in his reference to Bill Evans’ album ‘Conversations With Myself’. Even for the jazz lovers out there, this was a deep dive for 1963 and even a little controversial with its overdubbed three-way piano. In a similar approach, Sherrill considered double-tracking the banjo with harmony, which led to an interesting revelation. In his own words: “…after I started arranging the harmony’s I realized they stood alone as their own beautiful parts. Almost new songs in their own right.”
So instead of double-tracking, the harmony and melody are played separate, as if two different tunes. You can hear this in action on Quincy Dillion’s Hi-D Tune below. If you’re familiar with the tune, your musical brain may attempt to play with the melody and harmony…suspend all of that knowledge, and you end up with some of the most beautiful contemplative playing I’ve heard in a long time. Beneath it all, there is something else going on that draws you in. It’s not easy to put into words, but there are some beautiful shades to Sherril’s playing that go far deeper than virtuosity.
In the accompanying video, we get to watch Sherrill performing live above his home, totally in the moment with a scenic mountain backdrop. “Quincy Dillion’s Hi-D Tune” is one that precedes recorded music. Its original writer was 80 years old when he taught it to a kid who would later go on to record it for the first time in his 80s. So many years had gone by, he couldn’t remember the name of the song, so he simply told the folklorist it was ‘Quincy Dillon’s Hi-D Tune’. Daniel Sherrill’s banjo is older than both of them. The centrepiece of his new album is made from the wood of a heritage tree that was already an octogenarian when the song was first recorded around 1920.
From A Heritage Tree is out on June 17th on American Standard Time Records.
https://www.danielsherrill.com/