THE SPECTRAL LIGHT AND MOONSHINE FIREFLY SNAKEOIL JAMBOREE: Scarecrow Stuffing

The Spectral Light and Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree

Scarecrow Stuffing

© 1999 Timothy Renner

CD permanently out of stock. Sorry!

Appalachian-flavoured gothic string-band music for a haunted medicine-show.

tracks

1 God Bless the Moon
2 Tom Dula
3 Path of Nails
4 Black Horse Ride
5 Cold Rain and Snow
6 The Song of the Scarecrow
7 Walkin' in the Parlor
8 A Conversation with Death
9 The Bone Collector
10 The Cuckoo
11 Stealing the Fire from Heaven
12 Little Margaret
13 House Carpenter
14 Thirteen
15 Satan, Your Kingdom must Come Down

notes

Timothy Renner (aka Timothy, Revelator) grew up in a haunted farmhouse in rural Maryland. Strange as it may seem, he never heard traditional American rural music until he was in his mid-20s. Instead his family raised him on a diet of Joy Division, Throbbing Gristle, Eyeless in Gaza, and others of the like. However, when he first heard real American folk music he said, "It felt like coming home."

Already interested in experimental and psychedelic folk, this creaking wheezing music of America's past seemed very much the roots which Timothy was digging for. He bought a banjo and the rest is history...quite literally, as he plays most often in the clawhammer style, a style of playing as old as the instrument itself.

Timothy quickly recruited Stone Breath bandmates Prydwyn and Sarada, along with the occasional talents of RA Campbell and Bob Buckingham, to make the debut CD, "Scarecrow Stuffing." The results are perhaps best described as "the sound of musical cobwebs" (as one reviewer put it).

"Scarecrow Stuffing" surprised us with the warm reception it has received from critics and everyday listeners alike. The Spectral Light & Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree's interpretations of traditional ghost songs, murder ballads, and Christian hymns from centuries past, mixed with a few choice originals, sound like the music of a haunted medicine show. Where Gothic Appalachian music meets acid-folk, there you shall find The Spectral Light & Moonshine Firefly Snakeoil Jamboree. See also: Stone Breath.

Available again in a limited edition reissue with silkscreened cardstock covers - no two are alike! - the cover image here is just a sample.

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • Dark and Evocative Traditional American Folk
    author: C. Gross

    Stripped down American folk played in a very authentic manner. Sounds like it could have been recorded at a porch session of yore instead of in a studio. Echoes of British folk song are clear. Standouts for me were Tom Dula and The Cuckoo. But all the songs are convincing and well done.

  • Good and creepy, like a nightmare set to claw-hammer banjo
    author: Kyle Larson

    This album is great! My daughter calls it "Creepy Country", a category she also puts 16 Horsepower in. Spectral Light is a bit slower and more stripped down than 16 HP but they do what they do very well.

  • Roots. True Folk. Dark Americana.
    author: Chiznunk

    Excellent modern interpretaion of traditional standards. Vocals annoy me in track 6, but are pretty fine otherwise. Originals are sweet; Particularly 'Black Horse Ride' Truly Haunting.... great depression music.

  • Amazing. Brilliant. long long drive at night music....
    author: Shiney

    This cd is spellbinding. Fans of 16 Horsepower, Nick Cave, Tom Waits or any of that get the hell in line and buy this sucker. Haunting vocals, banjo damage and a dark (at times very dark) vibe pepper this meal for the ears!!! A truly fabulous cd.

email

Please log in to email this artist.