The Cliffhangers: On the Edge

The Cliffhangers are (from left to right) Karen Falkowski, bass, Brendan Doyle, banjo, Rusty Neithammer, guitar, Jody Platt, tenor guitar, and Mark Simos, fiddle.

The Cliffhangers' On the Edge is the first volume of a trilogy of albums of old time string band music old and new, inspired in various ways by the Appalachian String Band Music Festival held annually at Camp Washington Carver, near Clifftop, West Virginia. The albums are part field recording of sorts, part musical memoir, tribute and tune-acious paean to the music that we and other friends have made over the years at Clifftop.

This album consists of all traditional tunes played by the Cliffhangers, a group of musical friends who have played together at Clifftop since 2001. We got together early in the week that year with the plan of competing in the Traditional Band contest on the weekend. That year, and every year since that we've entered the contest, we've been honored to make the finals - at this point having the dubious record of having won every ribbon except 1st place. Hence our motto - "Always finalists - never champions!"

Click here for Notes on the Tunes, Tunings and Sources

I’ve been attending Clifftop for more than a decade. My knowledge of traditional old-time music has been immeasurably deepened by the long days and nights of music there, and each year old friendships have been renewed, new friendships shaped. This album reflects the mix of old and new that can be heard in the playing of traditional tunes in the campground setting. Old-time musicians tend to be scrupulous and attentive to source recordings and the provenance of their tunes. But the more you listen to the old music, the more secrets are revealed, the more subtle variations and byways. So each time you play one of these tunes it is a new exploration, a new encounter with the strangeness of the familiar and the sudden familiarity of the strange. And in the heat of play, new sounds are often forged and new territory explored in the midst of the sought-after archaic. Though we did not record at Clifftop itself, but rather in the redoubtable Tim Brown's living room, all the music on these records was played live, and for the most part we left tunes played “at session length” as our goal was to capture something of the sound and spirit of these late night cabals and misadventures.

Enjoy! - Mark Simos