The Twilite Broadcasters

Evening Shade
The Twilite Broadcasters
Mark Jackson, vocals, guitar; Adam Tanner, vocals,mandolin, fiddle, guitar
Southern Moon / More Pretty Girls
Than One / Talk to Me Lonesome Heart
/ Sweet Thing / Twilite Schottische /
What Would You Give in Exchange for
Your Soul? / Louisiana Man / Don't Let
Her Know / Ragtime Annie / Stormy
Horizons / Midnight Special/Salt River
/ Long Time Gone / Pretty Red Shoes /
Evening Shade
The area around Asheville, North Carolina,
has been one of the wellsprings of
brother and brotheresque duets since
Madison County's yodeling Callahan
Brothers recorded "She's My Curly-
Headed Baby." Bill and Earl Bolick, who
came from down the mountain in East
Hickory, played on the radio in Asheville
before becoming famous as the Blue Sky
Boys. Wiley and Zeke Morris, and their
other musical brothers, came from nearby
Old Fort in McDowell County, and
Zeke became best known for his close
duets with Wade Mainer, who is also, of
course, one of a set of musical brothers
from the Asheville area. Carrying on the
tradition of close male harmony today
are Mark Jackson and Adam Tanner, who
live in Asheville and nearby Weaverville,
respectively, and perform as the Twilite
Broadcasters. They draw significant inspiration
from the Monroe, Stanley, Delmore,
and Louvin Brothers, as well as the
forefathers of the local tradition.
Tanner and Jackson are both long-time
old-time musicians, but with eclectic musical
tastes and resumes. Both have done
stints as touring rock-and-roll musicians,
and many readers will know Adam from
his time as a member of the Crooked
Jades. Mark is a native of the Southern

sing before listening to this CD, and
would love to hear more. Adam has a
gravelly, low voice, and is one of those
singers whose low harmonies are so
skilled and so integral to the sonic structure
of the music that the listener at first
simply accepts them as part of the overall
sound, before focusing on how fine they
really are; think of Doc Watson's amazing
singing with Rosalee on "Your Long
Journey," or his low parts to Jean Richie's
high-high parts. These guys are both excellent,
straightforward singers whose
voices lend themselves well to both old
and new country music.
Evening Shade begins with the Delmore
Brothers' "Southern Moon," with cascading
mandolin work, and a tactful
modernization of one of the lyrics. This
opening number is, to my ears, one of
the standout pieces on the recording; it's
simple, rich, and sweet. Another favorite
is "Talk to Me Lonesome Heart," a
1958song by Louisiana Hayride veteran
James O'Gwynn, a sad lost-love song
with a fun, vaguely Latin, steady forward
propulsion. Another nod to the Hayride
is the middle cut on the disc, Doug Kershaw's
"Louisiana Man." This I find less
successful than the other songs on the
disc, not because of the Broadcasters'
performance, but because of the structure
of the song: its stay-put melody, like
many pop Cajun tunes written to imitate
the bowing rhythms of Cajun fiddling, is
too bare-bones to translate well from an
electric to acoustic setting. On the other
hand, "Don't Let Her Know," a honkytonk
torch song by Buck Owens and Don
Rich, works awfully well in the protobluegrass
setting given by the Twilite
Broadcasters. Also very enjoyable is the
Louvins' "Stormy Horizons." Jackson
and Tanner trade off on the lead singing,
and Tanner's philosophically mournful
tone here is a great match to the lyrics. mountains who grew up around the music,
but whose total-immersion experience
in Appalachian music came when
he worked with many East Kentucky artists
as an Appalshop staffer. Adam has
lived in the North Carolina mountains
for a decade, and in that time has become
one of the region's well-known old-time
and blues multi-instrumentalists, performing,
teaching, and recording, and
appearing as one of the main commentators
in the documentary Why Old-Time?
On this recording, Mark Jackson sings
lead and high harmony, and plays guitar,
while Adam Tanner sings lead and low
harmony, and plays mandolin, fiddle,
and guitar. There are four instrumental
cuts on this record, on all of which both
musicians play wonderfully: a mandolinled
"Ragtime Annie," a tune that seems
ripe for revival; Adam's original "Twilite
Schottische," a courtly and slightly sinister
tune that suggests the spirit of some
of Bill Monroe's more traditional-sounding
compositions; the Kessingers' version
of "Salt River," with Adam fiddling
and Mark backing him up with some
particularly nice guitar playing; and a
slow, relaxed rendition of Arthur Smith's
famous "Evening Shade." Of particular
note throughout this album is Tanner's
beautiful mandolin playing, which is
both chunky and dexterous, with no unneccessary
pirouetting-and played on a
really lovely 1920s Gibson instrument.
This is primarily a singing record,
though. Jackson and Tanner's voices
are ideally suited to each other, and to
the material on this album. Mark has a
remarkable tenor voice, swooping and
lofty while always right-on, and pretty
without the need for ornamentation or
excessive emotion. I had not heard him

Jackson and Tanner sing a few of the
real chestnuts of country duet singing
too, including "More Pretty Girls than
One," "What Would You Give in Exchange
for Your Soul," and "Pretty Red
Shoes" (the Monroes' take on the classic
who's-going-to-glove-your-hand lyrics).
These are all smoothly executed, each
with enough departures from the bestknown
recordings to make them distinctively
the Broadcasters' versions.
Besides the fact that this album contains
really good music, it's an interesting exposition
on the development of a certain
strain of country music, the close male
duet. The CD makes the listener ponder
how that style grew out of classic oldtime
music and continually resurfaced
in the genres that sprang out of that era,
influencing everyone from the Osbornes
to the Everly Brothers. If you're an early-
Golden Era purist purist for whom the
Delmore Brothers represent a bridge too
far, don't balk when you see the song list
with pieces credited to Buck Owens and
Don Rich or the Everlys. Evening Shade
is remarkably consistent in its application
of a straightforward, old-time feel
to even the most honky-tonk material, so
the more modern country material here
will appeal to orthophonic-accustomed
ears. And if you're already a fan of the
broad sweep of country duet styles,
you'll certainly like this album.
SARAH BRYAN
The Old-Time Herald
- 40 THE OLD-TIME HERALD WWW.oLDTIMEHERALD.ORG OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010

The Twilite Broadcasters
Mark Jackson, vocals, guitar; Adam Tanner,
vocals,mandolin, fiddle, guitar
Southern Moon / More Pretty Girls
Than One / Talk to Me Lonesome Heart
/ Sweet Thing / Twilite Schottische /
What Would You Give in Exchange for
Your Soul? / Louisiana Man / Don't Let
Her Know / Ragtime Annie / Stormy
Horizons / Midnight Special/Salt River
/ Long Time Gone / Pretty Red Shoes /
Evening Shade
The area around Asheville, North Carolina, has been one of the wellsprings of
brother and brotheresque duets since
Madison County's yodeling Callahan
Brothers recorded "She's My Curly-
Headed Baby." Bill and Earl Bolick, who
came from down the mountain in East
Hickory, played on the radio in Asheville
before becoming famous as the Blue Sky
Boys. Wiley and Zeke Morris, and their
other musical brothers, came from nearby
Old Fort in McDowell County, and
Zeke became best known for his close
duets with Wade Mainer, who is also, of
course, one of a set of musical brothers
from the Asheville area. Carrying on the
tradition of close male harmony today
are Mark Jackson and Adam Tanner, who
live in Asheville and nearby Weaverville,
respectively, and perform as the Twilite
Broadcasters. They draw significant inspiration
from the Monroe, Stanley, Delmore,
and Louvin Brothers, as well as the
forefathers of the local tradition.
Tanner and Jackson are both long-time
old-time musicians, but with eclectic musical
tastes and resumes. Both have done
stints as touring rock-and-roll musicians,
and many readers will know Adam from
his time as a member of the Crooked
Jades. Mark is a native of the Southern

but whose total-immersion experience
in Appalachian music came when
he worked with many East Kentucky artists
as an Appalshop staffer. Adam has
lived in the North Carolina mountains
for a decade, and in that time has become
one of the region's well-known old-time
and blues multi-instrumentalists, performing,
teaching, and recording, and
appearing as one of the main commentators
in the documentary Why Old-Time?
On this recording, Mark Jackson sings
lead and high harmony, and plays guitar, while Adam Tanner sings lead and low
harmony, and plays mandolin, fiddle,
and guitar. There are four instrumental
cuts on this record, on all of which both
musicians play wonderfully: a mandolinled
"Ragtime Annie," a tune that seems
ripe for revival; Adam's original "Twilite
Schottische," a courtly and slightly sinister
tune that suggests the spirit of some
of Bill Monroe's more traditional-sounding
compositions; the Kessingers' version
of "Salt River," with Adam fiddling
and Mark backing him up with some
particularly nice guitar playing; and a
slow, relaxed rendition of Arthur Smith's
famous "Evening Shade." Of particular
note throughout this album is Tanner's
beautiful mandolin playing, which is
both chunky and dexterous, with no
unneccessary
pirouetting-and played on a
really lovely 1920s Gibson instrument.
This is primarily a singing record,
though. Jackson and Tanner's voices
are ideally suited to each other, and to
the material on this album. Mark has a
remarkable tenor voice, swooping and
lofty while always right-on, and pretty
without the need for ornamentation or
excessive emotion. I had not heard him

sing before listening to this CD, and
would love to hear more. Adam has a
gravelly, low voice, and is one of those
singers whose low harmonies are so
skilled and so integral to the sonic structure
of the music that the listener at first
simply accepts them as part of the overall
sound, before focusing on how fine they
really are; think of Doc Watson's amazing
singing with Rosalee on "Your Long
Journey," or his low parts to Jean Richie's
high-high parts. These guys are both excellent,
straightforward singers whose
voices lend themselves well to both old
and new country music.
Evening Shade begins with the Delmore
Brothers' "Southern Moon," with cascading
mandolin work, and a tactful
modernization of one of the lyrics. This
opening number is, to my ears, one of
the standout pieces on the recording; it's
simple, rich, and sweet. Another favorite
is "Talk to Me Lonesome Heart," a
1958song by Louisiana Hayride veteran
James O'Gwynn, a sad lost-love song
with a fun, vaguely Latin, steady forward
propulsion. Another nod to the Hayride
is the middle cut on the disc, Doug Kershaw's
"Louisiana Man." This I find less
successful than the other songs on the
disc, not because of the Broadcasters'
performance, but because of the structure
of the song: its stay-put melody, like
many pop Cajun tunes written to imitate
the bowing rhythms of Cajun fiddling, is
too bare-bones to translate well from an
electric to acoustic setting. On the other
hand, "Don't Let Her Know," a honkytonk
torch song by Buck Owens and Don
Rich, works awfully well in the protobluegrass
setting given by the Twilite
Broadcasters. Also very enjoyable is the
Louvins' "Stormy Horizons." Jackson
and Tanner trade off on the lead singing,
and Tanner's philosophically mournful
tone here is a great match to the lyrics.
Jackson and Tanner sing a few of the
real chestnuts of country duet singing
too, including "More Pretty Girls than
One," "What Would You Give in Exchange
for Your Soul," and "Pretty Red
Shoes" (the Monroes' take on the classic
who's-going-to-glove-your-hand lyrics).
These are all smoothly executed, each
with enough departures from the bestknown
recordings to make them distinctively
the Broadcasters' versions.
Besides the fact that this album contains
really good music, it's an interesting exposition
on the development of a certain
strain of country music, the close male
duet. The CD makes the listener ponder
how that style grew out of classic oldtime
music and continually resurfaced
in the genres that sprang out of that era,
influencing everyone from the Osbornes
to the Everly Brothers. If you're an early-
Golden Era purist purist for whom the
Delmore Brothers represent a bridge too
far, don't balk when you see the song list
with pieces credited to Buck Owens and
Don Rich or the Everlys. Evening Shade
is remarkably consistent in its application
of a straightforward, old-time feel
to even the most honky-tonk material, so
the more modern country material here
will appeal to orthophonic-accustomed
ears. And if you're already a fan of the
broad sweep of country duet styles,
you'll certainly like this album.
SARAH BRYAN
The Old-Time Herald - 40 THE OLD-TIME HERALD WWW.oLDTIMEHERALD.ORG OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010

Review: The Twilite Broadcasters – Evening Shade
February 18, 2010 by orange
The Twilite Broadcasters – Evening Shade
self-released 2010



[tags: acosutic, folk, roots music, country]

Listen while reading:




More Pretty Girls Than One (from Evening Shade)



Southern Moon (from Evening Shade)
___________________________________________________

As a music blogger you (have to) discover new music almost every day and often you will find great stuff you consider worth sharing with the world – then you write an article about it and this is the regular case, I think. But to find a band that will be one of your all time favorites from now on, is a rare occasion and it puts you in a very pleasant situation – you want to smile and you get sort of high feeling listening to your new found music over and over. And right now I’m in such a mood, because Tunesmith from Call It Folk brought just such a band to my attention and I can’t thank him enough for pointing his finger at them. I’m speaking of The Twilite Broadcasters hailing from Weaverville/North Carolina, who just self-released their debut record Evening Shade.

And what does it take Adam Tanner and Mark Jackson to conjure forth such an album that makes me all jittery about hearing it? It takes them an acoustic guitar, a mandolin, two perfect voices and amounts and amounts of talent writing and playing songs without sounding boring or frumpy at any time. Every second of Evening Shade is a winner, equal if they play an instrumental with decent Irish or Scottish influences like in Twilite Schottische or an instrumental ragtime song like Ragtime Annie or just such wonderful country ballads like More Pretty Girls Like One. It’s just unbelievable how fresh they sound by simultaneously sounding old and classical.

Even though many tracks of the album seem to be cover versions, this takes nothing away from the overall experience I have every time I listen to it. It’s just that every note they play fits perfect in the track it is played as well as in the whole context of the album. The combination of mandolin and acoustic guitar works out so well that they achieve a very full sound with just those two instruments and this comes mostly from the enormous feeling they put in every melodie they play. It seems that all characteristics are fulfilled a superb record must have for me: all band members sing, it’s all acoustic, it’s honest, it’s diverting and you can feel the devotion of the musicians to the music they make. This is music history revealed and respawned in the most pleasurable manner one can think of. All the beauty that lies in classical American roots music can be found in these 40+ minutes.



If you are a regular reader of CFM, you may have noticed at some point, that I’m obsessed with the alt country band The Handsome Family and that I love all of their albums with all my heart. I don’t want to guide you in the wrong direction for I don’t want to say that I can compare The Twilite Broadcasters to them, because The Handsome Family draws from early roots music and transforms it into their own style, wherefore The Twilite Broadcasters relive roots music without transforming it into some sort of experimental alt country. But the point is, both bands draw from the same grounds and therefore I say, that The Twilite Broadcasters sound like The Handsome Family without the characteristics of The Handsome Family (I know that they aren’t influenced by the latter ones though). So, why I am saying this at all? It’s because there was no other band until now, that could give me this unique feeling I had listening to The Handsome Family. But this exactly feeling I can find in Evening Shade – and this is clearly something I searched for for a long, long time.

Just to get things straight: I don’t say that both bands are really comparable, I just say that the atmosphere of both often is relatively the same. And if you remember my review on Through The Trees, the most honorable thing I can do for a record is to say that it plays in the same league as Through The Trees for this album is one of my all time favorite records ever. And Evening Shade truly deserves its place there. As you see, I try to convert my feelings and thoughts into words and I’m aware of the fact, that I can’t do any better, because writing about music and actually listening to it, are two pairs of very different shoes. So, if you are in any way interested in early American roots music or in acoustic folk or contemporary country interpretations of old time music or any such thing, there is no other way in 2010 than to check out The Twilite Broadcasters and their magnificent debut album Evening Shade. This album is clearly the best music I heard in 2010 so far and all following releases have to take on against this monster of a record – and many will fail, that I know for sure.

At the moment there is no physical copy of the record available (but it will follow soon). To get the music anyways, you can purchase the Mp3 version over at iTunes. For additional information check out The Twilite Broadcasters‘ MySpace and make sure to visit their personal homepage. I will keep you updated as soon as the physical release is available. - Sebastian Schmidt

This North Carolina duo, Mark Jackson and Adam Tanner, sing the sort of two-part pre-Bluegrass harmonies that were popularized by the Osborne, Delmore, Monroe, Louvin and Everly brothers. The duo sings both happy and sad songs, but always with a sweetness that expresses the sheer joy of harmonizing. Accompanied by guitar (Jackson), mandolin and fiddle (both Tanner), the arrangements are simpler than a string band’s, with the guitar keeping time and the mandolin vamping before stepping out for relaxed solos. The instruments provide a platform for the voices, rather than racing to the front of the stage.

The duo performs songs written or made famous by the Delmores (“Southern Moon”), Everlys (“Long Time Gone”), Jim & Jesse (“Stormy Horizons”), and others, like Buck Owens & Don Rich (“Don’t Let Her Know”) who latched onto close harmonies that weren’t always high and lonesome. The waltzing invitation of “What Would You Give in Exchange For Your Soul” is sung in both harmony and counterpoint, and the oft-recorded “Midnight Special” sounds fresh and enthusiastic. Tanner’s mandolin steps forward for the instrumental “Ragtime Annie,” and he saws heavily on the fiddle for a cover of Doug Kershaw’s “Louisiana Man” and the celtic-influenced “Salt River.”

The public domain selections include a full-throated take on “More Pretty Girls Than One” (popularized and often credited to Woody Guthrie) on which the slow tempo draws out the chorus harmonies and begs the listener to find a place to sing along. Jackson and Tanner are fine instrumentalists, and winningly, they don’t hot-pick here with the fervor of bluegrass. Instead, they provide themselves tasteful support that leaves the spotlight on their voices and songs, and gives the record a warm, invitingly down-home feel. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]
- Hyperbolium