With fiddle, banjo, guitar, harmonica, and voice, Joseph Decosimo and Luke Richardson have distinguished themselves as interpreters of the Appalachian South’s rich musical traditions. Through concerts at home and abroad, they’ve initiated the uninitiated into the sounds of an older, weirder America. Joseph and Luke make Old-time music that will move you (even if you don’t know what Old-time music is).
Guided by the Old-time traditions of their native Tennessee and their steadfast belief that those traditions can still sustain and move us, the duet brings archival pieces back into the land of the living, conveying the essential power and beauty of the material to contemporary audiences. The results are spacious, minimalist recastings of cryptic ballads and winding, haunting fiddle and banjo pieces that sound as fresh as they sound old. Their chops have not gone unnoticed: They’ve both won national banjo championships and fiddle contests. Joseph has played fiddle and banjo on albums by Hiss Golden Messenger and Jake Xerxes Fussell among others. Luke and Joseph's performances as a duet and with the prize-winning string band the Bucking Mules, including an album with the Free Dirt label, have established them as two of the most compelling and capable interpreters of the region’s older music.
“...without doubt one of the best Old-Time recordings you’ll hear all year....The whole package is positively delicious.” — PENGUIN EGGS
“I dare you not to stamp your feet whilst listening.” — FROOTS MAGAZINE
In order to maximally protect Joseph’s pregnant wife, let’s stick by our requirement for documentation of vaccination or recent negative test.
$15 advance or door
