The Stillhouse Reelers - FRC740

The Stillhouse Reelers – FRC740

$15.00

The Stillhouse Reelers, performed songs and tunes that were recorded in the 1920s & 30s. The band formed about 1980 and played locally around Nashville and regionally through the South for about 10 years. Anyone wanting to know what the Grand Ole Opry sounded like in the 1930s needs to hear The Stillhouse Reelers.

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Description

We dedicate this album is to the memory of Michael DeFosche (1950-2018), fiddler, fisherman, falconer and friend…

When the Stillhouse Reelers string-band was formed, old-time music in Nashville had nearly disappeared. The only other players in the immediate area were the pioneers of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1920s, less than a dozen people who who still played or had retired from playing. In the greater Nashville community we found a ready audience for a music that had once been familiar, but was now mostly forgotten. We started playing at small venues around town, and due to Michael DeFosche’s contacts with traditional music and events around the Cumberland Plateau where he lived we developed a wider rural following of young and old alike. Michael lived 90 miles from Nashville, and somehow we managed to spend enough time practicing at his rural home, and he at ours, to make a really cohesive sound. We had, still have a great respect for the southern fiddle bands that dominated the early country music in the 1920s and ’30s, and strove to emulate their music, guided in spirit by Dr. Charles Wolfe who knew more about the music and the musicians than we would ever know. The CD is dedicated to Michael who was deeply ingrained into the music of the area, and sadly died in a house fire in 2018. Since we were a fiddle band he was the driving force of our group, but it could as well be dedicated to Dr. Wolfe, who was our greatest champion, and the many traditional musicians we encountered over the years who embraced us, because we embraced their music. This is a compilation of studio recordings and casual performances that were kept over the years from about 1980 to 1990; not always the best overall quality, but we tried to capture the drive and the breadth of our songs and tunes that survived. We hope that those of you who might venture to listen will appreciate the new life we breathed into these old chestnuts, with the respect within the tradition that we embraced at the time.—Paul Ritscher, Andy Smith and Brooke Allen

PERSONNEL:
Michael DeFosche (fiddle, banjo-mandolin, & vocals; lead vocal on track 21; vocal duets on 23 & 29)
Paul Ritscher (banjo & vocals; lead vocals, except on tracks 18, 20 & 21)
Andy Smith (guitar & vocals; lead vocal on track 18)
Brooke Allen (bass & vocals; lead vocal on track 20)

Released Fall 2025

The Stillhouse Reelers Scrapbook – a collection of photos and memorabilia from the band’s glory days

Listen/Download

 

Track List

Track List

The Stillhouse Reelers: Had a Big Time Today – FRC740

  1. Knoxville Rag (1:48)
  2. Don’t Get Weary, Children (1:45)
  3. Monkey in the Dog Cart (2:14)
  4. I’m Getting Ready to Go (3:41)
  5. Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard (2:40)
  6. Lake Erie (1:53)
  7. I’ve Had a Big Time Today (1:42)
  8. Shortenin’ Bread (1:19)
  9. Bake That Chicken Pie (2:37)
  10. Dallas Rag (1:58)
  11. Cabin with the Roses at the Door (3:25)
  12. Evelina (1:50)
  13. Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase (1:57)
  14. I’m Going Back to Dixie (4:25)
  15. Leake County Two Step (2:05)
  16. Engineer on the Mogull (1:30)
  17. I’m Going Away to Leave You, Love (2:36)
  18. Everybody Works But Father (3:07)
  19. Dickson County Blues No. 2 (1:45)
  20. In the Shadow of the Pine (4:01)
  21. On the Dixie Bee Line (2:14)
  22. Kennedy Rag (2:16)
  23. Are You from Dixie? (2:14)
  24. Nobody’s Business (1:43)
  25. Leaving Home (3:02)
  26. Old Grey Horse Kicking Out of the Wilderness (1:23)
  27. L. And N. Rag (1:52)
  28. Four Cent Cotton (1:46)
  29. She Is a Flower From the Fields of Alabama (2:52)
  30. Chittlin’ Cookin’ Time in Cheatham County (3:30)
  31. Kiss Me Quick (2:46)
  32. Rabbit in the Pea Patch (2:50)

Total time: 77:50

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