David Kraai North Mountain Rambling
(2017, Fine Country Folk Recordings)
DAVID_KRAAI_Shotgun_Rider.mp3
North Mountain Rambling is the first album to be recorded at Big Pink since the bootleg Basement Tapes were made there 50 years ago. This legendary abode in Saugerties was home to members of The Band and became known for the hundreds of songs recorded there with Bob Dylan while he recovered from a debilitating motorcycle accident. David Kraai's music continues in a similar tradition of feel over formality, rawness over refinement—as he croons in "Shotgun Rider": "Let's roll the dice sister and let it ride." Due in no small part to the accompaniment of Fooch Fischetti on pedal steel and fiddle, Chris Ragucci on drums, and Amy Laber on backing vocals, Kraai's catchy tunes and down-on-his-luck antics have a way of sticking in your head for days. Dylan alumni Rob Stoner, on bass, and Eric Weissberg, on banjo, complete the historical music circle.
