Oldtime.ca: The Acoustic Pages

Travelin' On
Mac Martin and the Dixie Travelers (Country Records)

If I was from the South, I might say that listening to Mac Martin and the Dixie Travelers makes me feel like I'm back at home sopping up gravy with Mother's home-baked biscuits. Like Martin, who's based in Pittsburgh, I'm admittedly from more Northern reaches, but the comparison will do just fine.

An unapologetic bluegrass traditionalist, Mac Martin has never strayed very far from home, preferring a life with his family to a life on the road. Despite his low profile, Martin has a devoted following and is considered by many to be one of the living legends of bluegrass, as well as one of its best kept secrets.

Although there have been some personnel changes since Martin formed the Dixie Travelers in 1954, Mike Carson on fiddle and Billy Bryant on banjo have been with Martin from the beginning, and it shows. Joined in the 1970s by Norm Azinger on bass and Edgar "Bud" Smith on mandolin, the Dixie Travelers have a sound that is so good that you may find this 1977 re-release magically float to the top of your CD pile.

Like Red Allen (in his bluegrass days) and Vern Williams, Martin has a deep understanding of bluegrass music that takes its cue from the formative years of the genre, when things were a little more open and were flavoured a bit more by the blues. While Bill Monroe is an obvious influence, the Dixie Travelers have their own recognizable sound, buttressed by the strong fiddle work of Mike Carson. Highlights include "Black Eyed Susie" and the spirited "Down South in New Orleans," but the searing, blues-inflected fiddle back-up heard on "At the End of a Long, Lonely Day" and "Along About Daybreak" just wrenches the soul.

This is as good as it gets without being The Big Mon himself.

To find out more about Mac Martin , or to hear samples of his music from this and other recordings, please visit thedixietravelers.com