SI KAHN AND THE LOOPING BROTHERS, ARAGON MILL: THE BLUEGRASS SESSIONS

SI KAHN AND THE LOOPING BROTHERS
ARAGON MILL: THE BLUEGRASS SESSIONS

Strictly Country Records
SCR-72

American songwriter Si Kahn and Europe’s Looping Brothers trio have joined forces to produce a project of Kahn’s compositions, including his most known “Aragon Mill” and “Wild Rose Of The Mountain.” Kahn is a folk singer/songwriter best known for his labor activism and support of workers’ rights. The Looping Brothers are a German trio and one of Europe’s best-known bluegrass bands. They are Ulrich “Ulliö Sieker (fiddle, mandolin, and guitar), Matthias Malcher (guitar and banjo), and Ralf Strotmann (bass).

Kahn writes about mill workers and coal miners, the working people of Appalachia, and the fishermen of Alaska. Songs include the title “Aragon Mill,” “Goodbye Monday Blues,” “Sailing To Alaska,” “Brookside Strike,” “Tarpaper Shacks,” and “Blue Ridge Mountain Refugee.” There are songs of mountain life such as “When The Morning Breaks,” “Wild Rose Of The Mountain,” and “Sunday Evening,” and there are songs of love and relationships with “Hilda,” “Rock Me, Roll Me,” and “Gone, Gonna Rise Again.”

All the tunes are from the pen of Mr. Kahn, who has a wonderful way with words, backed by the excellent arrangement and accompaniment of the Looping Brothers. Kahn closes the session with a poignant “What Will I Leave.” This is a very nice project with a 15-page booklet about the session, including song lyrics. (Strictly Country Records, P.O. Box 628, 2130 AP Hoofddorp, The Netherlands, www.strictlycountryrecords.com.)BF