Camptown Races

Five minutes ago I opened up Tony Schwartz's new CD "Camptown Races" and it's so fantastic that I just have to type this while I listen, and I've only heard three tunes. The CD is 17 tracks of Civil War military and folk tunes all played on the LEGENDARY ONE's calliope. The disc just came in the mail today. Calliope heaven...

I'll add as to who Tony is, as I keep forgetting that some dot.orgers haven't ridden the old gal in a few years. Tony is the piano player with Walter Kross's band on the Delta Queen, playing the piano on the ol' gal since 1999. He loves doing ragtime and slide on piano and playing anything on calliope but especially Civil War tunes. His calliope playing is typically very "southern" and quite traditional.

Recorded in Nashville last fall it sounds marvelous with just the right hint of natural reverberation to make it sound a little cathedral-like. Deb and I had been bugging Tony when the CD was to be finished...It was always "in mixing". The other thing that is just so cool about this disk is that it is in stereo and if you listen with headphones, eyes closed, you can "see" which whistles are playing. All the songs are old favorites of mine so far, if you've ever heard Tony play you'll recognize all of them. I know you've all heard him do "Dixie"...

And of course I had to play "Kingdom Coming" first, my absolute favorite. Between Tony doing this tune on the calliope and Bobby Horton also doing this tune during his show, it is something to love, something to hum all day. But of course I'm biased.

OK, I just finished listening to the whole disc...INCREDIBLE. Is that thunder I hear on one track? The DQ's whistles sound very sweet and quite in tune. Nicely done.

If you want this wonderful CD, especially considering the potential plight of the DQ, private message me here at dot.org or e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll pass on Tony's address, the CD is $22.50 and includes postage and handling. Hopefully this is OK with him...