i first met casey driessen on stage at a midnite jam at merlefest many years ago (banjo clark was the song) he was still in skool (either high skool or berklee college of music)
i have played w/ him in many situations-- w/ tim obrien, steve earle, wayne scott, my stuff, casey's stuff
one of the most memorable was a tour in holland last year w/ just the 2 of us
by day we'd visit a major art exhibit (picasso & escher, each in the hague & van gogh in amsterdam)
and each night at our gig, we'd try to incorporate what we'd seen in the artist's works into our sets -- one thing i can tell you about casey is
he is ALWAYS seeking inspiration, with or without an instrument in his hands

he is an avid photographer, cook & observer of ironies
as a player he is in a very small group of fiddlers playing at that level (counted on one hand)
one remarkable thing about his playing, as fiery & assertive as it can be at times, when a sweet, old song comes up to play
he plays it sweeter & sadder & more pure than anyone,
leaving his highly developed harmonic & melodic abilities aside
to be in the song at hand -- he approaches sweetness & purity
w/ as much authority as the jazz vocabulary or double stops or bluegrass speed he has developed
-this sets him apart even from the handful i mentioned earlier

so here are 4 tunes from his new record: "oog"
i got to play electric guitar & pedal steel through out
and i gotta say, playing w/ casey, i always feel i am playing at the limits of my abilities just to keep up, so to speak -- i feel we push & prod each other
in all the best ways --- and his compositions & these players
(matt chamberlin & viktor krauss) made this a player's career highlight for me

enjoy this sampler of "oog"- (a title he got when we were visiting the escher museum)
and download or buy this record...it is fantastic

darrell

Listen to NEW MOON | NEW MUSIC here!

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