Biography

Frank Lee & Allie Burbrink
Roll On, Clouds
New album released April 7, 2018

CONTACT INFORMATION
www.frankandallie.com
frankandalliemusic@gmail.com or booking@frankandallie.com
812-371-1439

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FEATURED TRACKS
1. Little Sadie (2:45)
3. Turn Your Radio On (2:36)
5. Standing On a Mountain (2:15)

ORDER OF SONGS ON THE ALBUM
1. Little Sadie (2:45)
2. Somebody On Your Bond (3:35)
3. Turn Your Radio On (2:36)
4. Travelin’ Down This Lonesome
4. Standing on a Mountain (2:15)
6. Cabin on a Hill (2:27)
7. Gallows Pole (3:01)
8. Sandy Boys (2:14)
9. Arkansas Sheik (3:20)
10. Stagger Lee (2:37)
11. Reuben’s Train (3
12. Can’t Nobody Hide From God (2:35)
13. Roll and Tumble (3:48)
14. Sugar Babe (2:05)
15. Let the Sun Shine Down on Me (2:51)

PRODUCTION
Recorded at Big Creek Studios, Barnardsville, NC, November 2017 by Bruce Lang. Mixed and mastered at same location by Bruce Lang. Produced by Bruce Lang, Frank Lee, and Allie Burbrink. Instruments and vocals by Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink. Upright bass on tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 15 by Bruce Lang.
Photographs by Terri Clark Photography
Design by Karl Eggers Design


LINER NOTES

1. Little Sadie
Traditional
Frank Lee: Vocals & Steel string banjo - aDGBD
Allie Burbrink: Harmony vocals & guitar
Bruce Lang: Upright bass
A classic murder ballad with long and deep roots in North Carolina popular in old time and bluegrass circles. Our version is loosely based on Clarence “Tom” Ashley’s.

2. Somebody on Your Bond
Songwriter: Willie Johnson
Publisher: Alpha Music, Inc.
Frank Lee: Vocals & National Duolian resonator guitar
Allie Burbrink: Vocals & guitar
A spiritual piece learned from Blind Willie Johnson.

3. Turn Your Radio On
Songwriter: Albert E. Brumley
Publisher: Stamps-Baxter Music
Frank Lee: Vocals & guitar
Allie Burbrink: Harmony vocals & guitar
Bruce Lang: Upright bass
Written by Albert E. Brumley, this catchy spiritual song was popularized by John Hartford. We learned our arrangement from the Blue Sky Boys.

4. Travelin’ Down This Lonesome Road
Songwriter: Bill Monroe
Publishers: Unichappell Music Inc. and Bill Monroe Music
Allie Burbrink: Vocals & harmonica
Frank Lee: Harmony vocals & nylon string fretless banjo f#BF#BC#
Credited to Bill Monroe, this heartbreak song is one from bluegrass repertoire that makes a great blues piece.

5. Standing on a Mountain
Songwriter: Alton Delmore
Publisher: Vidor Publications, Inc.
Frank Lee: Vocals & steel string banjo aDGBD out of F position
Allie Burbrink: Harmony vocals & guitar
Bruce Lang: Upright bass
A sweet song written by the Delmore Brothers. We learned our version from Jim and Jesse McReynolds.

6. Cabin on a Hill
Songwriters: Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs
Publisher: Peer International Corp
Allie Burbrink: Vocals & guitar
Frank Lee: Vocals & guitar
A Flatt and Scruggs classic! We have fun trading the lead vocals on this one.

7. Gallows Pole
Traditional
Allie Burbrink: Vocals & guitar
Frank Lee: Vocals & nylon string fretless banjo c#BG#C#
Possibly the oldest song we perform, this piece is from the singing of Lead Belly. It’s been in Frank’s repertoire for many years. Find Frank’s tabs on our website under “Funky Frailing with Frank,” episode 1.

8. Sandy Boys
Traditional
Frank Lee: Nylon string fretless banjo dBEAB
Allie Burbrink: Steel string banjo f#DGCD capo 4
Modal tune commonly played on the fiddle and popularized by West Virginia fiddler Edden Hammons.

9. Arkansas Sheik
Traditional
Frank Lee: Vocals & guitar
Allie Burbrink: Harmony vocals & guitar
Bruce Lang: Upright bass
A cautionary song recorded in Atlanta by Riley Puckett and Clayton McMitcheon in 1928, warning Missouri girls not to get involved with boys from Arkansas.

10. Stagger Lee
Traditional
Frank Lee: Vocals & steel string banjo gDGBD
Allie Burbrink: Harmony vocals & guitar
Bruce Lang: Upright bass
This murder ballad describes the altercation between “Stag” Lee and Billy Lyons in St. Louis, MO in 1895. First recorded by Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians in 1924 under the title “Stack O’ Lee Blues”. We print t-shirts of the Black Patti label version by Long Cleve Reed and Little Harvey Hull. Our version is based on the Pine Ridge Boys’ from southwest Virginia.

11. Reuben’s Train
Traditional
Frank Lee: Vocals & nylon string fretless banjo d#BD#F#B Allie Burbrink: Harmony vocals & harmonica
Another popular piece in both bluegrass and old time circles, this melody is also called “Train 45”.

12. Can’t Nobody Hide From God
Songwriters: Willie Johnson & Angeline Johnson
Publisher: Alpha Music, Inc.
Allie Burbrink: Vocals & guitar
Frank Lee: Harmony vocals & National Duolian resonator guitar (open D)
Bruce Lang: Upright bass
Blind Willie Johnson’s 1930 recording is the source for this spiritual song. One of the first songs we started singing together.

13. Roll and Tumble
Songwriter: Willie Newbern
Publisher: Music Sales Corp. Obo St. James Music
Allie Burbrink: Vocals & harmonica
Frank Lee: Harmony vocals & nylon string fretless banjo d#BD#F#B
Learned from Rosa Lee Hill, this piece comes from the northern Mississippi blues tradition. Find Frank’s tabs on our website under “Funky Frailing with Frank”, episode 6.

14. Sugar Babe
Traditional
Frank Lee: Nylon string banjo eBEAB
Allie Burbrink: Steel string banjo eDGBD capo 7
Learned from the playing of Joe Birchfield and adapted to the banjo. Find Frank’s tabs on our website under “Funky Frailing with Frank”, episode 2.

15. Let the Sun Shine Down on Me
Songwriter: Jean Ritchie
Publisher: Jonathan B. Pickow Trust
Allie Burbrink: Vocals & steel string banjo f#DGCD capo 4
Frank Lee: Nylon string banjo eBEAB
Bruce Lang: Upright bass
Recorded by Jean Ritchie in 1965, this piece appears on the album “Mountain Hearth and Home: Jean Ritchie Sings the Songs of her Kentucky Mountain Family.”

All songs arranged by Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink © 2018
www.frankandallie.com
Recorded at Big Creek Studios in Barnardsville, NC
Mixed and mastered by Bruce Lang
Photographs by Terri Clark Photography
Design by Karl Eggers Design

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ALBUM REVIEW
By Dan Levenson
Published in Banjo Newsletter July 1, 2018

Frank Lee is best known to the old- time world for his work on banjo and as a vocalist with the Freight Hoppers
since its founding in 1992. Allie was a
founding member of The Whipstitch Sallies — an Indiana band that featured her singing. Together, Allie and Frank are a powerhouse of music, and much more versatile than either of their former projects would suggest, as can be heard on this recording. And don’t worry; you won’t miss “the band” for a minute! (Okay, fiddlers might miss the fiddle, but let’s not quibble!)

Strong vocals are the signature of this disc. They are clean, in tune and wonderful to listen to. In fact, only two tunes (Sandy Boys and Sugar Babe—both played as double banjo duets, one steel string and one nylon fretless) are strictly instrumental. A brave but great move on this duo’s part. Several are old-time Spiritual and Gospel style in nature. You may (should) recognize a couple of them: Albert E. Brumley’s Turn Your Radio On and the Flatt and Scruggs original Cabin on a Hill, while others like Somebody on Your Bond (learned from Blind Willie Johnson and played with slide steel and acoustic guitars) and Let the Sun Shine Down on Me (a Jean Ritchie song) may be new to you. Murder ballads á la Little Sadie (based upon Clarence Ashley’s version), “A sweet song” — Standing On A Mountain from
Jim and Jessie McReynolds, the always-entertaining Arkansas Sheik (1928 Riley Puckett and Clayton McMitcheon) with two guitars, and Reuben’s Train (aka Train 45) with nylon fretless banjo/harmonica instrumentation.

But do not despair; the instrumentation on this CD is incredible as well, especially the banjo playing. These two musicians are both banjo powerhouses — Sandy Boys
and Sugar Babe should convince you of that. And my favorite on this album, Gallows Pole, with Frank on his low-tuned (cBG#C#) nylon-strung banjo with Allie playing guitar is just stellar! And the bluesy Roll and Tumble (nylon-strung banjo with harmonica) is a close second. Allie’s harmonica playing is awesome — and I know of some great harmonica playing in the old-time settings.

Yes, this recording covers “old-time” in the much broader sense — one which is often forgotten, in part because of the string band fiddle tune segment that has
often come to define old time when it is only a part of the genre. It remembers the time before there was a “bluegrass” style of music or the divide between bluegrass and old time. Frank and Allie are not afraid to explore this wider turf as they present this wonderful album of songs and tunes heard in a real down-to-earth and quite professional yet honest style, at once historic yet fresh and all their own. Don’t miss this recording.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Vocal harmonies, banjo harmonies. Blues harmonica, blues banjo. Reso guitar, fingerpicked guitar. Old favorites, a few surprises. Sweet, spirited, soulful. Recorded in North Carolina, ROLL ON, CLOUDS is a collection of the swath of music Frank & Allie love to share in their live shows.

Roll On, Clouds might be tucked under the folk and bluegrass umbrella, but you won't hear any banjo rolls or any fiddles. The banjos are hit, not picked, in a style called clawhammer that predates the rolls so commonly heard in bluegrass music. Frank and Allie both have bluegrass music in their musical backgrounds, but their banjo approach here, attention to source recordings, and placement of the beat would cause a more attuned listener to stow this CD on the Contemporary Old Time shelf alongside releases from their band The Freight Hoppers. But at the same time, the blues is a heavy influence on this record, with slide banjo, slide guitar, and Allie's vocals packing a bluesy punch on those tracks. Though the influences are wide, this collection of songs has a coherent feel - confidence from years of playing together, yet freshness of trying some new things in the safety of the studio. This isn't a record that's been worked over with all the tools of modern studios, though. You'll hear rawness, imperfections, and the feeling you're watching the music be made in front of you. With its natural feel and its lyrics of heartbreak and hope, ROLL ON, CLOUDS is for anyone waiting for hard times to pass and for the sun to shine down again.

BIOGRAPHY

Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink (Bryson City, NC) are a vocal-driven old time duo. Their April 2018 release, Roll On, Clouds, showcases their favorite songs from over two years of performing together. These pieces range from blues tradition (“Somebody On Your Bond,” “Roll and Tumble”) to bluegrass classics (“Standing on a Mountain,” “Cabin on a Hill”), yet remain rooted in the old time aesthetic. Frank’s nylon string fretless banjo is the dominant instrument, with guitar, slide guitar, and Allie’s banjo and harmonica adding to the musical texture. Recording engineer Bruce Lang supplies upright bass on several tracks.

Frank and Allie, core duo of longstanding string band The Freight Hoppers, have traveled extensively as touring musicians. Frank, a founding member of The Freight Hoppers, has impressed audiences all over the United States, Canada, and northern Europe with his signature clawhammer sound. Allie is a founding member of The Whipstitch Sallies, a band from Indiana that toured in the Midwest, North Carolina, Colorado, and Hawaii. Together, the pair is a powerhouse duo with appearances planned across the country and in France.

In addition to performing, Frank and Allie screen print music-themed t-shirts, for sale through their website. They also organize an old time music retreat in the Great Smoky Mountains in late March called the Banjo-Fiddle Frolic.