The Legend of Bliggins & Goines, Vol. 2

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Buttonwood Corner	3:42	Play
2		Zion	3:49	Play
3		Minnietown	3:41	Play
4		Road To Galilee	5:03	Play
5		Highfields	4:58	Play
6		Dirty Work	5:09	Play
7		John Henry	3:28	Play
8		Chicken Feets	3:23	Play
9		1883	4:31	Play
10		Jacobs Creek	4:15	Play
11		Gentle The Time	3:16	Play
12		The Pickle Song	5:39	Play
13		Don't Look Back	4:04	Play
14		Battle of the Frog	3:54	Play

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Description

WHAT IS THE SOURLAND SOUND?

Some people say Bliggins & Goines have a lock on the Sourland Sound. Could be so, but truthfully it belongs to the people of the Sourlands, both old and new, and we’re lucky to have found the key. The Sourland Sound arises as Jr. Bliggins starts playing his whoopin’ country harmonica laced with blues overtones and foot stompin’ glee. He gives us a soulful version of John Henry. As the Rev. Truman Goines, I get to slap, pluck and strum a sweet shiny metal dobro often and admittedly attired in my favorite dark purple striped dinner jacket. A homborg balanced on my head. It all gets me croonin’ in a crusty Sourland drawl that my wife says is as mysterious as the Sourland Mountain itself. I just sing what comes naturally on the “Road to Galilee”. Tom Reock arrives to fill out the sound on every instrument he could get his hands on setting up that tappy drum rap on “Chicken Feets” and “Battle of the Frog”. Together we bring you the magic of the Sourlands.

The Sourland Sound is a form of traditional piedmont style folk-blues with an above the Mason-Dixon-line twist that integrates the influences of Jug Band music, bluegrass, New York jazz and Philadelphia soul. The New Jersey Sourlands is a centrally located rural forest area approximately 60 miles between New York City and Philadelphia. Although the Sourlands always has forms of Irish/ English and Dutch folk music, it is speculated that southerners migrated to the Sourlands as early as 1820's to work in the open “trap rock” mines, which supplied belgian block to urban streets. They brought their music with them. In the song, “Minnetown” (a real place in the Sourlands near what is now Hillbilly Hall and was a predominately Afro-American town), I tell a story about the people, their hardships and travails. In the tunes, “1883 and Zion”, there is a sense that cultures were very integrated, life was shared up on the mountain, and the region conjured up its own folk lore. And, of course, we can’t forget “the crime of the century” depicted in the tune about Charles Augustus Lindbergh titled, “Highfields” named after his estate deep in the Sourland mountain where his new born son, Buddy, was kidnapped and murdered.

Yes, Sourland music is of piedmont extraction, but purely New Jersey. It is influenced by people from the South who came to the Sourlands and mixed their music with other folk sounds. In this way, a form of southern "piedmont music" came north, got infused and reconfigerated, reconstituted, and recreated to suit our particular tastes. Bluegrass came much later. In the late 19th century, it would not be uncommon to hear the music similar to Bliggins & Goines at a local bar or farm social. Yes, there is a reason why the Sourland sound is unique, and it’s mostly due to its location among the many rural and cosmopolitan influences of New Jersey. When folks around here dig into their roots, past the music, their lives in the Sourlands tell a story of American life and its history.

But, the bottom line for me is that I love writing and playing the music. It feels deep and true. I know the stories and often write about childhood experiences with Jr. Bliggins like walking down Jacob’s Creek through the forest on a hot summer day. So, I asked myself, what would I call this music? I'm not comfortable saying that I play southern piedmont or "delta blues" because I don't. I don't come from those areas even if I know the music. I come from the New Jersey piedmont and this area has a unique twist: as rural as it is, it’s also surrounded by urbanism with its crazy influences and persuasions. This brings us a mixture of piedmont folk, country, blues, and bluegrass: a true American experience. For folks in New Jersey and especially in the Sourlands we live in a culture that has its own expressions. The rural/urban mix of the Sourlands, although largely ignored, is its most unique aspect and gives a unique interpretation of American roots music.

Callin‘ it what it is,

Rev. Truman Madison Goines (2006)

____________________________________________________________
Jr. Bliggins and the Rev. Truman M. Goines, both born in 1955, grew up as neighbors in the New Jersey Sourlands on Poor Farm Rd. in Hopewell, NJ. From the folk stories about John Ringo, John Hart, Jr. Bliggins, Sr., and Charles Lindbergh to the antics that occurred at Hill Billy Hall and Old Puts Tavern, the tunes tell the tales of the Sourlands. The Sourlands is New Jersey’s largest contiguous old growth forest smack dab in the middle of the state. Mysterious and beautiful, the Sourlands, like the rest of New Jersey has a deep American history seeped into the culture and lives of its people. Bliggins & Goines tell its stories. Rev. Truman Goines is the winner of the 2005 NJ Folk Festival Songwriter’s Award. For more information go to: www.bligginsandgoines.com, or cdbaby.com/bligginsandgoines.