Discography

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The Rest Is Yet To Come

5-String Productions - 5SP04004 - CD

One of the best old-time bands has a new CD! -- The Double Decker Stringband (Bill Schmidt, Craig Johnson, Bruce Hutton and John Beam) has released a wonderful new recording--The Rest Is Yet To Come on 5-String Productions. This CD contains 19 tunes and songs delivered with their usual charm and mastery.

This is a tight band that has been playing together for many years. Their music is fun and enjoyable. Their CD is highly recommended.
-- Bluegrass Unlimited

"This is not slavish imitation but thougthful re-creation of country music of a long-gone era."
-- Old-Time Herald

Chasing Rainbows

Marimac Records - M-9065-CD - CD - OUT OF PRINT

Craig Johnson: fiddle, banjo, guitar, vocals Bruce Hutton: guitar, banjo, uke, vocals John Beam: guitar, banjo, uke, vocals. Banjo maven, Art Rosenbaum, approvingly compared these guys with the New Lost City Ramblers and the Highwoods String Band as the finest among many excellent revival bands. Superb vocals, tasty instrumental backup; this band's sound is about as authentic as it gets.

Track listing: Don't Get Trouble In Mind/Goin'To Germany/Old Melinda/Mary, Don't You Weep/When Sun Go Down/The House of the Rising Sun/Chasing Rainbows/I Got Shoes/The Deacon's Calf/Crippled Turkey/Jake Limber Leg Blues/Where The Gates Swing Outward Never/Raise A Ruckus Tonight/Viola Lee Blues/Saro/Echoes of the Ozarks/Waiting For Me/Keno the Rent Man/Darlin' Corey/Down the River I Go

For An Old Time, Call

Marimac Records - 9035 - cassette - OUT OF PRINT

"If ever there could be a collection of tunes and songs that could serve as the soundtrack for our journey from the primordial stew to the mapping of the genome this recording gets my vote."    - Van D. Beck, "Spot On"

Track listing: Boatin' Up the Sandy/Be Ready When He Comes/When the Roses Bloom Again/Noah Built the Ark/Under the Chicken Tree/Sharp's Hornpipe/Little Black Train/Brushy Fork of John's Creek/Flower From the Fields of Alabama/Orphan Child/Working On the Railroad/Poor Johnny's Gone to War/Hideaway/Travellin' Railroad Man/Walk Right In Belmont/Wait Til I Put On My Robe/Louisiana Breakdown/God Leads His Dear Children/Richmond/Give Me the Leavins

Evolution Girl

Marimac Records - 9021 - cassette - OUT OF PRINT

"Listening to 'Evolution Girl' is a bit like discovering a great stash of 78 rpm records. Where else would you come across songs by or associated with the Mississippi Sheiks, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Frank Blevins' Tarheel Rattlers, Sam and Kirk McGee and Prince Albert Hunt all in the same place? Without resorting to glib revisionism or stiff-backed reverence, Johnson, Beam and Hutton have devised a blend of instruments and voices that give so much of this music its personality, poignance, humor and soul.    - Mike Joyce "The Washington Post"

Track listing: Rocky Road To Dublin/The Old Ark's A-Movin'/Church Point Breakdown/Evolution Girl/Travelin' Man/Outshine The Sun/Georgia Hobo/'Most Done Travelin'/Tug River/Rendezvous In Honolulu/Train On The Island/Walking In The Light/Sleepy Dreamer/Cumberland Gap/Salty Dog/Ain't No Grave/Old Aunt Betsy/Call To The Foreign Field/Old Blue Sow/Sittin' On Top Of The World

Sentimental Songs and Old Time Melodies

Fretless Records - FR160 - LP - OUT OF PRINT

"This, their second album, should dispel an doubts anyone might have had about these guys being the best of the old-timey bands active. The Double Deckers have worked faithfully to produce a sound that is purely old-time and directly from the great records and musicians of the '20's and '30's...the real heyday of this genre. These guys would have been popular back then. They have limited themselves to a style they obviouly love and are able to give it all the life and spirit you'd expect from masters of any style. They embody its soul".     - Champlain Folklore Co-op Newsletter

Track listing: Shippingport/Dear Old Dixieland/John Henry/Ragged But Right/Then It Won't Hurt No More/Lost Goose/Honeysuckle/Goin Back To Dixie/My Own Iona/Tittabawassee Jane/Horshoe Bend/Travelin' Blues/Old Blind Dog

Giddyap Napoleon

Fretless Records - FR144 - LP - OUT OF PRINT

"The Double Decker Stringband has managed to transform the recording studio into a time machine; it has also managed to evoke the innocent enthusiasm of this old-time music without coming across as either custodians or archivists. The songs on "Giddyap Napoleon" are a satisfying blend of sanctity ("Hallelujah to the Lamb") and social commentary ("Riley the Furniture Man"). Young bands like Double Decker celebrate a music that fed into the waters of bluegrass, country and popular music without ever forgetting the heart at its center. Here is a joyful repertoire."     - Richard Harrington "The Washington Post"

Track listing: Ida Red/There's No Place Like Home/Ozark Mountain Home/Stambaugh Waltz/Hallelujah to the Lamb/At A Georgia Camp Meeting/Giddyap Napoleon/Tom and Jerry/Riley the Furniture Man/Oh How He Lied/Bug in the Taters/She Ain't No Good/Jay Bird Died With the Whooping Cough/Wild Bill Jones/Down in Baltimore