Wild Ponies Galax (CD)

(Gearbox Records) 10 tracks, digisleeve

Galax pays tribute to the powerful music and rugged landscape of Southwest Virginia, where Wild Ponies members Doug and Telisha Wiliams were born and raised. There, in mountain towns like Galax, old-time American music continues to grow and thrive, supported by a circle of fiddlers, flatpickers and fans. The simple album bows to the band's history, but at the same time points forward. Recorded in the shed behind Doug's old family farm in Appalachia (a stone's throw from where Doug and Telisha were married), Galax brings Wild Ponies back to their musical and geographical roots.

Galax's track list is full of upright bass, acoustic guitar, fiddle duets, telecaster, banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, vocals, and simple percussion. Each song was recorded live, without ever stopping the process and listening to what was recorded. Until Wild Ponies arrived home in Nashville, they never listened to the final version of the wild magic of the Mountaintop Sessions recording.

Bridging the gap between old and new, the album also includes features from revered old-time players Snake Smith, Kyle Dean Smith and Kilby Spencer, from the band's namesake Galax, Virginia, and some of the Nashville band's favorite musicians: Fats Kaplin, Will Kimbrough, Neilson Hubbard and Audrey Spillman create a modern masterpiece with their traditional folk influences. The band will be touring extensively throughout the US and Europe with Galax.