January 1, 2008
Old-Time Revision
The following article, by Ruth Eckles, was originally published in The Urban Hiker, January 2003.
If you love old-time music, mountain music, roots music, or blue grass — pure, raw, earthy music that conveys the joys and sorrows of being alive — chances are you’ve heard of the Stillhouse Bottom Band. This Chapel Hill group has been together for nearly three years and released two CDs, Bustin’ It Up and Hand Made, and has made its name as a standard-bearer for a traditional style that nevertheless puts its own stamp on the genre.
One of the driving forces behind the band is fiddler AC Bushnell. Bushnell isn’t your average old-time fiddle player. In fact, his fans have nicknamed him “the Jimi Hendrix of the fiddle” because of his reputation for getting carried away in the heat of the moment, playing up and down the neck of his instrument, improvising as he goes.
Mike Weems, who plays guitar and sings in the band, says, “Most old-time fiddlers stick strictly to the tune. With AC, it’s complete spontaneity; he goes anyway he feels like going. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. He probably has the most unique fiddle style I’ve ever heard; two notes and you know it’s him.” Bandmate Bobb Head (bass/banjo/ mandolin) adds, “He definitely respects the old tunes, but he puts his own touch on it.”
Bushnell’s fire and contagious enthusiasm can radiate through a crowd. The Stillhouse Bottom Band is notorious for bringing down the house at their Carrboro ArtsCenter shows. “AC, when he’s playing on stage, will often get right up in your face to connect with you,” says the group’s fourth member, Alan Julich (banjo/bass/vocals).
“He’s a real positive-energy guy. When we play as a band, his energy becomes contagious. We play music that makes you feel that way.”
It’s not uncommon for Bushnell to go through four or five T-shirts when he’s playing a concert. “When I perform, I try to give everything I’ve got. I’m really giving them love,” Bushnell says of his relationship with audiences. “When they receive it, they send energy back. So it just becomes this kind of energy loop that uplifts everybody. And it’s just plain a whole lot of fun.”
Bushnell spent much of his youth in New York City and came to this area in 1970, when his interest in old-time music deepened and he wanted to be closer to its roots. I recently talked with him about growing up in the ’60s, learning to play in Greenwich Village, and the difference between bluegrass and old-time music.
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