Summary: <p>Violinist Regina Carter's album called <em>Southern Comfort</em> started out as an exploration of her family tree - an attempt to discover and interpret the folk songs that her grandfather, a coal miner in Alabama, perhaps would have heard during his lifetime. What resulted, however, is a deep and expansive look at how the Appalachians' blend of Irish and Scottish settlers, Native Americans and slaves combined to create the music that we today know as traditional Americana - and, how that music has continued to evolve and inspire artists throughout our nation's history. </p> <p>After visiting the Library of Congress and listening to field recordings made by John Wesley Work III and Alan Lomax, Carter - who has previously explored the jazz standards of her mother's youth and the music of the African diaspora - narrowed down the pieces that caught her ear. The resulting album includes Cajun fiddle tunes like "Blues de Basile," gospel hymns like "I'm Going Home," and even a few more contemporary songs, like Hank Williams' "Honky Tonkin'." All performed, of course, in Carter's signature imaginative - and always swinging - style. -<em>Mike Katzif</em></p> <p> Set List: "See See Rider," "I'm Going Home," "Miner's Child"</p>
