The Corn Likkers are a San Francisco Bay Area old-time band, mostly members of the Chen family joined by Lael Sigal on second fiddle and harmony vocals. Ray Chen plays lead fiddle. Eleanor Chen plays banjo, dances flatfoot, and sings lead vocals. Elijah Chen is on guitar. And Lauren (Chen) Graves plays bass. The Corn Likkers took 3rd place in the neo trad category at the Appalachian String Band Contest in Clifftop, West Virginia.

“Train 45” comes from Joe Burchfield of the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. It’s a version of “Reuben’s Train.” The fiddles growl with train sounds.

“Chinquapin Hunting” is from Norman Edmonds via Bruce Molsky.

“June Apple” is from Tommy Jarrell via Brittany Haas.

“Rochester Schottische” derives from Tommy Jarrell’s version. A schottische (German for Scottish) is a dance tune with a rhythm which was once described to me as “one-two-three-jump.”

“Mike in the Wilderness” is from John Salyer. Ray learned it from Bruce Molsky, Rafe Stefanini, and Dirk Powell. Eleanor’s dance footwork is very audible.

“Sugar Hill” is another tune from Tommy Jarrell. It is a classic Round Peak tune. Sugar Hill was a famous red-light district. One of the lyrics, not sung here, is “If you want to get your eyes knocked out, if you want to get your fill, if you want to get your head knocked off, go up to Sugar Hill.”

Ray learned “Tater Patch” from a recording by Tommy Jarrell, who learned it from his mentor, Charlie Lowe. It started as a banjo tune.

Ray learned his version of “Elzic’s Farewell” when he was living in Atlanta. He was also influenced by the Reel Time Travelers. The fiddles are in two different tunings.

“Hangman’s Reel” started as a French Canadian tune, where the French title translates to “Reel of the Hanged Man,” but this version comes from Albert Hash partly via Rafe Stefanini.

Ray learned “Step Around Johnny” from Alabama fiddler Jim Cauthen.

“John Brown’s Dream” is from Tommy Jarrell via John Engle. One of the lyrics is “John Brown’s dream, the devil is dead.” Another line is about a “Pretty Little Girl,” and that is sometimes the title.

“Old Joe Clark” is also from Tommy. “Old Joe Clark, the preacher’s son preached all over the plain. The only text he ever knew was ‘High, Low Jack, and the Game.'” The tune originated with a 19th century murder in which Joe Clark and Betsy Brown murdered Betsy’s husband Herbert.

“Lady on the Green” comes from the great Nebraska fiddler Bob Walters via Joseph Decosimo. It has a very relaxed pace.

“When Sorrows Encompass Me Round” is again from Tommy Jarrell via Tom, Brad, and Alice. It is a mournful dirge-like song in a minor key.

The carefully worked out double fiddling is a highlight of this band and this recording. This is dance music, and this music is very danceable as well as listenable.

You can order the CD on Bandcamp in various formats here.