The Great High Mountain Tour

I have lived in Atlanta for four years and I am ashamed to say that until this night I had not been in the Fox Theater. The theater is one of Atlanta 's most famous and most beautiful landmarks and is a “must-visit” venue on any trip to the Georgia capital, whether there is a show on or not.

I finally got to visit the Fox last week when one of the most exciting music shows came to town. The Great High Mountain Tour is a unique chance to hear the music from both O Brother Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain soundtracks and so much more.

Between the two movies and his record label DMZ, T Bone Burnett has assembled almost all of the best Bluegrass , Americana , Blues and roots artists in the U.S.A today. He has taken what had been a fairly popular but not hugely commercial genre of music and given it a new, worldwide audience who have taken it to their hearts.

On this concert tour the cast is huge. The Atlanta show kicked off with the powerful Sacred Harp Singers led, in this setting, by Tim Eriksen who is a huge part of the Cold Mountain project. This was a moving and rousing start to an evening of music that flowed from one great performance to another. From the young and hugely talented Sierra and Cody Hull who showed us that the state of Bluegrass music is in very safe and very young hands to the far end of the spectrum with legendary Dr Ralph Stanley whose mere presence on stage commands respect that is universal.

Between these two distant generations lay the rest of the evening's entertainers in a show that worked like clockwork but for all the world felt like a warm impromptu gathering. . Allison Krauss and Union Station as always, shone with the musical magic that is their trademark. The Cox and White Familys brought us back to a time when country music sounded like country music. Norman and Nancy Blake showed us why their names are being etched with every passing year in American folk music history. The Nashville Bluegrass Band as always hit the right notes with some very fast and

Then there are those who are becoming important forces in the music. The wonderful Reeltime Travelers got the first and very well deserved standing ovation of the evening. This band are on their way to much bigger things while staying true to a very pure mountain style. Riley Baugus, Dirk Powell and Tim Erikson took us back even further with old style music, raw in authentic power. Riley himself was as funny as always and even managed a very authentic English accent while recounting working with Cold Mountain director Anthony Minghella.

The best surprise for me that evening was Ollabelle a band based in New York who hadn't appeared on either soundtrack but were on the tour after having singed to T-Bone Burnett's growing music stable. Watch out for this band. They are another act that will be gracing the stages of the biggest venues and festivals all over the world in the coming years. They hail from all over, from Texas to Canada and all the way to Australia . They weave a wealth of influences into a solid yet melodic mix of real roots and blues and arrangements both vocal and instrumental that will cause goosebumps.

After Dr Ralph's very moving but fun finale we made a hasty retreat backstage to visit with some old friends. Despite having been on the road and living in each others pockets for months the laughter still flowed, as did the music with a great session featuring Dirk Powell, Riley Baugus, Martha and Heidi from the Reeltime Travelers and various members of both Ollabelle and The Nashville Bluegrass Band.

So it was with the sounds of many mountains still ringing in my ears that I left the Fox Theater that night and even now, many days later I can feel the evening echoing still.

For more info on the tour click HERE