Hillside Jam
Merlefest
Wilkesboro, NC
1997-04-26

Source:    Shure SM11's > D8 > DAT(s) via Jeff Abolafia / Dave Cohen
Transfer:  Fostex D-15 > Tascam SA-3000
Master:    Wavelab 10 (tracking, levels, Ozone 8 EQ and Maximizer) > FLAC 1648

01. intro
02. Wheel Hoss
03. crowd + band intros
04. Little Girl of Mine in Tennessee
05. Ralph's Banjo Special
06. Toy Heart
07. Cincinnati Rag
08. Blue & Lonesome
09. I Know What It Means to Be Lonesome
10. Blackberry Blossom
11. banter
12. Little Cabin Home On The Hill
13. Reuben's Train

Paul Brewster - guitar
Jerry Douglass - guitar
Bela Fleck - banjo
Aubrey Haynie - fiddle
Roy Huskey Jr. - Bass
Tony Rice - guitar
Ricky Skaggs - mandolin

A nice hour of all-star bluegrass with some intersting takes on familar tunes.  

This is a very bright and up front recording that gets overwhelmed by the audience at the end of each song.  Also, the recording levels were first too low, and the taper overcompensates.  During the applause after Wheel Hoss the recording is completely saturated, and this happens again a few more times, although the taper got the levels under control pretty quickly.  To deal with this, in addition to flat out raising levels at the beginning, the Ozone 8 Maximizer brought everything else up without overloading the recording any more than it was.  This makes it possible to listen to the whole thing at a reasonable volume, at the expense of some obvious limiting during the applause.  Better that way than riding the volume knob for an hour.

Also sharing the stage, that guy who whistles too loud at concerts.  Fortunately, he wanders off during Ralph's Banjo Special and whistles somewhere less objectionable.  Until then, an EQ with three-notch filter takes some wind out of his sails.

Enjoy!

--mhg 2020-01-09