Deanie Richardson and Kimber Ludiker are not simply two of the finer fiddlers working in and around bluegrass, they each also lead award-winning all-female supergroups. Deanie fiddles with Sister Sadie, and Kimber with Della Mae, though both are also involved in a great many additional projects on the side.
One such is the twin fiddle album they have recorded for Mountain Home Music, from which we have been graced with a pair of singles already.
The third bears the curious title of No-See-Um Stomp, a tune Ludiker composed after her first encounter with the nasty bugs, also known as flying teeth, which inhabit swampy areas of the southeast. Their minuscule size affords them the name, and until you meet up with them, you’d never believe something quite nearly invisible could pack such a punch. They are perhaps at their worst in the Caribbean islands, but their attacks in the states are equally memorable.
But let’s have Kimber explain it.
“I wrote No-See-Um Stomp after meeting a flock of them for the first time on the east coast. As a PNW girl, I was mortified by their existence and the one billion bites I suffered.
This tune came out of me very quickly. The first part is the swarm, and the second part… human agony. I recorded it once with my band Della Mae, and although there’s an amazing ‘twin guitar’ moment with Avril Smith and Molly Tuttle, I always heard this tune as a twin fiddle tune. As you know, you never encounter just ONE of these bugs, so I’m very excited to have a twin fiddle version of this with Deanie Richardson.
We took a mild ‘controlled chaos’ approach to this, which fits the tune perfectly. Instead of linear twin fiddle parts, we depart here and there, swarming around each other just like the little critters this tune was written for.”
Also featured on the track are Cody Kilby on guitar, Kristin Scott Benson on banjo, Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, and Hasee Ciaccio on bass. It has a decided 1960s Bill Monroe vibe, who taught us all about twin fiddles way back then.
Buckle up and check it out.
No-See-Um Stomp is available now from popular download and streaming services online.
