Having made her way to California via Durham, North Carolina, Amy Kassir’s formative years were spent learning old time fiddle tunes while going with her father to numerous string band festivals. Kassir’s debut solo effort, Bread and Butter, is a nod to her musical roots, with the vast majority of these nine selections containing an undeniable old time flavor.
This is most certainly the case with the opening track, Cornbread, Molasses, and Sassafras Tea/Benton’s Dream. Amy approaches this medley of tunes with a powerful confidence. As with all of the pieces, Kassir is surrounded by an excellent cast of supporting instrumentalists, which include Jake Eddy on guitar, Carter Eddy on bass, Korey Kassir on mandolin, and Victor Furtado on banjo.
The true gems of this album are the duet pieces. Cripple Creek is rendered in an exciting fashion with Jake Eddy providing stellar bluegrass banjo backup, while Little Pine Siskin is a mellow piece which features subtle yet beautiful mandolin work from Korey Kassir.
Big Sciota also falls into the mellow category in terms of its arrangement. With Kassir playing the tune at a steady, smooth pace, it allows for an even greater focus on one of traditional music’s well-loved compositions.
China Camp is the most bluegrass oriented tune on this project. Written by Paul Shelasky, Amy’s fiddling truly shines here alongside stand out performances from both Jake Eddy and Korey Kassir.
Bread and Butter is an excellent display of Amy Kassir’s instrumentalism. While this project is somewhat grounded in old time stylings, there’s plenty of proof that Amy is willing to explore and create ideas outside of that realm.
