Balsam Range consists of Marc Pruett on banjo, Caleb Smith on guitar, Darren Nicholson on mandolin, Tim Surrett on bass, and Buddy Melton on fiddle.

We had a chance recently to discuss the new project recently with Melton, and he shared a few thoughts about the songs, starting with the title cut.

“The Last Train to Kitty Hawk was written by a couple of friends of mine in Nashville (James Ellis and Steve Dukes). I first heard the song several years ago and have been a fan of this song since.

The song is about progress and change.  ‘No nothing lasts forever,’  ‘They say progress makes us better….time ain’t standing still for any man… all aboard the last train to Kitty Hawk….’

I think it is such a well written song with a very artistic view of progress. Balsam Range was born in the Carolinas, as was the first flight. The connection of the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina made this song even more appealing.”

Balsam Range and Crossroads have agreed to allow us to post an audio sample of the song, which will be distributed to bluegrass radio early in ‘09.

Listen now:

Buddy also spoke about the process of collecting songs for the new album, something that will be familiar to most any recording artist.

“Finding material for a new project is always a challenge but is also one of fun parts of making a CD. Seeing a song come together from start to finish is rewarding. All the guys in Balsam Range are great at taking a song and making it fit the band. We really worked hard and finding and creating good variety of music for this second release.

There are several songs on this project written from within the band. I co-wrote the lead off track titled Julie’s Train. This song came from a jam session where several friends and I got together for the fun of it. Joe McElroy wrote a line or two, and we finished writing it that night. It is great for me to see this song on the Balsam Range project.  Knowing the history of how it came to be, and that it was written as a result of friends getting together for the fun of it, makes it really special.

Caleb Smith wrote a great haunting story song titled Jack Diamond that takes you back in time to the old west and makes you want to run out and watch The Outlaw Josey Wales. He also wrote a great instrumental piece titled Jaxon Point.

The name Milan Miller shows up again as a writer in this project. Milan is a friend and former band mate of mine. He wrote Calloway County Flood and co-wrote Burning Georgia Down for our last project.  On this one he wrote a song called Caney Fork River. It is definitely on of my personal favorites from this new project and a song that I had recorded several years back with Tony Rice and others but had not officially released nationally.

Anyone who has traveled west to Nashville will notice that you cross the Caney Fork River multiple times. That was the inspiration behind the song. The chorus asks the question how many times must I cross the Caney Fork River until I know that I am home free. This same chorus takes on a new meaning by the end of the song.

Several other well known writers such as Larry Cordle show up on this project as well.

This project was a lot of fun to create.  It has several old standards and one great older gospel song written by Dottie Rambo. The Dottie Rambo song (The Holy Hills) includes a guest appearance from Karen Peck Gooch.

We just wanted to represent all the aspects of Balsam Range. I am very proud of this project.

We are all looking forward to the release of Last Train To Kitty Hawk and traveling the country and meeting great folks along the way.”

You can find more information on Balsam Range on their web site.

The band comprises Marc Pruett (banjo), Caleb Smith (guitar), Darren Nicholson (mandolin), Tim Surrett (upright bass and resonator guitar) and Buddy Melton (fiddle) who all hail from Haywood County and live within 10 minutes of each other.

The quintet got together recently after various combinations had assisted in the production of solo albums. All the members of Balsam Range are from and live currently in Haywood County located in Western North Carolina. Although each were from the same town they had not played together as a group until this year. The start of the formation came with Buddy Melton’s solo recording project which featured Marc Pruett on banjo, Tim Surrett on bass, Tony Rice on guitar and Adam Steffey on mandolin. Shortly after that session, Darren Nicholson recorded his solo project which also included Marc Pruett, Tim Surrett and an array of various bluegrass greats. Soon they were getting together at each others houses to play great music for the fun of it. It basically snowballed from there.

Surrett, for whom music has been a big part of his life since school days, had recently moved back home after being gone from the area for many years traveling and playing with groups such as the Kingsmen. Nicholson had recently come off the road after playing for three years with Rounder recording artist Alecia Nugent, while Smith, who has been playing music since the age of 7, had found himself home after years of traveling with a bluegrass gospel group he helped form called Harvest. Pruett, who has long been associated with Ricky Skaggs, as well as playing with James Monroe among others, and Melton, a relative new-comer having got serious about bluegrass music while at Western Carolina University, had once played together in a bluegrass gospel group called Rock Springs Reunion and had recently started playing events together again. Some might say the timing of this union was more than just coincidental.

The CD is the result of a three way collaboration involving the group, Crossroads Records and Evergreen Publishing in Nashville. It was originally intended as a Bill Monroe tribute album, but in the end Balsam Range decided to include songs from other sources, because they felt that would be a better presentation for the band

They kept six songs associated with Monroe and added the balance of 13 from what band members brought to the sessions.

Marc Pruett spoke of the original material that they used for the CD to Carol Mallett Rifkin during an interview published in Ashville’s Citizen-Times ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ‚Ķ.

“Two of the songs were written by Milan Miller, of Waynesville. He and Buddy Melton are close friends. When Buddy worked in Nashville with the Jubal Foster band, he met songwriter Connie Harrington and she brought Blue Mountain to him. We all loved it. The producer wanted a really fast song, one that would blister the paint off the back wall. One that I had in my back pocket was The Train’s Ready. The Marching Home instrumental, well, my family has been interested in Civil War history for a long time. I was sitting around thinking about Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox and all those boys. One day they were in the army of Northern Virginia and the next day they were marching home. That was the inspiration.”

At the same time Buddy Melton said ……..

“It’s a great CD with a lot of variety and styles. There is a traditional element to it and the tribute to Monroe is a big part of it. There is also Blue Mountain and some of the others that are unique and different, a fresh new sound.”

After playing Marching Home just once I have to say that originality is the key word to describing this CD – with most of the material given a different treatment from the norm. Melton, Surrett and Smith all sing lead to give a varied listening experience also.

Joe Diffie, a guest from the Nashville establishment, sings lead on an original arrangement of Monroe’s Come Back To Me In My Dreams. Other guests are Doyle Lawson (mandolin and vocals), Jim Van Cleve (fiddle), Tony Rice (guitar) and influential producer Jerry Salley (vocals).

The CD release party took place to coincide with the band’s appearance at the 2007 Haywood County Fair, in Waynesville, September 25, although it will not be officially available until October.

Geographical Footnote: The Balsam mountain range is on the southern edge of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, surrounding the area in which the band members live.