Jeremy Stephens
&
Tom Mindte

Downloads
(Electronic Press Kit)

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photo by Micheal Stewart

Mindte, who has produced several recordings with bluegrass virtuosos The Patuxent Partners, is a dynamic mandolin picker and powerful singer well known on the music convention circuit. He recounts that “when Jeremy Stephens happened by our campsite a couple of years ago, carrying a guitar instead of his banjo, I kicked off The Lord's Last Supper, written by one of Jeremy's banjo heroes, Don Reno. Jeremy caught the tenor vocal and the blend sounded pretty good. We discovered that we knew a lot of the same songs, so we decided to do the album.”

Jeremy, a relative newcomer to recording and performing, says he “began listening to old time and bluegrass banjo and guitar players, but some of the first traditional music I ever heard was Dock Boggs, so I've always loved old time music.”

You’ll want to listen to Old Time Duets many times. Listen once for the musicality: Mindte and Stephens, two adept instrumentalists who could have showcased their mandolin and guitar talents, chose instead to practice the art of restraint for the sake of capturing that long-ago sound. The result is a bright extemporaneous mix harking back to by-gone days when recording had to be done without tampering. The two men are assertive singers whose voices are welded together without an audible seam. While Mindte accurately ties down the lead, Stephens spins out the tenor line with assurance, and when they cut loose, it’s obvious they’re going it not just because they can but because of a love for the lyrics.

So listen again just for the words. The sentiments are often quaint but they resonate on a level that supercedes fads and fashions, offering an unvarnished version of what life ought to be. Many of the selections on Old Time Duets tell a story. As Mindte and Stephens sing about the lad on The Lightning Express traveling to see his mother on her death bed though he lacks money for the fare, or the little farm boy who is willing to give up “all the gifts that dear Santy gave” to keep his childhood sweetheart from moving away (Tiny Broken Heart), you’re being transported to a more morally complete place. Take warning from the grim fate of the girl who “took the old consumption” (They Sleep Together Now at Rest), the tragic death of wandering Mary, frozen to death with her babe in arms (Mary of the Wild Moor), and the poignant outcome of Jack and May, who “quarled one day” and let a chance for love slip away (The Lovers’ Quarrel).

If you like your music generously graced with gospel you’ll be well satisfied with Jeremy and Tom’s ardent versions of standards like Stormy Waters and Mansions for Me, the exuberance of Are You Lost in Sin? and The Lord’s Last Supper. These songs, well chosen and faithfully rendered, renew the oldfashioned conviction that life is tough but God’s unchanging hand is always there for comfort.

Having absorbed the authenticity of the sound and the timeless appeal of the words, you can kick back and play Old Time Duets over and over. that’s what I plan to do. - BARBARA BAMBERGER SCOTT

THEY SLEEP TOGETHER NOW AT REST
DRIFTING TOO FAR FROM THE SHORE
ARE YOU LOST IN SIN?
THE LOVERS’ QUARREL
THE LIGHTNING EXPRESS
THE LORD’S LAST SUPPER
MANSIONS FOR ME
MARY OF THE WILD MOOR
OUR DARLING’S GONE
SHE HAS FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING NOW
STORMY WATERS
TINY BROKEN HEART
THE TOUCH OF GOD’S HAND