Cary Fridley and Down South March 20, 2008

Cary Fridley and Down South is as grounded in the tradition of Southern music as Fridley’s music has ever been. But by combining her new songs with the old time, blues and classic-country recipes, she’s serving up a swinging plate of something new. In her new band Fridley’s powerful vocal styles soar on an all-star group featuring honky-tonk guitar and country rhythms, spiced with bluesy pedal-steel and hot Appalachian fiddle stylings.

Born and raised in Covington, Va., music fans first heard Fridley with the western North Carolina-based group The Freight Hoppers. This high-energy old-time string band toured the national festival circuit in the 90s, and showcased her versions of the ballads and songs she learned dropping in on the fiddler’s conventions and late-night jam sessions peppering coal country.

Fridley and Down South are now performing in support of her new recording, also called “Down South.” Her first since her acclaimed 2001 release “Neighbor Girl,” “Down South” shows Fridley’s love for the full spread of Southern music - black and white, rural and urban, mountain and Mississippi delta - and her notable ability to tie it all together.

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