The Buck Stops Here

Just when roots music lovers in Central Florida thought they had feasted on their very best with the prodigious striplings known as Jubal’s Kin, here’s none other than a Kin founding member herself, Gailanne Amundsen, with yet another hearty, oxytocin-fueled mix of her own picking called The Buck Stops Here.

How far can one stretch aural Americana! Can it possibly get any better? Perhaps the buck may indeed stop here as the band summons the likes of Julie Chiles, Shona Carr, and Rebecca Branson Jones for a four-part harmony, multi instrument line backed by bass fiddle player Jeffrey—Gailanne’s younger brother, and a “veteran” at plucking the low notes at age 15.

Let’s suss this out. That mojo of theirs suggest a deeper calling. Most of the band members were tinkering with folksy tunes about the time they began to crawl as toddlers. Years later, knacks meet, their magnetic fields clamp them together and now the rich inland-texture of their performance, never feeling stilted, waxed or encased, flows rather freely into rapture.

That’s it!—grandiosity, with utmost ease and loyalty, swaying in live palpitations and verve. Innovation always limited to fresh spice blends without ever compromising the genre’s core flavor. Even a catch along the sisterly accord of their voices recalls the spirits of those who shed their existence back into the soil over which they had once teamed up to live and love, and die and transcend padded in marigold petals.

No hokey glitter here: mainstream purists and neo-mod seekers alike will have their field day with The Buck Stops Here. These musicians are all beautifully timeless, inside out, as they unfurl sharply in tune with the pains and joys of real McCoy America. - Egberto Almenas

Geographical distance hasn't stopped an up-and-coming band from laying down roots together as one of the newest traditional acoustic bands in the Southeast.

Living in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, members of the The Buck Stops Here include Denton native Rebecca Jones, who now calls Boone home. Other band members are siblings Jeffery and Gailanne Amundsen, Julie Chiles and Shona Carr. The group will play at High Rock Outfitters at 9 p.m. July 10. Tickets are $7.

The HRO show is the beginning of a North Carolina tour. The band will play the Doc and Rosalee Watson MusicFest 'n Sugar Grove July 11 and 12.

Jones' love of bluegrass and old-time music was born during her teen years growing up in Denton but really flowered as she cut her teeth at jam sessions during her college years at Appalachian State University in Boone. While at ASU, she earned a B.S. is broadcasting and a master's degree in Appalachian music.

"At App, I loved being surrounded by people who love old-time music and bluegrass," she said. "I began going to festivals and jams. It was at the jams where I really learned to play with others and found my style."

While the banjo is her main instrument, it is not her only one. The versatile musician also plays guitar and cajon, which is a wooden drum box one sits on and beats with a hand.

Her adventure into playing music began when she was 10 years old and asked for a drum set for Christmas. Her brother had asked for an electric guitar, so the siblings began a small rock band. A few years later when the soundtrack for the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" was released, Jones' brother became interested in old-time music. He encouraged her to learn how to play their father's banjo, which had been collecting dust in the house.

"Dad gave me his banjo and a book to learn how to play it," she said. "I went into the closet for two months and came out of the closet, so to say, when I could play it."

Gailanne Amundsen is the common thread between the musicians who make up The Buck Stops Here. Most had met each other before at fiddlers conventions in Virginia and the mountains of North Carolina. Amundsen called the other members in August 2013 and asked for them all to get together in September at a house in Tryon to see how they sounded playing together. Everyone in the band liked what they heard and decided to give it a try.

The band members spend a lot of time on the computer sending recorded files back and forth with ideas for songs to play at gigs and for their recording sessions planned for this September, Jones said.

"We play a new take on traditional acoustic music," she said. "It is what you would call Americana. It is a mix between bluegrass and old-time. … We also like blues, gospel and jazz. We try to encompass all those styles. It's a blend."

The band has several videos of its music on YouTube that can be found by searching the band's name. Jones said Gailanne Amundsen and Carr are accomplished songwriters, earning awards for their efforts. The duo is primarily responsible for writing original songs the band will record in September.

The Amundsen siblings — Gailanne and Jeffery — used to tour with the band Jubal's Kin and have played at MerleFest. In fact, the brother and sister were on the short list to play at the Grammys a few years ago.

Jones is looking forward to returning to Davidson County for the July 10 show. She has played the club before during open mic night.

"I am excited to be able to come back and play near where I grew up," Jones said. "Hopefully my friends and family will come out." - The Dispatch