Starlings, TN

Starlings, TN merges the ethereal qualities found in John Cale-era Velvet Underground with the string-band and bluegrass heritage of the 1920s and 1930s, achieved through bowed dulcimer, sustained droning resonance, and enigmatic psychedelic flourishes. The Nashville ensemble issued its first recording, The Leaper's Fork, via Chicken Ranch Records in 2002.

Late in the 1990s, former punk musicians Steve Stubblefield, previously of the Methadone Actors, and Tim Bryan, previously of the Habitual Sex Offenders, established the project. They later joined forces with T.J. Larkin and Jose Lovato, though Lovato departed soon after the initial album was finished. Stubblefield, whose early exposure to gospel occurred in the church of his Baptist-minister grandfather, drew guidance from Alan Lomax’s archival folk collections and from encounters with dulcimer specialist David Schnaufer (Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr.). Acquiring his own dulcimer and studying under Schnaufer allowed Stubblefield to realize the precise sonic identity he sought. On the debut, the group honored longstanding forms while enveloping them in progressive arrangements and studio techniques.