The Black Twig Pickers

The Black Twig Pickers follow the longstanding model of early-20th-century Appalachian string bands, faithfully recreating and refreshing the enduring body of traditional mountain songs on banjo, guitar, fiddle, and washboard. Their debut, North Fork Flyer, appeared in 2001, after which the group recorded for VHF and Thrill Jockey while joining forces with Jack Rose on the 2009 album Jack Rose & the Black Twig Pickers, Charlie Parr on 2010’s Glory in the Meeting House, and Steve Gunn on 2015’s Seasonal Hire. Friend’s Peace, issued in 2021, marked two decades since the band’s first release.

Assembled in Appalachia during the late 1990s, the Black Twig Pickers—frequently augmented by guest musicians—center on Virginia and West Virginia natives Mike Gangloff on vocals, guitar, and fiddle, Isak Howell on guitar and harmonica, and Nathan Bowles on washboard, banjo, and percussion, three musicians united by their devotion to old-time mountain folk and blues. Beginning with North Fork Flyer on VHF Records in 2001, they produced a succession of self-released efforts, many captured in domestic settings such as living rooms and back porches. Klang Records issued Big Banjo Blues the following year, Soon One Morning returned them to VHF in 2003, and the label continued to support the band through Midnight Has Come and Gone in 2005 and Hobo Handshake in 2008. Mid-2009 brought the collaborative Jack Rose & the Black Twig Pickers.

The ensemble next partnered with Minnesota singer-songwriter Charlie Parr for Glory in the Meeting House on House of Mercy Recordings in 2010. That same year Thrill Jockey released the full-length Ironto Special, followed in 2011 by the split LP Even to Win Is to Fail/Eastmont Syrup with Glenn Jones (also featuring Parr). An EP titled Whompyjawed arrived in 2012, and Rough Carpenters in 2013 added bassist Joseph DeJarnette along with fiddler and vocalist Sally Anne Morgan. Morgan remained for the 2015 live-in-the-studio album Seasonal Hire with guitarist Steve Gunn, which contained four original compositions and one traditional piece. After parting from Thrill Jockey, the Black Twig Pickers returned to VHF for Friend’s Peace in 2021.