Swift House by Ken & Brad Kolodner

On Ken & Brad Kolodner’s latest album, The Swift House, the father-son duo takes Old-Time music into a new realm, infusing their musical, tasteful and hypnotizing approach. Recorded in the cozy confines of the Baltimore home in which Ken raised his son Brad, the album has a special sense of family. Brad’s banjo and Ken’s hammered dulcimer dance around each other, locked in step. From toe-tapping Old Time melodies like Turkey in the Pea Patch and Half Past Four to haunting originals like The Swift House and Sap’s Rising, the Kolodners weave together an ethereal soundscape rooted in tradition but celebrating innovation and creativity. The duo branches out on the album with their cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s Steel Rail Blues and the classic Ola Belle Reed song I’ve Endured. Rounding out the sound on the album is the playful and groovy fiddling touch provided by Rachel Eddy, a West Virginia native who lives and breathes the music. She steps into the limelight on the record with her smooth voice leading an American folk song made popular by the Grateful Dead, Deep Ellum Blues. Bassist Alex Lacquement bonds everything together with his commanding yet lyrical approach to the upright bass. Every track presents something unique, just as every year that passes, Ken & Brad’s musical and personal bond grows deeper.

The dynamic father-son duo Ken & Brad Kolodner weave together a captivating soundscape on hammered dulcimer, banjo and fiddles pushing the boundaries of the Old-Time tradition into uncharted territory. They play with a “creative curiosity that lets all listeners know that a passion for traditional music yet thrives in every generation.”