Curley Maple: Press

Violinist extraordinaire David Blackmon says his newest group, the traditional acoustic quartet Curley Maple, takes its name from a pair of very significant sources.
"Curly maple is wood used to make violins, mandolins and other stringed instruments," says Blackmon, who was born in Wilkes County but has spent most of his life in the Athens area. "And there's a shelter on Spring Mountain along the Appalachian Trail called Curley Maple. Since we like to do traditional Appalachian tunes, old folk songs and some Irish stuff, we thought it was a fitting name."
Curley Maple the band - which also includes Noel Blackmon (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Christian Lopez (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Chris Enghauser (bass) - will be making its "advertised debut" Friday at the Melting Point.
While each member of the ensemble has a considerable and impressive list of musical accomplishments, Blackmon is without question one of Athens' best known and respected talents. A violinist since the age of 9, Blackmon's professional sendoff came in the early 1980s when he played in country music icon Jerry Reed's touring band for three years. He has also toured and recorded with Widespread Panic and Blueground Undergrass and has an amazing laundry list of collaborators, including Vassar Clements, Derek Trucks, Col. Bruce Hampton and Glen Campbell.
"I've had a wealth of opportunities that have been great," says Blackmon, who now lives in Winterville. "I've definitely been around the horn."
The Blackmons got together with Lopez and Enghauser in January, and the group has been steadily rehearsing and recording and has already played a few unannounced "pinch-hit" dates at the Melting Point.
"This is still relatively new," says Blackmon. "We've been putting it together since the first of the year. We've recorded some tunes and we're in the process of recording more with an eye on a CD project."
A quick listen to the tunes available on the band's MySpace page (www.myspa ce.com/curleymaple) reveals a stringed quartet with a variety of musical interests, ranging from high-spirited instrumentals ("Forked Deer") to traditional storytelling songs ("Shawneetown"). The group also has a number of their own tunes, written by Lopez, who several years ago fronted his own band, with Noel Blackmon joining in on bass.
"Christian is a really good friend and he's got a strong passion for this kind of music," says Blackmon. "We've known him for a long time and he just seemed like a natural fit for what we wanted to do. He's got an amazing knowledge of music and he's also a joy to be around."
The extremely versatile Enghauser is also a major asset to Curley Maple. Besides playing with the Blackmons and Lopez, he holds membership in Dromedary Quartet, PrimeTime Jazz, Super Combo and Athens vocalist Leslie Helpert's Billie Holiday Tribute band. He's also the section bassist for the Macon Symphony Orchestra and has contributed to the symphonies in Columbus and Gainesville.
"Chris is very well schooled in music and we're lucky to have him with us on this project," says Blackmon.
Noel Blackmon, whose haunting vocals on "Shawneetown" are expressive as any instrument, is perhaps best known for her work in Calliope Fair, and she's also worked with the Celtic band Short Road Home, the Northeast Georgia Bluegrass Band and the Garnett River Gals.
Although several of the members of Curley Maple are well versed in bluegrass and "jam-grass," Blackmon says the band steers away from that time-honored style.
"What we're doing really isn't bluegrass, despite my background," he says. "It's not hard bluegrass by any stretch of the imagination. ... Noel and I constantly are researching tunes and when we come up on a cool tune, we e-mail it around and see if everybody's interested. If they're game, we'll work it up. Some things we do in the traditional Appalachian way, and then we'll spice them up some."
Blackmon is just happy to be playing after suffering a spinal cord injury almost 10 years ago that left him temporarily paralyzed from the neck down. He promises that an evening with Curley Maple is an evening of diverse musical performances.
"We'll have a big variety of a lot of different kinds of tunes," he says. "Christian and Noel are really fine singers, so what we do runs the gamut. We'll take an old Appalachian or Irish tune and put our own twist on it to give me some room to stretch out and improvise on the fiddle."

Doin' the Olde Curley Maple Shuffle
David Blackmon Does Double Duty
originally published May 14, 2008


Soft-spoken fiddler David Blackmon has become a familiar presence on Athens stages through his friendship with, and occasional membership in, groups like Widespread Panic, Blueground Undergrass and acoustic bluegrass ensemble 16 Tons. After spending several years primarily as an accompanist, Blackmon’s latest project, Curley Maple, finds him at the lead of something he’s been preparing for since his earliest days as a fiddler. Those were hours spent competing in fiddle competitions and soaking up old songs and stories spun by veteran folk/bluegrass musicians, as well as members of his own family.
“This is really something I’ve been wanting to put together for a real long time,” says Blackmon of the new band. “I’d toured for a good bit with Blueground Undergrass, but, because of family reasons, I needed to be around home more than I was. I had the idea in my head of doing old Appalachian tunes, Irish tunes, old-time folk songs and things like that. I come from a bluegrass and improvisational background, but I started out playing these old-timey songs in fiddle competitions and forums like that. The timing just felt right to do something like this, and give it our full attention.”
Named for both a tone wood familiar to stringed instrument buffs and an Appalachian Trail hiking shelter, the strictly acoustic Curley Maple is the kind of group that doesn’t need an elaborate stage setup, mammoth amps or even electricity to sizzle. According to David, he and wife/group multi-instrumentalist Noel Blackmon share a similar yen for old-time reels, waltzes, ballads and other such pieces currently comprising the Curley Maple repertoire.
Noel, herself, has become a musical fixture around town with such projects as Calliope Fair and the folk-music potluck group Short Road Home. The string band-style rhythm section of mandolinist/vocalist Christian Lopez and bassist Chris Enghauser (Sara Evans, Roy “Futureman” Wooten) rounds out Curley Maple’s cast of players.
“My wife and I are on a similar wavelength as she has a very keen interest in this type of music, as well,” confirms Blackmon. “Christian Lopez is a great picker who’s basically a walking encyclopedia of old folk songs and that kind of thing. I got to know Chris Enghauser through playing alongside a mutual friend, Seth Hendershot, in Blueground Undergrass. Everybody is this band is real easy to work with. There’s no big egos or anything like that here.”
At present time, Curley Maple is compiling a stock of home recordings, some of which may very well turn up on the group’s upcoming first release that should arrive sometime this summer, according to David. Songs that are making the rounds include driving instrumentals like “The Coo-Coo’s Nest” and the steady ballad “Shawneetown,” two that, finally, allow an uncluttered, acoustic forum for David’s fiddle smarts and the group’s knack for hair-raising vocal harmonies. Blackmon isn’t kidding when he says he’s virtually spent a lifetime up to now preparing for a project like this. Aside from other assorted accolades, Blackmon was a champion stringband fiddler during his teenage years, spent in the then-sleepy North Georgia town of Ellijay - also the childhood home of Athens’ feisty Redneck Greece and area singer/songwriter Eric Sales.
“Before I even started playing that much, I learned a lot from (Ellijay-area) musicians like the Hoyle Family,” Blackmon remembers. “I was in an award-winning stringband with Al Hoyle, who is now the mayor up there, and learned a lot from him, his brother, Eddie, sister, Lisa, and their father, Max, who is another virtual encyclopedia of Appalachian and old-timey music. Man, I soaked up a lot from those people. They’re all incredibly talented players who made a big impression on me back then.”
While David confirms that Curley Maple is his primary focus right now, he’s also glad to see more performances on the schedule from 16 Tons. The multimember pickin’ group, also featuring bassist Rich Mullinax, banjo player Andy Martin, guitarist Caitlin Jones, mandolinist Bryan Varin, guitarist John Evans and vocalist/harp player Brian Connell has been on a recent hiatus, due to members’ commitments to other bands and careers. However, the assembled Tonnage will be returning to the familiar confines of the Melting Point to share a double bill with Curley Maple Friday night. Blackmon will be pulling double duty that evening, as will likely several other members of the immediate Curley Maple family.
“It’s a lot of fun to get together with those guys,” says Blackmon of 16 Tons. “Rich, who plays bass, is one of my closest friends, and that group is just full of talented people. I’m looking forward to this show; I think the two groups are a good fit. I’m not full time with them (16 Tons), these days, though. I want to see where Curley Maple goes since it’s something I’ve been planning and wanting to set in motion for some time. I’m just thankful it’s finally coming to fruition.”
Mike Andrews