Richie Stearns and Rosie Newton’s meeting was unlikely at best. Before joining musical forces, the two lived entirely different lives that began 150 miles away from one another. Let alone that Stearns is a few decades Newton’s senior. Better yet, he was already a vital part of the burgeoning Americana scene alongside the likes of Béla Fleck and Billy Bragg.
But Newton was a precocious firecracker as well, classically trained from a tender age before jumping into the professional music circuit with the Mammals while she was still in high school. It was around that time that the two met at a music festival, and the friendship at the core of their musical congruity was first formed.
Fast forward to 2017 and the roots duo is releasing their sophomore record, Nowhere in Time in the not-so-distant future. Present on the album will be a cover of Luther Strong’s “Glory in the Meeting House”.
The breakneck instrumental jam showcases Richie & Rosie‘s mutual love for Appalachian staples while showing off their strengths as a performing duo. Better yet, they’re both able to show their most well-known talents behind the banjo and fiddle, respectively, in their performance.
Rosie Newton says, “We got this version of ‘Glory in the Meeting House’ from a recording of Luther Strong. The story goes that Alan Lomax traveled to Hazard Kentucky to record Mr. Strong, but found him in jail for public drunkenness. Determined, Lomax paid Strong’s bail, bought him some whiskey for his hangover and proceeded to record this tune and many others for the Library of Congress on a borrowed fiddle.”