“There’s something wonderful about the God-given pleasure of putting new strings on an old banjo and picking on them a little when they’re all loose and way down low and lonesome like an old sweet voice coming across a wet field after a spring rain.” – John Hartford

“John Hartford was one of the rarest of musical birds. He had one foot deeply rooted in the past and the other always at least a few steps into the future- and both were dancing.” – Larry Groce, Mountain Stage

Overview
Nearly a decade after his passing, Memories of John was recorded to commemorate the life and music John Hartford. The core of the project is the John Hartford Stringband—Chris Sharp/guitar, Bob Carlin/banjo, Matt Combs/fiddle, Mike Compton/mandolin and Mark Schatz/bass—the same group of musicians who appeared on Hartford’s last five Rounder Records projects and who were his touring band during the last years of his life.

Special guests Tim O’Brien, Bela Fleck, Alison Brown, Alan O’Bryant, George Buckner and Eileen Carson Schatz join the band on renditions of hit original John Hartford songs, traditional fiddle tunes, country and bluegrass songs refashioned by Hartford as well as a few rarely heard Hartford originals written shortly before his death. But the most special guest on the CD is John Hartford himself who appears on several previously unreleased tracks. Memories of John is a loving tribute to one of the most influential musicians of his time and an essential recording for all John Hartford fans.