The Sound of the Season
CD Release Party for Steve and Ruth’s An Appalachian Winter Nov. 21
at the Hayes Center

By Jeff Eason

Some success stories are more visible than others. In the highly competitive genre of instrumental music, local musicians Steve and Ruth are quietly making a seismic impact. The couple’s first two albums, An Appalachian Aire and Dancing ‘Cross the Strings, have become Internet sensations and some of the quickest selling albums featured by online album retailer CD Baby.

Now they are looking at a similar phenomenon with their new album of holiday music, An Appalachian Winter. The album, released earlier this fall, features instrumental versions of classic holiday favorites, classical numbers and Ruth Smith originals.

The Smiths will present music from their new album at a special CD release concert on Friday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mariam and Robert Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock. The concert will feature performances by Ruth Smith on hammer dulcimer, Steve Smith on guitar, Ryan Smith on percussion, Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham on flute and pennywhistle and Liz Rose on Celtic harp.

Tickets are on sale now and are $12 for adults and $10 for students and are available at the Hayes Center Box Office.

“We started working on An Appalachian Winter last February and we worked on it literally seven days a week until about the middle of September,” said Ruth Smith. “We got the album back three weeks ago.”

Utilizing the Smith’s state-of-the-art home recording facility, the couple recorded familiar holiday tunes such as “I Wonder as I Wander,” “Carol of the Bells,” and “Silent Night” as well as more obscure seasonal compositions such as Jerry Read Smith’s “One Wintry Night” and Gustav Holst’s “In the Bleak Midwinter.” The album features several Ruth Smith compositions such as “Winter’s Finale,” “Snow Angels” and the title track.

“A couple of them I wrote last year but the title cut, ‘An Appalachian Winter,’ was my assignment for this CD.”
Added Steve Smith, “On all three of our CDs I’ve done that. We knew we needed to make a Christmas album because everyone was asking for it. I told Ruth, ‘I think it should be called An Appalachian Winter, so you need to write a song with that title.”

After much deliberation, Ruth Smith came up with an idea the stunning title track—one that evokes the spirit of winter in the mountains—and wrote it in the middle of July.

“The album consists of songs that we’ve collected over the years; songs that we’ve been playing once a year for about a month. These were songs that we always wanted to put on a Christmas album. We wanted it to have a little bit of a winter-y feel and not totally all Christmas music. It’s about half and half.”

According to the Smiths, An Appalachian Winter might well become their most popular album. In less than two weeks, the couple had to double up on their initial printing of 1,000 CDs and the initial reviews of the disc are universally positive.

“Steve and Ruth Smith have been playing together for over 30 years, and their marriage of hammered dulcimer and guitar creates magical results,” wrote the reviewer for ChristmasReviews.com. “(The album) features gorgeously interwoven, homespun instrumentals, providing beautiful organic colors and earthy textures, lightly tossed with Celtic flourishes.”

The Smiths’ first album, An Appalachian Aire, recently entered the Top 40 list of best-selling Celtic Folk albums on CD Baby. It is now ranked 39 in cumulative sales out of more than 60,000 titles. The couple’s 2007 album, Dancing ‘Cross the Strings, has been featured on National Public Radio and XM Satellite Radio, as well as on Celtic Radio, Highlander Radio and Celtic Moon Online. Folk music magazine Dirty Linen called the album “absolutely magical.”

Kudos continue for the Smiths’ new album and Dulcimer Players News magazine featured the “An Appalachian Winter” as the lead-off track on their most recent sampler CD.

“We’re really excited,” said Ruth Smith. “CD Baby just picked the album as one of its ‘editor’s choice’ picks. It’s only been out for a couple of weeks but it really seems to be taking off.”

Copies of Steve and Ruth’s new holiday CD An Appalachian Winter are available in Boone at Cornerstone Books, Appalachian Music Shop, Appalachian State University Bookstore, Hands Gallery, at Boone Drug at New Market Center.

It is also available at all Mast General Store locations, Grandfather Mountain gift shop, Peaks of Otter Lodge and Restaurant in Bedford, VA, Parkway Craft Center at the Moses Cone Manor in Blowing Rock, the Orchard at Altapass in Little Switzerland, the Balsam Shop in Burnsville, the Dulcimer Shop in Blowing Rock, Main Street Gallery in Blowing Rock, Everything Scottish in Linville, Old Hampton Store and Village in Linville, the River House Inn in Grassy Creek, Anna Maria’s Gift Shop in West Jefferson, Cottage Craftsman in Bryson City, John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, and the Cave House Craft Shop and Guild in Abingdon, VA.

The album is also available nationally and internationally through Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Borders, as well as available in MP3 format downloads through www.cdbaby.com.