Stitzenburg comes to Tennessee via the Omagh festival

Jürgen Biller

Steve Gulley and Rural Rhythm Records have jointly launched a new series of recordings called 'Wide Open at the Curve', designed to showcase deserving artists who are not yet prominent, with an emphasis on those from 'the heart of the mountains'.

Features on this series appeared on Cybergrass and the Prescription Bluegrass Blog earlier this month, and more recently on Bluegrass Today. Two tracks are now available as advance downloads from the album East Tennessee sunrise by banjoist Stuart Wyrick - and one of them is 'Stitzenburg breakdown'. Bluegrass fans in Ireland may recognise this as a composition by Jürgen Biller from Stuttgart, Germany, who has played it over here many times as a member of 4 Wheel Drive (NL/D/B).

Stuart heard Jürgen play the breakdown when both of them were taking part in the 2014 Bluegrass Music Festival at the Ulster American Folk Park at Omagh, Co. Tyrone, and he liked it so much he learned it and played it on his album. Jürgen is mentioned by name as the source of the tune in Cybergrass, Prescription Bluegrass, and the Rural Rhythm press release; there are no writer credits on the iTunes download page. The BIB hopes this particular 'rip roarin' banjo tune' gets due recognition as coming from 'the heart of the mountains' - between the Jura and the Black Forest, that is.