Cort Armstrong
“This folks is one Appalachian hoedown that leaves no roots of American music unturned.”
Pretty deep into a life of many musical passions, from bluegrass and country blues to the Grateful Dead, Cort Armstrong has never felt comfortable staying in one musical place too long. That “musical hobo” mentality has led him, like many before him, to a sound all his own. The songbag has gotten heavier over the years, with songs from as close as his own imagination, and as far as West Africa. His guitar picking has polished and mellowed. His singing draws from a deeper part of his soul.
“… (a) treasure chest of acoustic American roots music.”
As a man with no musical genre to call his own, Armstrong reaches far and wide for inspiration, carrying the torch of the songster tradition. In this tradition, picking and singing serve the songs, instead of the other way around. Instead of impressing audiences, the songster in Armstrong seeks to move them… laughing, crying and dancing are what it’s all about!
Writing about Armstrong’s solo collection of original songs, Devon Leger of Hearth Music describes his music as “...that of a true ‘songster’. His music carries influences of country blues, fiddle tunes, square dances, honky-tonks; anything that shook the floors of old mountain grange halls and parties. Every song on his solo CD, Chicken Pickin’, was written by Cort, yet these songs sound as old as the hills that inspired them.”
