The celebrated Traverse City mandolinist recently unveiled his long-planned, genre-melding recording, with several upcoming Michigan concerts to promote the release.
Classics Reimagined: Don Julin incorporates everything from jazz to R&B to rock into his latest recording. (Photo/Anna Sink)
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Trailblazing musician David Grisman played an influential role in shaping Traverse City mandolinist Don Julin’s latest, long-planned new studio album.
“One of my early mandolin heroes was David Grisman. In addition to being a great mandolin player, his music was a blend of bluegrass, jazz, rock, funk and Latin grooves arranged for and played on acoustic string instruments,” Julin said of the much-respected New Jersey musician who coined the phrase “Dawg music” for his mix of styles.
“I wanted to do a project that blends many of my favorite elements of music in the same way that he and his band did on the early David Grisman Quintet albums. I listen to and play a wide range of music, and it made sense to borrow elements from certain musical styles or genres and try to create something fresh.”
The new album
So, Julin’s “Fractured Fiddle Tunes” was born, an 11-song collection of “re-imagined traditional fiddle tunes” with which the northern Michigan musician has “taken liberties with melodies, harmonies, rhythms and forms to present them in a different light.”
Julin – whose impressive resume features work with guitarist Billy Strings, performing with bands such as Big Fun, The Ol’ Microtones and his own Don Julin Quartet, and teaching mandolin via workshops, lessons and his “Mandolins Heal the World” website – noted that mandolinists often begin their musical journey playing fiddle-based songs.
“They require proper left- and right-hand technique, are fun to play and sound great on the mandolin,” he said. “Every culture has its version of fiddle tunes.
“People sometimes think that fiddle tunes and bluegrass are the same thing, (but) the tunes themselves can be much older than bluegrass or come from regions of the world where bluegrass did not exist.”
The idea behind the album, he said, was “to apply jazz or classical composition techniques and Latin, rock and contemporary grooves to traditional public-domain melodies,” featuring acoustic strings and percussion.
So tracks such as “Twilight Anesthesia” found inspiration from the traditional song, “Soldier’s Joy,” with a swinging and smooth R&B groove augmenting the familiar melody.
LISTEN: Don Julin, “Twilight Anesthesia”
THE ALBUM’S ALL-STAR CAST & UPCOMING RELEASE SHOWS
The lengthy development of “Fractured Fiddle Tunes” began with Julin sketching out arrangements in 2020, followed by recording sessions in his basement Traverse City studio during the winters of 2021 and 2022. Eventually, overdubs, mixing and mastering took place in 2023, with the album released earlier this year. He staged a release show at The Alluvion in Traverse City in late October.
“The record-release show was great,” Julin remarked. “We are so lucky to have The Alluvion in my hometown. It is a great listening room, especially for acoustic music.”
The album features a host of well-known northern Michigan musicians, including the core group of Julin on mandolin, Kevin Gills on bass, Joe Wilson on Dobro and Will Harris on percussion. Guitarists Ron Getz and Brian “Roscoe” White, and fiddler John Mailander added their talents as special guests.
Teacher, Player, Collaborator: Julin (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Julin plans several more shows to promote the new album with bassist Tom Knific, guitarist Hayes Griffin and Dorbroist Joe Wilson. That includes concerts on Nov. 14 at Lansing’s Robin Theatre, Nov. 15 for the Riverdog Concert Series outside Oberlin, Ohio, Nov. 16 at Guitar Haven in Grand Haven, and finally, a house concert on Nov. 17 in Northport. Get ticket links online here.
Beyond that and regular performances with keyboardist Jeff Haas’ Big Fun band, Julin devotes most of his time to the online mandolin instruction site, Mandolins Heal the World.
“I love what has happened to the online teaching world in the last few years. It is easier and more effective than ever,” he said.
“Between live teleconferencing and pre-recording courses, this is the best time in history to learn music from your heroes. With modern technology, I can teach hundreds of mandolin students from around the globe from the comfort of my basement studio.”
He’s also thrilled to be part of a vibrant Traverse City music scene, one that’s enhanced by the jazz and classical influence of the nearby Interlochen Arts Academy, as well as Traverse City’s much-respected public school music programs.
“Live music has always been part of its social fabric. When I was starting out, there were at least six places with dance floors, not counting the country places, where you could see live bands many nights of the week,” he recalled.
“As Traverse City has become a foodie town, there seem to be endless places for the acoustic guitar-singer act to play. … There is no denying that something is in the water up here.”
LISTEN: Don Julin, “The Waterfall is Gone”
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