The Origins of Chicken-Fried Possum
Welcome to Chicken-Fried Possum's online presence! This page is provided as both a source of historical information by the aforementioned musical group and a calendar of events for the current/coming year. It is anticipated very few will read its contents, but there you have it...
Introduction
The primary purpose of this page, as stated above, is two-fold: it provides the explanation of how the band members met and came to be "the Possum" and it provides information regarding the live shows that are scheduled around the town and county. As are current performance schedule has already been listed above, we may as well cover the history lesson - here goes...
One day in April, 2015, I was playing a benefit gig for the local women's shelter here in Brevard as part of the group The Celtic Conspiracy and after we were done and packed up the next performer began setting up. It was a banjo-player who was going to do a set by himself so I asked if he'd like someone to sit in with him for a few tunes and play guitar accompaniment to his banjo lead. He agreed that that would be a nice addition so we started comparing tunes that we might both know and decided we might be good for a few at least. Well, after about 10 I had to get home but we both had a great time and he asked if I wanted to do it again some time and I said, "Sure!" - and that's how I met Bradford Carson and we formed a loose musical partnership. It's lasted now for almost a full year and hasn't shown any signs of wear yet...
When the question came up about how we should be billed, I suggested the band name that my wife, Rocky, had suggested some time ago as an old-time/new-grass band name - Chicken-Fried Possum; and it stuck! At this point we'd like to extend a huge "Thank You!" to Heidi Witmer for taking our concept of a possible logo and turning it into the work of art you see above - job well done!!!
Well, kiddies, there you have it in a nutshell - the true, untold story of how the group met and how name came to be. Not too exciting, really, but factual, if nothing else...
We are currently working on our second CD, preliminarily titled Second Helping, and hope to have it available late this year. It looks like it will be much like the first CD but with some interesting additions in terms of musical content. No, there will be no orchestras or celebrity guest musicians, just straight-ahead duo "Modern Mountain Music"; we think you'll find it fun and enjoyable. More on this as it develops...
We had some T-shirts made to commemorate our first CD, Them's Good Eatin'!, and it seems that they have arrived before the first production run of the CD has! Well, the best laid plans of mice and men... and all that - it is what it is. These are quality T-shirts with the handsome logo on the front and simply the CD title on the back. Only a limited run of sizes M, L and XL was made so get your order in quickly (email address at bottom of this page) or catch us at our next local gig to get yours! Soon to be collectors' items (or not...) so hurry!!! A bargain at only $20. Yes, we still have a few in each size available!!!
And we're starting to get photos of the CFP T-shirts around the globe - here's one from Jonesboro, TN on Don Burger! Send us a photo of yours on the road!
Lately, we've been talking about how some samples of our playing might assist us in convincing club/pub owners that we might be a good fit for their patrons' listening enjoyment. To this end we've decided that we should put together a "sampler" of some of the tunes that give a good representation or cross-section of the types of music we currently play. So, at this point, we've decided that this CD might include some of the following tunes - give the clips a listen and let us know what you think!
Arkansas Traveler - Traditional Old-Time Tune"
Beaumont Rag - Traditional Old-Time Tune"
Carolina Spring - Original "modern mountain" banjo tune written by Bradford Carson
Cluck Old Hen - Traditional, old-time tune
Cold Frosty Morning - Traditional, old-time tune
Fly Around - Traditional Old-Time Tune"
Long Black Veil - Traditional folk song about love and loss - big time...
Myah & The Goose - Original "modern mountain" banjo tune written by Bradford Carson
Red-Haired Boy - Traditional Celtic and Old-Time Tune
The Road Back Home - Original "modern mountain" banjo tune written by Bradford Carson and John Rollins
Shenandoah Falls - Traditional, old-time fiddle tune
Snowdrop - Traditional, old-time banjo tune
Spotted Pony - Traditional Old-Time Tune"
Texas Gales - Traditional Old-Time Tune"
Walk In Peace - Original, modern mountain banjo tune written by Bradford Carson
Waynesboro - Traditional, old-time tune
Whiskey Before Breakfast - Traditional fiddle tune made famous on guitar by Doc Watson
Of course, this discussion led to the natural follow-on of "Hey! We've got almost enough tunes for a full CD - let's do that too!!". This led to our going ahead and recording some additional traditional tunes and originals in order to have at least 12 cuts on the CD (note - we ended up recording 16 tracks on the CD). Then came the time to pick a title for the CD (always a treat). We ended up with the working title of Them's Good Eatin'! and you can go there for the complete backstory, music clips and liner notes - we think it's worth the trip! We are in the final stages of the production run for the CD and, after catching and correcting a small error in the track listing, it should be available by the second week in July. In the mean-time, enjoy the sound clips above!!!
The following section contains some summary discussion/phoitos of the places we've played arount Transylvania County, here in western NC.
Final Thoughts
Just for yuks, here's a short video taken by our friend Tom McGow during a performance we did with some of our friends under
the band name of "The Flannel Pants" at the Phoenix Lounge here in Brevard.
Please remember that your comments and suggestions are always welcomed. We take requests; we won't promise to play them but we'll take them, none the less... Keep those electronic cards and letters comin', folks!
*8o)
Send comments to: CFPossum@musician.org 
Changes last made on: Tuesday, September 24, 2018 at 10:07pm