I still recall those days in the 1970s when Greg Clarke was a solid cornerstone in Dr. Corn's Bluegrass Remedy, a band based in Portland, Or. At the time, he provided solid banjo and mandolin contributions to their hard-driving sound. Now, his long overdue solo debut album captures the eclectic versatility of this multi-instrumentalist and singer whose roots are deep in both bluegrass and old-time music. Clarke plays mandolin, fretless banjo, fiddle and guitar. There's no question that recording or performing as a soloist requires a fair amount of chutzpah. Greg rises to the challenge, and his courageous selections include 15 tracks, about a third of which are presented just as instrumentals on either mandolin or fiddle. 

When singing, Greg's strings of choice for accompaniment appear to be his fretless banjo. "Tough Luck," "Black Jack David," and "Whiskey Seller" are examples of this. To record the former, a song from Tom Ashley, Clarke restrung the banjo with heavy strings and tuned the instrument to a D-tuning. "Black Jack David" is a well-known ballad with many forms. Clarke prefers the one from The Carter Family. "Whiskey Seller" was learned from an album put out by Tom Paley and The New Lost City Ramblers. His second choice of instrument for accompanying his singing is guitar. "Days of my Childhood Plays" and "The Baltimore Fire" were learned from Mike Seeger and Charlie Poole, respectively. The sole offering that includes fiddle and vocalizing is the medley of "Wild Rose of the Mountain" and "Little Rabbit." 

All songs on the 44-minute CD include: 1. Georgie Buck / Skillet Good and Greasy, 2. Wild Rose of the Mountain / Little Rabbit, 3. Lady Hamilton / Big Footed Man in a Sandy Lot, 4. Days of My Childhood Plays, 5. The Cuckoo, 6. Fontaine's Ferry / Stranger on a Mule, 7. Tough Luck, 8. Monkey on a Dog Cart, 9. Spring of '65 / Molly's Tune, 10. The Baltimore Fire, 11. Black Jack David, 12. Sally Ann Johnson / Rocky Mountain, 13. Whiskey Seller, 14. Old Ebenezer Scrooge, 15. My Clinch Mountain Home 

 A Portland native, Clarke started playing old-time and bluegrass music in the early 1960s. He is very proficient on many instruments, and he has a solid and entertaining repertoire under his belt. Besides playing solo, he plays in duo (Sammons and Clarke) and trio configurations (The Greg Clarke Trio). He's a dedicated song-carrier who is helping to keep this style of music vibrant and alive in the Northwest. (Joe Ross)