Orange Blossom Breakdown Audio Single Premiere

Mike Compton - Videos & Lyrics

Mike Compton

The first singles release, "Orange Blossom Breakdown" from the new cd project by Mike Compton, "RARE & FINE-UNCOMMON TUNES OF BILL MONROE". (Release date 03/04/22)
Mandolin: Mike Compton
Fiddles: Michael Cleveland, Laura Orshaw, Shad Cobb
Guitar: Jeremy Stephens
Banjo: Russ Carson
Bass: Mike Bub
Recorded at the Cowboy Arms Hotel & Recording Spa in Nashville, TN.

Mike Compton is proud to announce his new single release, “Orange Blossom Breakdown”. This is the first release from 13 rarely heard and unreleased Bill Monroe tunes (‘the secret lost tapes), that Compton compiled into a spectacular album RARE & FINE - UNCOMMON TUNES OF BILL MONROE releasing March 4, 2022.

Compton had some old tapes from Bill Monroe floating around for years and most of these songs weren’t even written down anywhere. “It didn’t really become important to do a project of them until probably the last half of dozen years of so. I got to thinking there needs to be some record of them because people are forgetting about them and there are new generations of people coming along that have never heard of these songs because they had never been recorded. I think they are an important part of Monroe’s legacy,” Compton explained.

Musicians on “Orange Blossom Breakdown” include: Mike Compton-mandolin; Michael Cleveland, Laura Orshaw, and Shad Cobb on fiddle; Jeremy Stephens on guitar; Russ Carson on banjo; and Mike Bub on bass.

“Orange Blossom Breakdown” was sourced from a rough sounding tape likely made by a fan off the radio of Monroe playing the Grand Ole Opry in the 1940’s. “I was drawn to it because I’ve never heard him do anything quite like it, and I’ve never heard it since,” Compton says. “It’s a very unusual arrangement for Monroe. It had to be on the project. Monroe must’ve been rarin’ to go because the tune starts in a New York second after that, off a’running about 175bpm. I can’t think of one other tune out of all the instrumentals Monroe put together that has the same chord progression as this one, much less the bit of acrobatics on the third part. It’s just a good solid breakdown that is deceivingly hard to play for yours truly…but it’s not really that much different from the rest of Bill’s body of work, come to think of it.”

As Compton reflects, the entire project has been a labor of love dedicated to the memory and legacy of Monroe. “Trying to play his music has altered the way I lived my life, and I wanted to give back to him and make sure this music never got lost.”

www.mikecompton.net to purchase single or complete album.

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