Inspired by her love for the music and lore of Appalachia, Julia Wolfe based her text for Steel Hammer (called a “wild hybrid” by the New York Times) on over 200 versions of the “John Henry” ballad, which has been recorded by everyone from Johnny Cash to Bruce Springsteen. A runner-up for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Steel Hammer features the alternately haunting and whimsical vocalizations of Norway’s renowned Trio Mediaeval, and stretches the standard instrumentation of the Bang on a Can All-Stars with wooden bones, mountain dulcimer, banjo, clapping, clogging and more.
Bang on a Can All-Stars
- Vicky Chow – piano
- David Cossin – percussion
- Arlen Hlusko – cello
- Tristan Kasten-Krause – bass
- Taylor Levine – guitar
- Ken Thomson – clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone
- Andrew Cotton – sound engineer
Trio Mediæval:
- Anna Maria Friman-Henriksen
- Linn Andrea Fuglseth
- Jorunn Lovise Husan