I remember the first time I heard J.P. Nestors recording of Train On the Island. I was working for a rather large music distribution company in Atlanta, Georgia & on a whim I opened up a County Records CD called Rural String Band of Virginia. I had heard music like this before, but never really paid much attention to it. Well, this CD was probably the closest thing to a Eureka moment Ill ever experience. From the very first archaic banjo notes of the tune, my musical taste had forever changed.
Soon after, I developed an actual hunger for this music & began to listen, read and buy everything I could get my hands on. My taste grew to include all styles of vintage recordings including Delta Blues, Hot Jazz, Klezmer, Cajun, Gospel, Yodeling Cowboy County, Western Swing & even some Big Band and Popular music.
Working in distribution, I had access to catalogs from many of the other major & independent distributors around the country & in 1997 I began to compile a catalog of all the available music CDs that were recorded previous to 1950. With the popularization of television and rock & roll, the Big Band era ended in the mid-50s (though some would argue that it ended much earlier). This was also the beginning of the folk revival with which many earlier artists were rediscovered & revived their recording careers. Because of this, we also selectively list and carry many titles recorded post 1950. A year later, the catalog was really taking shape & I officially began the first Venerable Music website.
In 2002, we started the new Venerable Music website including more information on artists, song titles, music clips & all in a searchable database format. I also began the task of cataloging available early film releases, documentaries & books. I am a long way from completing these formats, but all in all, the site is a great resource for vintage music & film enthusiast.
Im also the banjo player for the Athens/Atlanta band Brodie Stove & Id love to meet any other musicians or collectors in the area. Drop me a line.
Malcolm Vidrine