Refugee

Back with their first new music since this summer’s Resilience album, Unspoken Tradition is,
like their western North Carolina home, not finished with the turmoil of hurricane Helene, nor
with the bigger trends that have shaped its mountain communities. That unfinished business
finds reflection in “Refugee” (Mountain Home Music Company).
“What makes this song special is that it challenges us as listeners to meet in the middle,” says
singer-guitarist Audie McGinniss. “People from all walks of life are feeling that something isn’t
right with society and the governing of it. It’s bigger than politics. Way too many of us strove for
excellence just to become a cog in a wheel. In addition to that, I think people across the country,
but especially those in western North Carolina and broader Appalachia, know that when we
need them most, the cavalry isn’t coming. At least not as fast or as effectively as our tax
contributions would have us believe. In fact, many of us often feel forgotten altogether. And in
the worst cases, it doesn’t even take a hurricane, floods, or wildfires to make it so.
“This song is about the hard lessons we’ve learned over months, years, decades, and
generations,” he continues. “But the hope is found when we realize this song is about all of us.
We may have all approached from different paths, but we’re all here. Scanning our barcodes.
Walking down the line. Now we’ve got to lay down our differences and focus on our common
concern: the plight of the common, working men and women out there who invested in a dream
that left them behind.”
With its swirling signature instrumental theme and distinctive vocal arrangement, “Refugee”
embeds its message in classic bluegrass style, with harmony singers Sav Sankaran (upright
bass) and Tim Gardner (fiddle) framing McGinnis’s strong lead while mandolinist Ty Gilpin and
banjo player Zane McGinnis fill in around the lyric’s defiant chorus:
To think they’ve got the power to say I can’t exist
We are way beyond the hour, to show we can resist
Their gold and silver dollars never trickle to the holler
Or the beggar on these busy city streets
Notes McGinnis, “Aaron Bibelhauser also wrote ‘Irons in the Fire,’ which appeared on our
Imaginary Lines album. I’d encourage everyone to listen to these two songs together. Through
the struggle, there is always hope. Now more than ever, we have to find that hope in each
other.”