Stillness at Appomattox

Kevin Slick and Annie Savage collaborate on their original songs in many ways. Sometimes one person writes most of the melody while the other adapts, prompts or suggests. In this case Kevin wrote the A part and Annie wrote the B part of the melody. The title comes from a classic book on the final year of the Civil War by Bruce Catton. Living in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, you can't escape the history of that war and so while the tune was not written with that history in mind, the title did seem to reflect the melancholy nature of the melody. This tune is a part of an EP which will be released later this spring where Annie and Kevin compose brand new old time music.
The process is summed up by Kevin; "We are trying to write compelling melodies that are unique and can easily be recognized, hummed or played along with. While some writers of instrumental music strive for complexity and showing off the instrumental pyrotechnics of the the players, these tunes strive for simplicity in the style of classic old time tunes like "Angeline the Baker" or "Soldier's Joy" .