Roochie Toochie and the Ragtime Shepherd Kings

We've covered a number of artists in the last several years who have recorded to wax cylinder, usually under the guiding eye of Colin Hancock. A number of others have dusted off 1940s equipment to cut 78s with all the fidelity of those peeling home acetate recordings of the period. Many others record to one vintage microphone, with the band recreating the positioning of their forebears as if around a recording horn, and many if not most attempt to utilize vintage instruments or equipment at least some of the time. That is all to say, these days all the kids are doing it. But of course someone had to be ahead of the pack and I think I've found a contender for first mover. Roochie Toochie and the Ragtime Shepherd Kings were formed in 2013 with the express mission of recording an album to "Honest-To-Goodness" wax cylinder. The band has been busy since last summer on what they call their "Maine Songs Tour" which brought them across New England and into far northern New York, which is how I became aware of them. An attendee at their Mace Chasm Farm show in Keesville, NY sent me their CD. Their brand of revival vaudeville found an enthusiastic audience across rural New England among hipsters and townies alike. This is a tight knit region that held onto the tradition of community minstrel shows, at least in modified form, decades longer than you might think possible, into the 2010s at