THE QUIET AMERICAN: Wild Bill Jones
THE QUIET AMERICAN
Wild Bill Jones
Aaron Keim
The Quiet American call their music old time folk music for modern times. There are many musicians who think they are presenting old-time music in an entirely new way but Aaron and Nicole Keim, who comprise The Quiet American, are much more successful than most. They tell the story of the universal bad boy Wild Bill Jones through a song cycle of 15 original and traditional tunes.
If you’ve heard the song, you recall that it tells the story of a love triangle among Bill Jones, the lovely Posey and the man who loves Posey and ultimately shoots Jones. The song mostly concerns this mysterious man who murders Wild Bill and the the consequences of his act.
The Keims flesh out the story with old-time tunes “Give the Fiddler a Dram” and “John Brown’s March,” some holiness music “Keys to the Kingdom” and “What are They Doing in Heaven Today,” a classic country duet “Free Little Bird” and even an instrumental by John Fahey.
What sets these arrangements apart is the imaginative use of instruments seldom heard on an old-time music recording. These include various percussion, string and keyboard instruments many of which were built by Aaron.
The Keims also add some lovely and timely originals to the story. “Apple in the Fall” describes the Posey as she matures at the age of fifteen. “Posey’s Song” more fully explains how her encounter with Jones began despite warnings of his ruthlessness and violence. The theme is reprised later on the CD as a field recording.
The duo The Quiet American has produced a complex and captivating recording of great beauty. I certainly will never listen to the tale of Wild Bill Jones in quite the same way.
— Tom Druckenmiller