| The Goat Rodeo Sessions | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 24, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | June 12–15, August 8–12, 2011 The Barn | |||
| Genre | Bluegrass, classical | |||
| Length | 57:18 | |||
| Label | Sony Masterworks | |||
| Yo-Yo Ma,Stuart Duncan,Edgar Meyer,Chris Thile chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a 2011 collaborative album byStuart Duncan,Yo-Yo Ma,Edgar Meyer andChris Thile, featuringAoife O'Donovan. The album won the 2013Grammy Award for Best Folk Album and theGrammy for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Meyer previously collaborated with Ma onAppalachia Waltz andAppalachian Journey, and with Thile onEdgar Meyer and Chris Thile. In 2008, Meyer and Thile played on Ma'sSongs of Joy and Peace and the three discussed a future collaboration. Along with Duncan, they held their first rehearsal at Ma's house.[2] The compositions are credited to Meyer, Thile, and Duncan—with "Here and Heaven" co-written withAoife O'Donovan.[3]
The termgoat rodeo refers to a chaotic event where many things must go right for the situation to work, a reference to the unusual and challenging aspects of blending classical and bluegrass music. Yo-Yo Ma described a goat rodeo, saying: "If there were forks in the road and each time there was a fork, the right decision was made, then you get to a goat rodeo."[4]
On January 31, 2012, Ma, Meyer, Thile, Duncan, and O'Donovan played their first public concert at theHouse of Blues inBoston, presented by theCelebrity Series of Boston. The show was streamed in real time to movie theaters in the United States. In addition to songs from the album, they playedJohann Sebastian Bach'sGamba Sonata Number 1 Movement 4,Fiddle Medley, andAll Through The Night. They released part of the concert as anEP,The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live from the House of Blues, on February 7, 2012. A DVD of the concert,The Goat Rodeo Sessions Live, was released on May 29, 2012.
According to Stuart Duncan, the piece "13:8" isn't a reference to time signature, but rather to the Bible verseHebrews 13:8. At a concert at Tanglewood on August 15, 2013, Duncan told a story about an airline pilot who, every time he was given his dinner by the flight attendant, said, "Hebrews 13:8". He finally looked it up and learned that the Bible verse read: "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow." He said that that was the basis for the title, and that music students are wasting their time looking for that time signature within the piece.
Two bonus tracks,Mostly Six Eight andParallax, were released as a single,More from the Goat Rodeo Sessions, on February 29, 2012.
The album debuted at number one on theBillboard Classical, Classical Crossover, and Bluegrass charts[5][6] and reached number eighteen on theBillboard 200.[7] It has sold 160,000 copies in the United States.[needs update][8]
On February 10, 2013, the album won theGrammy Award for Best Folk Album and theGrammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.[9]
In August 2019, Meyer shared photographs on social media of the group, including O'Donovan, in studio recording new material.[10] On June 19, 2020, the group released a second album, entitledNot Our First Goat Rodeo.[11]
All tracks are written byStuart Duncan,Edgar Meyer, andChris Thile except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Attaboy" | 5:42 | |
| 2. | "Quarter Chicken Dark" | 4:47 | |
| 3. | "Helping Hand" | 4:32 | |
| 4. | "Where's My Bow?" | 5:29 | |
| 5. | "Here and Heaven" | Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer,Aoife O'Donovan, Chris Thile | 3:53 |
| 6. | "Franz and the Eagle" | 6:53 | |
| 7. | "Less Is Moi" | 7:27 | |
| 8. | "Hill Justice" | 4:29 | |
| 9. | "No One But You" | 3:54 | |
| 10. | "13:8" | 5:54 | |
| 11. | "Goat Rodeo" | 4:18 |
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