Single-Footing Horse

The Artist

Jake Blount is a banjo player, fiddler, singer and scholar whose work centers the Black and Indigenous roots of American string band music. Trained in ethnomusicology, he approaches old-time tunes as living history, often reviving songs from Black musicians whose contributions were sidelined as the genre became coded as white and rural. His sound pairs a deep respect for traditional repertoire with a willingness to reframe it, as on his Afrofuturist concept record The New Faith. As a Black, queer artist in a scene long associated with neither identity, he has become one of the most important voices reshaping how folk music tells its own story. Single-Footing Horse finds him in conversation with the core fiddle and banjo tradition that grounds all of his work.

The Album

Single-Footing Horse draws on the old-time canon, mixing instrumental tunes with sung ballads, blues and gospel. The tracklist moves between dance tunes like "Snowshoe" and "Biddy," well-traveled songs like "Shady Grove" and "Stagger Lee," and spiritual material such as "Working on a Building." The arrangements lean acoustic and close to the bone, keeping the focus on the interplay of strings and voice. The title track borrows its name from a smooth, four-beat horse gait, a fitting image for music built on steady, rolling pulse. Thematically, the album is about lineage: who played these tunes, who got remembered, and how a tradition keeps moving forward.

Listen For

The pulse underneath. On "Single-Footing Horse," pay attention to how the rhythm rolls rather than drives. Think about how that steady gait mirrors the title's image.

Tune versus song. Notice how the album trades instrumental tunes for vocal numbers. Listen for how the mood shifts when Blount's voice enters after a run of fiddle and banjo.

An old murder ballad. "Stagger Lee" tells one of America's most retold stories of violence and pride. Consider how this version frames its central figure: as outlaw, legend, or warning.

Humor in the tradition. "Pork Fat Makes My Chicken Tan" brings a wink to the record. Notice how lighthearted material sits beside heavier blues and ballads.

From the dance floor to the church. Trace the thread connecting "Working on a Building" to the closer, "When The Angels Call My Name." Listen for how sacred themes bookend the record's back half.