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Not Our First Goat Rodeo

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Not Our First Goat Rodeo
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 19, 2020
RecordedAugust 2019
GenreBluegrass, classical
Length44:53
LabelSony Masterworks
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile chronology
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
(2011)
Not Our First Goat Rodeo
(2020)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Not Our First Goat Rodeo is a 2020 collaborative album by Stuart Duncan, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile, featuring Aoife O'Donovan. It was released on June 19, 2020.[2]

Background

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On October 24, 2011, Stuart Duncan, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile (with Aoife O'Donovan) released their first album together, entitled The Goat Rodeo Sessions.[3][4] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Classical, Classical Crossover, and Bluegrass charts[2][5] and reached number eighteen on the Billboard 200.[6] It also won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album and the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical in 2013.[7]

The term goat rodeo refers to a chaotic event where many things must go right for the situation to work,[8] a reference to the unusual and challenging aspects of blending classical and bluegrass music. Ma described a goat rodeo thus: "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."[9]

Ma has stated in an interview that the group had the idea to make a second album in 2011, while recording The Goat Rodeo Sessions.[10] In August 2019, Meyer shared photographs on social media of the group, including O'Donovan, in studio recording new material.[11] On June 19 of the next year, this second album, Not Our First Goat Rodeo, was released.[2]

On September 1, 2020, a Tiny Desk Concerts was released by NPR in which the group performed three songs from the album. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the musicians each recorded themselves individually from home for the set.[12][13]

The album has received praise from reviewers, who have cited the group's virtuosity, chemistry, and ability to bend genres.

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile[1]

No.TitleLength
1."Your Coffee is a Disaster"4:40
2."Waltz Whitman"3:44
3."The Trappings (feat. Aoife O'Donovan)"3:39
4."Every Note a Pearl (feat. Aoife O'Donovan)"4:37
5."Not For Lack of Trying"5:09
6."Voila!"3:11
7."Scarcely Cricket"4:46
8."We Were Animals (feat. Aoife O'Donovan)"5:22
9."Nebbia"4:31
10."757 ml"5:08

Personnel

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The album features Stuart Duncan, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile on all 10 tracks. Aoife O'Donovan appears on 3 tracks as a featured vocalist.[14][15]

Reception

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Not Our First Goat Rodeo has been received well by reviewers. Catherine Nelson of The Strad praised the album's complexity and "sheer joyfulness of expression".[16] Writing for AllMusic, Matt Collar described the album as a "deeply engaging, often rapturous album that balances keen and studied musicality with an almost chaotic passion for group interplay".[17] Comparing the album to The Goat Rodeo Sessions, Justin Hiltner called Not Our First Goat Rodeo "more ornery, more confident, brash, and joyously off-kilter", and said that the ensemble "feels veteran" for a second album.[18]

The album also reached number one on the Billboard Classical, Classical Crossover, and Bluegrass charts.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b Not Our First Goat Rodeo – Stuart Duncan, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved September 1, 2020
  2. ^ a b c "Not His First Goat Rodeo: Chris Thile on Supergroup's Reunion & New Album". Atwood Magazine. August 24, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  3. ^ MASTERWORKS, SONY. "Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile Transcend Musical Boundaries and Create Organized Chaos in a Beautiful "Goat Rodeo"". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  4. ^ "The Goat Rodeo Sessions". www.amazon.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  5. ^ "Review: String quartet with Yo-Yo Ma wows again on 2nd album". WTOP. June 18, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Chris Thile". Billboard. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "WINNERS: 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards (2012)". The Recording Academy. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  8. ^ Ma, Yo-Yo; Duncan, Stuart; Meyer, Edgar; Thile, Chris (September 27, 2011). "Inside the Goat Rodeo Sessions". YouTube.
  9. ^ "Live on Soundcheck: The Goat Rodeo Sessions". November 11, 2011.
  10. ^ "Yo-Yo Ma: Goats, Rodeos And The Power Of Music". NPR.org. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  11. ^ "Edgar Meyer". www.facebook.com. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer And Chris Thile: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert". NPR.org. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "Goat Rodeo Featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile & More Perform NPR Music 'Tiny Desk (Home) Concert'". JamBase. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "Not Our First Goat Rodeo". www.amazon.com. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  15. ^ "Not Our First Goat Rodeo – Credits".
  16. ^ Nelson, Catherine (June 23, 2020). "Yo-Yo Ma et al: Not Our First Goat Rodeo". The Strad. September 2020.
  17. ^ Collar, Matt. "Not Our First Goat Rodeo – AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  18. ^ "Not Our First Goat Rodeo, "Voila!"". The Bluegrass Situation. June 23, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.