From a Heritage Tree

Like so many recent releases, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Daniel Sherrill’s From a Heritage Tree owes its existence, at least in part, to COVID-19. When some local fans in Ashland, Oregon, used their stimulus money (issued to US citizens by the federal government to ease the economic strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic) to commission a custom banjo, which they presented to him, Sherrill was inspired to record this collection of nine sublimely beautiful traditional songs.

The distinctively warm yet crisp tone of Sherrill’s banjo, which imbues age-old material, such as ‘Frosty Morning’, ‘Cumberland Gap’ and ‘Billy in the Lowground’, with reconstituted vigour and emotive power, stems from the instrument’s design and materials. Renowned luthier Chuck Waldman sourced the wood for the rim and certain accent pieces of Sherrill’s open back, chromatic banjo from a 275-year-old claro walnut tree, which in 1992 was designated a ‘heritage tree’ by the state of Oregon (hence, the album’s title). The mill that processed the tree, which fell naturally during a storm, published a statement declaring that the wood ‘deserves to be… given a place in Oregon’s history.’ It’s hard to imagine a more fitting fulfilment of that suggestion than in the service of such magnificently rendered music.