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Formosa Medicine Show

by The Muddy Basin Ramblers

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Nominated for Best Packaging at the 2015 Grammy Awards. CD comes in a 7" x 7" card sleeve, with printed lyrics and notes (in English with Mandarin Chinese translations). Design and Artwork by Onion Design Associates, Taipei, Taiwan

    CDs will be sent registered mail (Chunghwa Post) with a tracking number. Shipping times: 10-14 days to most places.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Formosa Medicine Show via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

1.
2.
3.
China Doll 04:38
4.
Banana-Nap 03:56
5.
Mysterioso 03:17
6.
7.
Running Wild 02:58
8.
9.
Free China 02:40
10.
11.
Typhoon Sue 02:53
12.
13.
14.
Okinawa Mama 04:55
15.
16.
17.
18.
Juanita 04:10
19.
20.
21.
22.
Tanglefoot 01:50
23.
Green River 07:43

about

ABOUT "FORMOSA MEDICINE SHOW"

We adore the Memphis Jug Band, Gus Cannon, Clarence Williams, among many of the pre-war blues/skiffle/trad. jazz greats. But instead of re-hashing and re-interpreting their songs, we wanted to try something new with this recording, made in 2013.

We came up with a bunch of original tunes in the style of those artists, asking ourselves questions like: What if jug band stalwarts Will Shade and Charlie Burse had wound up on Formosa during the Great War? What if John Henry's grandson had fought the Japanese in Okinawa? Did American GIs stationed on "Free China" chew Betel Nut? What would the world do without good corn liquor?

In conjuring up with these original songs, bandleader/jug band conductor David Chen read up on medicine show history to get a sense of the world that Shade, Burse, and Cannon came from as performers. That led to stories of American jazz musicians who toured Asia and the subcontinent; a huckster white woman from St Louis who dressed in "yellowface," claiming to be Chinese to help her sell fake healing potions and support her opium addiction; an African-American slave on a seafaring trip to the South China Seas in the late 1800s; a Filipino fisherman from a village in Louisiana that got swallowed up by a swamp in during the 19th century...just to name a few tales.

We kicked up some dust and woke up a few ghosts while recording all this. If you think you hear one in any of these songs, we wouldn't call you crazy. In any case, we hope there's something here "to cure what ails you."

-The Ramblers

credits

released November 1, 2013

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about

The Muddy Basin Ramblers Taipei, Taiwan

Hello! We're Formosa's Favorite Hepcats, playing jug band, blues, string band and swing jazz...and original music inspired by all of the above. Founded in 2003 by US/UK expats living in Taipei,Taiwan. 大家好!我們是泥灘地浪人!

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