The Freight Hoppers

Lore & Background

The Freight Hoppers were featured on Garrison Keillor's nationally syndicated radio show A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio in 1996, winning second place in the show's Talent from Towns Under 2000 contest. They recorded two albums on Rounder Records: 'Where'd you come from, Where'd you go?' (1997) and 'Waiting on the Gravy Train' (1999). Their first album was 'Going Down The Track With A Chicken On My Back', released in 1994.

The band reformed in 2007 after a five-year hiatus during which fiddler David Bass underwent heart transplant surgery. Their fourth album is 'Mile Marker', released in 2009. The band's discography also includes 'The Freight Hoppers: Where'd You Come From Where'd You Go?' (Rounder Records, 1997) and 'The Freight Hoppers: Waiting on the Gravy Train' (Rounder Records, 1999).

Reader's Guide

The Freight Hoppers are significant as an old time string band that revived and preserved rural southern music from the late 1920s and early 1930s, drawing from a geographic range from Mississippi to West Virginia. Their appearance on A Prairie Home Companion in 1996 brought them national attention, and their recordings on Rounder Records helped solidify their place in the old time music revival. The band's hiatus due to fiddler David Bass's heart transplant and subsequent reformation in 2007 highlights the personal challenges faced by musicians in the genre. Their legacy includes a body of work that spans from their 1995 debut to their 2010 album 'Mile Marker', reflecting a continued commitment to traditional string band music.

Did You Know?

• The Freight Hoppers formed in 1992.
• They won second place in A Prairie Home Companion's Talent from Towns Under 2000 contest in 1996.
• Fiddler David Bass underwent heart transplant surgery during the band's five-year hiatus.
• Their first album was 'Going Down The Track With A Chicken On My Back', released in 1994.

Roots & Musical Identity

The Freight Hoppers emerged in 1992 as an American old time string band anchored in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Their musical compass reaches back to recordings made in the late 1920s and early 1930s, pulling from a wide swath of rural southern tradition that stretches geographically from Mississippi all the way to West Virginia. Rather than confining themselves to a single regional style, the group treats the entire rural South as a single wellspring of inspiration, weaving together fiddle tunes, string band arrangements, and the broader old-time sound that defined those early decades of recorded music. Their base in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina gives the ensemble a natural home within the very landscape where much of that heritage was born, and their commitment to preserving and performing that material places them squarely in the lineage of traditional southern string bands.

National Recognition & Competitive Success

The Freight Hoppers first captured a national audience in 1996 when they appeared on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, the nationally syndicated radio program broadcast on NPR. Their performance earned them second place in the show's Talent from Towns Under 2000 contest, a distinction that highlighted both the band's skill and the small-community origins that characterize much of old-time music. Beyond that radio exposure, fiddler David Bass built a reputation in the competitive old-time fiddle circuit, claiming second place in the Old-time Fiddlers Contest at the 2005 Galax Fiddler's Convention. These achievements underscore the band's standing within the traditional music community, where recognition often comes through live performance and peer-judged competition rather than mainstream media. The combination of a national radio feature and a top finish at one of the most prestigious fiddle contests in the country gave the Freight Hoppers credibility on both the popular and traditional sides of the old-time world.

Recording Career & Discography

Over the course of their career, the Freight Hoppers released four studio albums across three different labels. Their debut, Going Down The Track With A Chicken On My Back, came out in 1995 on the Yodel-Ay-Hee imprint. They then moved to Rounder Records for two consecutive releases: Where'd You Come From Where'd You Go? in 1996 and Waiting on the Gravy Train in 1998. After their hiatus and reformation, the group issued Mile Marker in 2010 on BTR Records. External references also note that the band signed with Roe Records at some point, suggesting additional recording activity beyond the four main albums. The progression from a small independent label to the well-known Rounder catalog and then to BTR Records reflects both the band's evolving career trajectory and the shifting landscape of old-time music distribution. Each album represents a distinct chapter in the group's story, from their early days of building a following to their post-reformation effort to re-establish their presence in the traditional music world.

Hiatus, Heart Surgery & Reformation

The most dramatic chapter in the Freight Hoppers' story unfolded during a five-year hiatus that interrupted what had been a steady creative run. The break was necessitated by a serious health crisis: fiddler David Bass required a heart transplant surgery. The gravity of his condition was significant enough that a FiddleAid Benefit was organized specifically to support his medical needs, an event documented on The Old-Time Herald website. This community rallying around one of the band's members speaks to the tight-knit nature of the old-time music world, where musicians and fans unite in times of personal crisis. After surviving the transplant and completing his recovery, Bass and his bandmates regrouped, and the Freight Hoppers officially reformed in 2007. Their return to the stage was followed by the 2010 release of Mile Marker, signaling that the group had not only survived a life-threatening ordeal but was ready to continue carrying forward the old-time string band tradition they had championed since 1992.

Gallery