Hell On The Potomac is about Jason Schaeffer and Todd Shipley’s death and part of the inspiration of the song is rooted deep in the WV fiddle music lore spanning back to the civil war.
Israel Welch, born in 1911, was a fiddler from rural Mineral County (the same county Jason and Todd lived in and the place I call home). Like all amazing fiddlers, Israel probably knew how to play every fiddle song there is three different ways. And like all amazing fiddlers he had his favorites. His album “Tearin’ Down the Laurel” has twenty-five of his favorites. Among those twenty-five is Hell On The Potomac. The notes for that specific song say “Learned from Mosby Rogers. This is probably of Civil War origin.” I’ve listened to this song a thousand times over the last several decades.
Sitting outside staring at the Potomac River during the height of the 2020 pandemic, my mind wondered back to Jason and Todd’s death. Then I thought of Israel’s fiddle tune. This tune doesn’t have any lyrics. If it ever did, they are lost to history. All that remains is a wonderful melody of Appalachian notes. Anyhow, I felt inspired. I grabbed my guitar and wrote the chorus and first verse of my Hell On The Potomac. Over the next year, I came up with 6 more verses. The melody in my version in no way resembles Israel’s song. But man, am I ever thankful for Israel’s inspiration.
Then in 2021, I was taking some fiddle lessons from Ben Townsend. I mentioned a few songs I had written and shared my Hell On The Potomac with him. Ben is a WV fiddle historian and plays outstanding versions of Israel’s songs. I was surprised and humbled by how much Ben liked my song. We began working on the song together. Ben helped cut it down to four verses to keep the story tight and added a lot of other details that really made the song what it is today. It was sooooo much fun to collaborate with him. Candidly, it was also a little intimidating. Ben is just an outstanding multi-instrumentalist, producer, and performer. To his ever-living credit, he made me feel completely worthy of working with him. I am forever grateful for this outstanding act of grace. Click on the picture below to see Ben playing Israel's Hell On The Potomac.
Then we took the song into the studio, added a couple professional touches from Parker Schrecengost’s drums and William Bower’s lead guitar. Ben’s banjo and fiddle really help the song pop and keep it steeped in the Appalachian tradition. Although the song does not have Israel’s melody, it was important to us that it highlighted the instruments that Israel played.
So that’s the back story to making the song. It may be the most important piece of art I will ever be part of creating. It encompasses so much of who I am. My love of traditional music, collaboration with friends who stretch me out of my comfort zone, giving voice to the area I am from and the people I love, and honoring two dear friends who tragically died entirely too early.
Please check the song out wherever you stream your music. Here's a link to it on Spotify.
Check out the music video I made on YouTube.
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Please share this song with all your friends. I want the entire world to know about Jason, Todd, and the town of Ridgeley