Bang On A Can All-Stars: Ashley Bathgate – cello Robert Black – bass Vicky Chow – piano, melodica David Cossin – drums and percussion Mark Stewart – electric guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer, jaw harp, harmonica, clogging, humming Evan Ziporyn – clarinets, harmonica, whistling, humming Trio Mediæval: Anna Maria Friman Linn Andrea Fuglseth Torunn Østrem Ossum Inspired by her love for the music and lore of Appalachia, Julia Wolfe based her text for Steel Hammer (called a “wild hybrid” by the New York Times) on over 200 versions of the “John Henry” ballad, which has been recorded by everyone from Johnny Cash to Bruce Springsteen. A runner-up for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Steel Hammer features the alternately haunting and whimsical vocalizations of Norway’s renowned Trio Mediaeval, and stretches the standard instrumentation of the Bang on a Can All-Stars with wooden bones, mountain dulcimer, banjo, clapping, clogging and more.