who is Hog-eyed man?

There is a conscious sense of playing music that means something, of playing it in ways that honour the tradition and those from whom the tunes are handed down.  At the same time, these are musicians who bring qualities of their own, reflecting their own engagement with what they're playing and infusing the tunes with character that brings out their life and soul.

- Ray Templeton, Musical Traditions.

Rob & Jason, Athens, GA 2015. Photo: Amy Heaton

Hog-eyed Man is an Athens-based acoustic band comprised of fiddler Jason Cade and multi-instrumentalist Rob McMaken. Drawing primarily on the archaic tunes and pre-radio aesthetics of Southern Appalachian fiddling traditions, Jason and Rob have forged a compelling and authentic style of oldtime music, both reflecting deep respect for the past masters and carrying the musical conversation forward to the present era. Their live performances, though rare, have garnered loyal friends and fans at venues and festivals throughout the United States, and they have released five official albums charting their unique path in American traditional music.

As a youngster, Jason Cade began learning rare tunes and an older style of playing from master fiddler and tune-catcher Bruce Greene, his neighbor growing up in the South Toe Valley of Yancey County, NC. Jason’s oldtime music is also heavily influenced by his mother’s fiddle teacher, the late Byard Ray of Madison County, NC, and the field recordings of the tremendous musicians who once lived in the Blue Ridge Mountain region of western NC, eastern TN, and north Georgia. He has lived in Ireland and NYC, and toured and recorded with celtic, country, and bluegrass bands, but his heart has always remained with the traditional music of his NC homeland. In 2016, Jason won the prestigious fiddle contest at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, WV, and he has also placed first in contests in Georgia and Florida.

North Georgia native Rob McMaken honed his tune chops busking in New Orleans. He has developed a tasteful and exciting accompaniment style on lap dulcimer, mandolin, guitar, and banjo-uke, effortlessly shifting between note-for-note melody, harmonic counterpoint, and rhythmic drones harkening back to the Old World. Before immersing himself in oldtime music, Rob traversed musical traditions from all over the world in the folk duo Dromedary and the jazz collective Kenosha Kid. 

Jason and Rob met in North Carolina in 2003 while recording on songwriter Jonathan Byrd’s celebrated album, The Sea and the Sky. A decade later, Jason moved his family to Athens, GA from Brooklyn, NY. Rob and Jason soon reconnected, and Hog-eyed Man was born. Together or with other bands they have performed at the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival, the Santa Barbara Old-Time Fiddlers Festival (twice), the Kennedy Center, Celtic Colours (Nova Scotia), Mountain Stage, the Kerrville Folk Festival, the Moab Folk Festival, the UGA Willson Center’s Humanities Festival, FSU’s Center for Music of the Americas, the Happy Valley Fiddlers Convention, Fiddlin’ Fest Between the Rivers, the North Georgia Folk Festival, the Bluff Mountain Festival (NC), and many other venues.

Jason & Bruce, Burnsville, NC 1987. Photo: Marilyn Cade

Rob, Athens, GA 2016. Photo: Jason Thrasher

Jason and Rob’s oldtime debut, Hog-eyed Man 1 (Yodel-Ay-Hee 090, 2014), was heralded as “simply wonderful, powerful and compelling”  (Bluegrass Unlimited), “absolutely cracking, one of the best albums of the year” (Blues Matters), “glorious” (The Living Tradition), “terrific, [with] incredible depth of feeling” (American Roots UK), "quite remarkable" (The Old-Time Herald), “a joy to listen to” (Musical Traditions), “a soulful celebration of a grand tradition” (Rambles), “[music that] will make you want to get up and dance” (Fiddler Magazine), and “as honest and direct a representation of music sourced from past generations of North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia fiddlers as one could wish for” (fRoots). More Reviews.

Hog-eyed Man 2 (Yodel-Ay-Hee 091, 2015) received similar praise. "A cracking selection of wonderful tunes, the disc showcases the remarkably wide emotional range of pre-stringband old-time music" (The Living Tradition). "Extremely well-played, pure fiddle joy," said Fiddler Magazine, and The Bluegrass Situation observed that the recording “reveals how much is at the core of the tradition." "As long as traditional music can be played with this degree of faithfulness to its origins, combined with a real sense of the modern musicians who are playing it, its future seems in very good hands” (Musical Traditions). 

After laying the groundwork for this exploration as a duo, Hog-eyed Man 3 (Yodel-Ay-Hee 104, 2016), took it up a notch by featuring special guests Beverly Smith (guitar, fiddle, singing) and John Grimm (banjo, fiddle). The album was called "a masterpiece" (Bluegrass Unlimited), "infused with an atmospheric and emotional richness of the sort that happens only when art and artist are in perfect alignment" (Rambles), and "full of strong playing and great taste" (Fiddler Magazine).

The band’s 2018 release, “Old World Music of the Southern Appalachians,” (Tiki Parlour Recordings), revealed “a captivating album of deep-vein Americana—gritty, emotionally rich, and timeless, … destined to become a classic!” (Folkworks). Reviewers called it a “creative breath of fresh air” (Paul Brown, Across the Blue Ridge) and “unceasingly enthralling” (Rambles), noting its “considerable appeal to anyone who values integrity and honest-to-goodness musicianship” (Living Tradition). Bluegrass Unlimited gave the album its “highest recommendation.”

“Kicked Up a Devil of a Row,” featuring David Bragger (guitar), Maxine Gerber (banjo), and Brendan Doyle (banjo), was released on the Old-Time Tiki Parlour label in July 2023 and is available for now from Tiki Parlour Recordings or our Bandcamp. Legendary WV fiddler Jimmy Triplett praised the album’s “heartfelt artistry in the oldest sounds of Appalachian music, and with room for creativity and brilliant inspiration."

More Reviews.

Regular collaborators with Hog-eyed Man include: Tom Baker of the Packway Handle Band, Charlie & Nancy Hartness of Hawk Proof Rooster, Maxine Gerber, Brendan Doyle, David Bragger, Beverly Smith, John Grimm, Paddy League, and, until his passing in 2022, the legendary Art Rosenbaum.

Jason uses and enthusiastically endorses D'Addario strings, which are featured on all of our recordings. Jason also loves his gourd fiddle made by Menzies Instruments.

For booking or other inquiries please message us through our public facebook.