Guitarist Joe Harris and mandolin player Kid West, a pair of Louisiana musicians best known for a group of 11 tracks (including two takes of the elegant Railroad Rag) they recorded on October 9, 1940, in Shreveport, LA, for the Library of Congress Folk Archives project, had an uncommon and fluid sound that straddled the line between blues, string band dance tunes, and rags. Their solid musicianship is everywhere evident on the tracks for the Library of Congress, as well as on the earlier string band sides they cut with Oscar Buddy Woods under the name the Wampus Cats in 1937. Unfortunately, Harris and West vanish from the public record after the 1940 sessions, although it is assumed they both remained in the Shreveport area. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi