Effigy Records is a US–based independent music label showcasing a diverse international cast. We are committed to forging creative bonds, challenging genres and the furtherance of cultural dialogue.

Our flagship projects, Jadoo and Cedar Hill Refugees, meld the traditions of Uzbekistan, Turkey and the United States into a transcendent and singular synthesis that is at once familiar and exotic.

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JADOO

In 2004, Jack Clift travelled to Uzbekistan on a quest to explore the musical heart of the ancient Silk Road from a modern global perspective. He ventured into tradition-rich Fergana Valley, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khorezm recording and fraternizing with regional talent, but it was in Tashkent where Clift assembled the master musicians who would come to form the core of Jadoo. Clift later combined recorded performances of these musicians with the creative contributions of American music all-stars to create the Jadoo full length CD releases of Prairie Fire, And Darkling Waters Flow, and Horses Fleet as Wind.

Eastern Musicians

Western Musicians

Jadoo Live in Concert in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

CEDAR HILL REFUGEES

In September of 2006, Jack Clift met with John Carter Cash (son of June Carter and Johnny Cash) in Hendersonville, Tennessee where the two conceived an ambitious project melding the Central Asian influences of Jadoo with traditional American mountain music, including songs from the vast catalogue of the Carter Family. In October of that year, Clift flew to Tashkent, Uzbekistan and met with Tatar guitarist Enver İzmaylov and the members of Jadoo for the first recording sessions of the project. Upon his return to the United States, he reconvened with Cash in Tennessee to introduce the contributions of internationally revered mountain singer Ralph Stanley, recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 2006, country music icon Marty Stuart, The Peasall Sisters (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Randy Scruggs, Ronnie McCoury, John Cowan, Greg Leisz, and Ron Miles. The CD of Pale Imperfect Diamond, mastered by Grammy award winning Gavin Lurssen (Lurssen Mastering, Hollywood) was completed in Spring 2009.

Currently, Jack Clift and John Carter Cash are in the production of the even more ambitious Cedar Hill Refugees II featuring not only veterans of Pale Imperfect Diamond, such as Ralph Stanley, The Peasall Sisters, Marty Stuart and John Cowan but also a stellar cast of new guest collaborators: Rosanne Cash, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, bluegrass singer Dave Evans and acclaimed Virginia traditional singer, Elizabeth LaPrelle.