More CD Reviews

Debra Cowan is thick in the loop of oral tradition. She recalls the days when if you wanted music, you made it yourself. whether it be a Child Ballad or a recent composition, she presents a lasting story. As early as six, she named "Darling Corey" as a favorite song. Included here she substitutes a bluesy vocal for the bluegrass production she first heard and off we go with the folk process.

Cowan doesn't rely solely on her beautiful voice when covering traditional ballad stories. There is a gift of acting through singing. Cowan has this gift. We are involved in each story, and not left on the side by someone who has simply memorized a lot of words.

She also includes three new songs that deserve applause for smoothly flowing into this collection of traditionals, Danny Carnahan's "The Rose You Wore For Me", Alex Hunter's "The Long Grey Line", and Ken Batts' "Across The Water".

Her vocals highlight the beauty of the bare song and her ability to have it come alive....Her overlayed harmonies on "Bay of Biscay" sound similar to Herdman, Hills and Mangsen arrangements, displaying her wide range....A perfect purchase for the ballad or history fan.
- Angela Page

Debra's strong, rich alto is the shining star of this Celtic album with undeniably American style and accent. We Americans seem not to be able to or even want to shake the wide open spaces and the collective expansive genetic memory. On this album, Debra has her feet comfortably wet on each side of this Atlantic.

The Long Grey Line opens with the prettiest song, a slow Irish immigration romance called "Edward Boyle," followed by the up tempo American-Irish song," McGinnis Gets A Job" (you can hear similar versions from Dan Berggren and Sara Grey as well). Though most of the songs are traditional, a few are not. The title track itself, another stand-out, was written by Scottish songwriter Alan Hunter...the song is about tinkers who follow the Grey Line of the road ahead. ("The road man! The road!") Further diversity is fetched by a covered song about Finland slipping in de facto as a song about Ireland ("Across the Water"), and "Darlin' Corey" with blues performer Jeff Bartley on National Style-O Resonator.

There isn't much accompaniment here, Debra plays guitar but offers no wild tricks. A really nice version of "Bay of Biscay-O" and "The Dreadful Ghost", both rather eerie items, are sung a capella. Conversely a few tracks are backed by fiddle, concertina, mandolin...but except for a cute concertina tour de force on "The Old Favorite," "backed" is indeed the word. Unlike some albums with sparse arrangements, however, the subtle guitar and the aloof warmth of Debra's voice prevent The Long Grey Line from being felt as stark or abstract.
- Judith Gennett

Singer/songwriter Randy Barrett enjoys an enviable reputation among his more famous peers in the Washington, D.C., folk and bluegrass scene; his songs have been recorded by Chesapeake and Auldridge, Bennett & Gaudreau, as well as several local folkies. (Mike Auldridge guests on resonator guitar on several of this album's tracks.) Barrett's roots are clearly deep in bluegrass, but he is just as clearly uninterested in creating music for purists; his approach puts the song first and the genre second. Thus, he is perfectly comfortable moving from straight-ahead bluegrass numbers like the disaster ballad "Halifax Hills" and the contemplative "Always on the Move" to straight-up electric honky-tonk ("She Rocks") and a jazzy soul ("Then I Met You"). His voice is a dark and self-effacing baritone that fits the songs well. Most of those songs are very good, some of them are excellent, but those whose main interest is in traditional bluegrass should consider themselves duly warned.

Environmental engineer turned songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, McKnight has a refreshing delivery and writing style. Talent, enthusiasm and real content make this a welcome album in a time when so many people out there seem to be mostly fluff and packaging. His subject matter ranges from history and nature to America and the trials of being human. Keith Dill appears here and there with some winsome fiddle and mandolin. Ralph Gordon brings that mellow cello into "Diary" and plays bass on many other tracks. Other musicians include: Robbie Magruder on drums; Jeff Arey on banjo and mandolin; Don Porterfield on fretless bass; harmony singers Terri Allard, Mary Byrd Brown and John Rickard; the spoken word of Chris Chandler and the percussion of Marco Delmar. This album is put together well, with a few surprises like the "bluesy ode to telephone anxiety" in "Bad News," and the rocking drive of "Jesus and the Nighttime Train," amid a repertoire that is mostly folky with a strong Appalachian influence. I especially liked the somber Civil War ballad, "The Road to Appomattox" for its powerful yet agile lyrics, traditional sound, and intense passion.
- Marilyn O'Malley

On this third CD, Virginia-based singer-songwriter Andrew McKnight shifts his attention, in his own words, "away from rural characters and their relationship to the land and towards the landscape of the heart and soul."

In addition to some very, very pleasant middle-of-the-road folk-pop tunes ("Western Skies," "Stardust," "When I Grow Up"), McKnight works a wealth of acoustic variety into the contemporary folk mix with the bluegrassy "Nothin' But A Man," the quasi-funky "Riley's Life" and "Bad News," a bluesy tribute to Hoagy Carmichael. The best of the not-ready-for-coffehouse cuts is "Jesus and the Nighttime Train," a dark but hopeful faith statement.

But in sound and in lyric, McKnight finds the comfort zone with the effective melodies and sharp writing of his ballads. Both "Turning Pages" and "22" effectively re-create the rewards and pains of past relationships. And while it may be more historical fiction than historical fact, the Sally Hemings-inspired "Diary" is a pretty gripping five minutes of music.
- Bill Craig

Andrew McKnight is described as a poet, geographer, historian and naturalist, and the tracks on Turning Pages bear out those claims. From such a polymath we are presented with a varied and wide-ranging selection of tunes. These range from memories of another performer in "Stardust" to a tribute to Hoagy Carmichael in "Bad News."

A personal favourite of mine is "Diary," on which he duets with Mary Byrd Brown. It features Thomas Jefferson speaking to Sally Hemmings and brings history to life in haunting manner.

"Company Town" is one of the staples of such an album, presenting the old tale of the mining industry and its effect on a community. McKnight brings a good performance to the song. History is again evident on the Civil War epoch offering titled "The Road to Appomattox," this time with a folk tempo.

"Jesus and the Nighttime Train" ends with the enigmatic line "whatever comes easy ain't worth the sacrifice," which sums up this lovely song about finding faith in a world dominated by media reports on hopeless events.

There is a track here called "When I Grow Up" and it takes our hopes for growing up that extra step into the future. One expects a tale of the job one wants to do but here McKnight moves it on to enjoying life after the career when he can "retire to the back road, live closer to the land."

The title track, "Turning Pages," appears to be a letter to a partner in a short-lived romance. It has some poetic turns of phrase that lift it to a high level. As with many of the songs, I may be giving a wrong interpretation but that's how I hear it. Turning Pages is a very enjoyable album, but not everyone will enjoy all the tracks because he uses a variety of styles. I am sure you will like more than you dislike. (Well done also on not only providing the lyrics but also a very important paragraph of explanation.)
- Nicky Rossiter

One of the very best acoustic guitarists in the world, Michael DeLalla provides 11 examples of gorgeously intricate solo guitar compositions. The mysterious and otherworldly, polyrhythmic textures of "Le Marchais du Malaucene" sets the tone for a set that transcends traditional notions of the guitar with profoundly beautiful arrangements. Having spent considerable time playing traditional Celtic music, DeLalla masterfully maneuvers the elegant arrangements of traditional material like "Shebeg and Shemore" and the bittersweet "The Wild Geese." The pristine gracefulness of "Lauren Grace" is indicative of the control DeLalla exhibits over his own skill, not allowing the pieces to get lost in flurries of flashy technique (though there is a good deal of that, too). Using paper clips in "Piece for Steel Drum (If I Played Steel Drum)" actually does make his guitar sound like a steel drum, showing a fine sense for innovation. Even so, DeLalla's greatest talent may be in transcending traditional stylings. A certain country-blues quality is buried deep inside "Catnapping," employing alternate tuning and impressive chiming technique to create warmly comforting sounds. For those normally off-put by guitar instrumentals for their occasional meandering quality, these tracks should be extremely accessible, as DeLalla wastes no energy in extended improvisation and retains a melodic focus. All in all, Soli is mood music of the most exquisite order.
- Matt Fink