55 f
ALDEN, PATTERSON & DASHWOOD
Call Me Home Alden, Patterson & Dashwood
RED TAIL RING Fall Away Blues Earthworks
Since Rhona Dalling’s CD turned up last year, I am often eager to discover the contents of a simple, hand- made CD cover when it arrives. Today’s offering delivers. Alden, Patterson and Dashwood, from Nor- wich, have ‘understated’
stamped through them like a stick of wallflower-flavoured rock, and yet…
Ruth Theodore
writing the history of the universe and every- thing. Yet amid the scattergun humour and surreal imagery, her interest appears to have been piqued by matters of the heart, albeit the love she contemplates on Wishbone, Kiss- ing In Traffic and Everything Is Temporary is jagged and laden with cynicism.
Her pen is a force of nature, but even if you can resist an opening scenario like “I saw you in your fancy dress with your feet on the chair looking bored to death/I had a brand new pocket with the same old holes and I felt like a whale in a goldfish bowl” (on Buffalo), the slide guitar she drags into it will have you rolling around on your back kicking your legs in the air. Because beyond the colourful nar- ratives, jaunty tunes and chummy delivery, it’s easy to overlook how much is invested into the music. A lovely barrage of jazzy brass piles into Kissing In Traffic, thoughtful back- ing vocals decorate Wishbone, Scavengers is escorted along by attentive piano/organ/ harmonica and Theodore provides a dramatic semi-classical piano setting for The Carcass & The Pride (a title alone worthy of a thesis).
I used to think Ruth Theodore was des- tined, at best, for the dreaded cult status. Now her horizons suddenly seem much grander.
Ruththeodore.com Colin Irwin Alden, Patterson & Dashwood (but not in that order)
Christina Alden leads on the lion’s share of these unadorned and charming folkish, original songs; tender songs of homecoming, of the sea, of seasons turning, of simple bless- ings. Her clarion voice is resonant of Olivia Chaney in its cool, flowing-water vocal clarity. From the opening, ringing tones of Call Me Home, I am lost in it. The homespun tales – endearing, poignant, sometimes comic – are framed by subtle, skilled old-timey musician- ship: gently picked guitar from Alden, fluid fiddle (and mandolin) from Alex Patterson, and sweet, mellifluous dobro and hearth- spun harmony vocals from Noel Dashwood. The trio sounds comfortable in its skin, com- fortable in its shoes and at ease in its synergy.
“Cool and clear is the water that runs…” sings Alden. And I feel immersed in its enveloping embrace.
aldenpattersonanddashwood.com
Not wanting to get out of the water just yet, I pause a while with further gorgeous sounds (and voices) of the Red Tail Ring: kin- dred spirits in the spare and sublime aesthetic, but drawing from a deeper traditional well.
From Michigan, singers and songwriters Lauren Premo and Michael Beachamp (fine purveyors of fiddle/banjo and guitar/banjo skills respectively) tend tradition with a sensi- tive ear and spirit, their voices conveying both fragility and strength at will. Their pow- erful renditions of Wondrous Love, Come All Ye Fair & Tender Maidens, Yarrow and more sit comfortably alongside their own songs brought to the table. Gibson Town tells the achingly painful story of this February’s mass shooting in their native Kalamazoo, while Shale Town deals with the folly of fracking. A conscious and intelligent take on ancient and modern themes, delivered with sparse and affecting grace.
www.redtailring.com Sarah Coxson
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
