PASSIN'-A-TIME
Kat Danser Indie
8.5-out-of-10
Time certainly passes and that is really true for reviewers. It was way back in the summer of 2007 I gave Kat Danser's Somethin Familiar an 8.5, and now four years later her new disc Passin'-A-Time is spinning on the laptop.
I can tell you what I liked in 2007 remains with Kat Danser, "a smoky, husky voice" as I termed in four years ago.
And like four years ago Danser uses that voice to perfect effect on a disk rich in down-south, country influenced blues, among the best being Mista Preacherman, a near five-minute excursion into the soul of blues.
No One Can Stop the Clock From Tickin' is a more upbeat cut in the same southern vein.
As you listen to this fine blues effort it's easy to understand why it is among five finalist nominees in the blues category at this year's Western Canadian Music Awards. It is a disk certainly worthy of the recognition.
In the case of Kat Danser there is an added reason to give her music a serious listen, and that is because she has a connection to the local area. Danser who now hails from Edmonton, was born in the Stockholm, SK. That is one of those cool little connections which make certain CDs just that extra little bit special.
This is a disk which will please any blues lover, and that is as good a recommendation as I can give this disk.
Check it out at www.katdanser.com
- CALVIN DANIELS
LOVE, HEARTACHE & OBLIVION
Folk Thief
Indie
8-out-of-10
I count myself fortunate to be among those who were at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in Yorkton, Aug. 1, to hear Folk Thief perform live.
I had not heard of Folk Thief until he scheduled the Yorkton show and we arranged an interview for this newspaper. Even after an interview you are not sure what someone's music is like, but that night at the local value he wowed those in attendance, and I was lucky enough to be up front, close enough we could have easily shook hands between songs. That is of course the great thing about a coffeehouse atmosphere.
So back to Dave Hadgkiss, aka Folk Thief, he gave a great performance, one of those which is likely to rank in the top-10 live performances enjoyed in 2011.
Folk Thief covered most of the songs from Love, Heartache & Oblivion, and it is a fine disk, although I will admit it lacks a bit of the raw power and pure joy you get when he plays live, which does leave the CD feeling a little flat. It's really not, but as I said the live show really clicked.
The CD starts off strong with The Death of Tomorrow, then swings into A Light For Liberty, a song I had begged as the best of the recording until the final song.
That final song is a bluesy classic-in-the-making in the same vein as the great Robert Johnson. The Devil Behind Me is a great song on disk, but live takes on an even stronger element in its raw emotion. The live rendition is among the best I've heard live, ranking up there with a Rick Tippe country song on a dance floor back in Tisdale and a killer drum solo by the Kentucky Headhunters at a show in Yorkton years ago.
While The Devil Behind Me is the easy stand out here, all 10-songs are solid, making for a fine album in which Folk Thief touches on the emotions suggested by the album's title.
This is most definitely an album you will be glad you have in your collection.
Check it out at www.folkthief.com
- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
