WE'RE ALL FRIENDS and LOVERS UNTIL IT FALLS APART
Redbird
Indie
7-out-of-10
We're All Friends and Lovers Until It Falls Apart is the debut EP from Vancouver band, Redbird, a group some fortunate local music fans will remember from when the band recently performed locally at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer in Yorkton.
Redbird is the latest musical vehicle for singer/songwriter Savannah Leigh Wellman who has fronted previous variations of her own group, but has made her greatest strides since the formation of Redbird which includes Wellman (vocals and acoustic guitar), John Sponarski (guitar), Jeremy Appleton (bass) and Ben Brown (drums).
"I've gone through so many variations of bands over the past 10-years, but am really happy with where I'm at now with Redbird," Wellman told Yorkton This Week in a May interview.
Certainly the resulting EP is a solid debut for Wellman and Redbird, a definite rock band, albeit one where lyrics and vocals are at the forefront.
"I have a pretty wide range of influences, and I think that definitely comes through in my writing," said Wellman. "I admire the word-craft of greats like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, but also really appreciate the beauty of a catchy melody and harmonies like Fleetwood Mac. I'm also a huge rock and roll fan - this summer I'll be seeing the Black Keys and Sam Roberts Band in outdoor concerts, and I couldn't be more excited! I think I take a little bit of all of those aspects and try to roll them into my own music."
Whatever the specific influences are Wellman has blended them into a great personal sound for Redbird.
There are some fine songs here, in particular In the Hands of Ghosts and West Wind, a couple of tunes as fine as any I've heard in rock in recent months.
As I have often lamented good EPs are always just a bit disappointing because you'd like more than six songs when the band is good. That is the case here, since most of the songs are above average. Oh Please My Heart being the one exception, as it gets a bit repetitious with repeated vocal, but non-word interludes.
Still there is way more positive here than not, and it is certainly easy to recommend music fans check this one out.
Check it out at www.redbirdmusic.ca
- CALVIN DANIELS
OLD TIME DANCE ALBUM
JJ Guy
Indie
8-out-of-10
There are certain times as a reviewer you realize just how long you've been giving opinions on music, and when I began spinning JJ Guy's latest fiddle release it was one of those times.
It was back in 2007 I reviewed Guy's fiddle release Cadillac, and October 2009 the appropriately named Fiddler, both offerings garnering 8-out-of-10 scores.
Well here it is four years after Cadillac and Guy is back with Old Time Dance Album, and there is no reason not to make it a third straight eight score.
Now I should preface things here just a bit, as the name implies this is old time dance music, the kind I grew up remembering being played by local fiddlers at talent shows at rural summer fairs such as Connaught, Golburn and Shand. That was half a lifetime ago, and I'll admit at the time I would have never admitted to listening to the music, let alone liking it, but now as I have eclipsed 50-years, I have come to realize the old tunes stuck with somehow.
This is a recording of traditional fiddle which Guy outlines are suitable for a range of dances.
Darling Nelly Gray/Soldier's Joy is a medley for the Virginia reel, while The Old Spinning Wheel is a two step.
There are also numbers for the fox trot, barn dance, heel and toe polka and others.
So if old time fiddle is in your blood Guy does it well, so check it out for a transfusion.
Check it out at www.jjguy.ca
- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
