Folkin' Idiot

by Neil Cleary

Now that summer is waning, and you're as red as a lobster from the back of your neck to your forearms, maybe it's time to shack up with some Bactine and a fan and listen to some recent folk releases. The severe weather seems to have had no ill effect on this year's crop of recordings, which just keep coming in. All the more reason to buy locally, besides the fact that it's just plain better for you.

If it hasn't been said too much already, I'll say it too much. The new Breakaway CD is great. True to its name, Unpaved Road has the appeal of the tried and true as well as the adventure of paths less traveled. The path is just as comfortable with a tune like "Shoutin' on the Hills of Glory" as they are with Gordon Stone's jazzgrass originals- all without sounding stretched or contrived. The diversity of sounds on the album illustrates all the musical traditions bluegrass melds: the melodic charm of old-time music on "Dachysandra," Lonesome crooning of country and blues on "Cry, Cry Darling," the electricity of gospel on "Heed the Sign", and jazz's slippery phrasings on "Abdul's." The music is slick and witty, carried off with deceptive ease. The band's ability to write in, as well as play, these styles attests to their veritable supergroup status. And since these guys are local, it's probably just as easy to catch the original document as the recording.

L' Escapade is the latest blossoming of Jeter Le Pont, a French Canadian trio out of Middlesex. L'Escapade sounds like a party, like the band is excited. You want to be in the room with them. Refrains are joined in by all three- feet are tapping, the music is pretty and playing, easy to sing and be caught up in. With Jeter Le Pont, three is truly a crowd. The recording is very live, without apparent overdubs. So the tunes and songs are enough to engage folkies, the Simplicity of the arrangements May begin to wear on the uninitiated listener, as well as the fact that Jeter Le Pont lacks a bit of polish; the fiddle squeaks a little, the voices aren't always smooth and melodious. But, when the energy is high, this rawness works in their favor–and generally the energy is high. A clamor of voices begins "Les Jambes en L'Aire" talking back and forth excitedly until one breaks into song, soon joined by the rest. The tunes and songs are traditional, save two original instrumentals which fit the tradition well. L'Escapade doesn't take a lot of time for brooding, but rather stays moving. Even the sad songs are delivered energetically.

I was surprised to enjoy the new release by Woods Tea Company as much as I did. The album, entitled Side by Each, is released on a label called Wizmak, out of Wingdale, NY (who has also released WTC's "Journey Home"). This trio has a peaceful, easy-going folk revival sound, favoring ballads and shanties which can easily come off as soft to my cynical ear.  While there's plenty of this feeling on Side by Each, what struck me was their startling ability to write songs with a traditional sound--with well-crafted melodies and poetic lyrics.

This is especially welcome in a time when so many singer-songwriters aim and miss, with overbearing and hollow songs. Side by Each also shows impressive musicianship and technical prowess. There are a host of instruments on the recording; everybody doubles on something. They pull off the instruments faithfully, with enough swing and clip to own them.  

Though it may stretch the category of "local releases", I thought I might make mention of Gadfly Records, which is quickly becoming one of Vermont's biggest labels. Run out of his Burlington home ( or, perhaps at this point running him out of his Burlington home) Gadfly is the baby of Mitch Cantor, who relocated to the area from New York City about 5 years ago. Starting out by releasing his own recordings, Cantor has since either recorded, produced, or distributed about ten releases by artists such as Peter Galloway, Ilene Weiss, Jeff Wilkinson, Andy Breckman, Gideon Freudmann, as well as documenting a couple of Greenwich Village folk festivals. The label's emphasis so far is on singer-songwriters, but it is by no means exclusively such. By the time of publication, Gadfly will most likely have released Gerry Devine and the Hi-Beams, a country folk pop band (slated to play at the Pyralisk sometime this fall,) as well as a recording by the Varelian Folk Music Ensemble. Plans are also in the works to distribute new or unreleased recordings by Kate Wolf, Jim Infantino, Tony Okeh, Rod McDonnell and Dave Swarbrick.  

And finally, on the subject of local recordings, here's a couple I recently rediscovered: the Arm and Hammer String Band's Stay on the Farm and, by far one of my favorite albums of all time, Feast or Famine's Brecon Beacon. 

Breakaway at Belvedere Bluegrass Festival. Photo by Patricia Braine. 

Neil Cleary is host of the Folkin' Idiot radio program, broadcast 9am- 12 noon on 90.1 WRUV-FM in Burlington. Please send any folk news to Mister Neil Cleary at Good Citizen, PO Box 5373, Burlington, Vermont 05402.