Album Reviews – John Roman (Gabriola Radio)   

 

Jonathan Byrd

Cackalack

Jonathan Byrd’s latest release “Cackalack” has taken him to places on the charts that new artists can only ever dream. This album lived on the top Americana and Roots lists for months, while not looking out of place sharing press with a bevy of established folk performers.

Byrd didn’t have to travel too far for material as his North Carolina lyrics came through with flying colours and paint this album as can’t miss material. This seventh generation North Carolina boy slapped a slang term for his home state on the front cover and hasn’t looked back. It’s not hard to see how he came away from Texas with a top New Songwriter prize at the Kerrville Folk Festival. His earlier works also caught the attention of established folk veterans Tom Paxton and Chuck Brodsky which spurred the young songwriter to venture out and use that council as an exemplar for his career.

This album has a Bakersfield feel, outlined by the interesting vocal twang, and his both soothing and rousing fingerpicking guitarmanship. Songs like,“ Wild Ponies”,“ I Was An Old Oak Tree ” and “ White Oak Wood ” talk to you and are a true gift from the performer. Light hearted tracks like the following two, “ Dungarees Overalls” and “ Chicken Wire” add to the warmth emitting from the album while giving it a humorous swagger.

“Cackalack” is a breath of fresh air in the Americana and Alt-Country genres and after one listen you will be checking out Byrd’s other album’s; however, “Cackalack”, is where you begin.

John Roman

Gabriola Radio

 

Album Review

 

 

 

 

Puzzleroot

Farewell to Gerald Fitzella

 ”Farewell to Gerald Fitzella” is an innovative folk/bluegrass leaning offering , that has an infectious, rootsy, upbeat bounce that a listener will revisit time and time again. This independent release wraps you up in its carnivalesque air and fights to keep you there.

Singer/Songwriter Gary Eugene’s vocal delivery sounds effortlessly authentic and the relaxed harmonization with Marian van der Zon can only be struck in the tightest of groups. Applause is also warranted for Marian’s solo lead and intermittent scat vocals sprinkled throughout the disc. Her progressive five string slide banjo and guitar vibrato contribution to the groups voice I must label as unique and dissimilar to any groups I’ve tried to compare.

Songs that shine like, “ From the Sweetness”, “ They” and “Book of Ghosts” hit me for their lyrical bends, twists, and puzzles; as did, the thought wrenching five minute, “ Blink of Death” track. “Country Spiders”, “Wall Mart” and “ Happy Birthday” deliver comedic and/or social commentary interludes that are part and parcel to the carnival mystique. The only copy tune is a flattering rendition of the Pixies, “ Where Is My Mind?” which previously served as the closing theme song in the hit movie, “ Fight Club”.
Have a listen and you’ll be asking, as I did, “ Is this Really a Debut Album?”

 John Roman
Gabriola Radio

 

Gary Fjellgaard

All In The Journey

” All In The Journey” is an impressive new offering from CCMA Hall Of Famer, Gary Fjellgaard.

Here we have a singer who has sat in the saddle, strummed a guitar by the flicker of a campfire, and was raised in the Rose Valley area of prairie Saskatchewan. It is this cowboy poetry that Gary brings out here in abundance and serves us over the twelve tracks.

Some of my favourite tunes include; ” I Apologize” which is an insightful and heart wrenching track dealing with the reservation schools and how people now even hate to mention the word.  Never labeled as a political songwriter this song inches that title ever closer to his name.

Gary also reworks one of his most requested songs ,”Falcon and the Cowboy”, by unplugging his guitar and giving the tune an earthy acoustic wash. It’s “Earth Keeper” theme fits well within the structure of this album that listeners will prefer to the original. “Mexican Heat” and “Billy Just Robbed Trains”  are upbeat and catchy numbers and  Linda Kidder’s background vocals melds well within this album.

Musical selections that serve as a great introduction to the artist and would be a welcomed additon to any folk/country library.  Gary’s life experiences deliver an authoritative voice to the  songs that are  a key piece in “All In The Journey”.


Drumlin

Album – Mackerel Skies

This group of maritime siblings are accomplished instrumentalists beyond their years and this

first time offering catches you right out of the gate. Mackerel Skies, has not gone unnoticed by too

many, as they were judged as 2008 nominees at both the East Coast Music Awards and the Canadian

Folk Music Awards as one of the top new folk groups on the market today.

In the English folk revival of the 1960′s Martin Carthy used the notebooks of folksong collector/

singer Percy Grainger to pad his song lists: here, the Drumlin song bank is inspired throught the

Nova Scotia Heritage Songs compiled by Helen Creighton, one of Canada’s best know folklorists.

Traditional chanties and modern edge interpretations blend well together over the twelve tracks.

Mackerel Skies doesn’t bring them alongside Canadian Celtic veterans like the Rankins or Barra McNeil’s

but maybe inches closer to the early Cottar recordings.

Drumlin is comprised of four siblings who play acoustic guitar, cello, piano and tin whistle while

occasionally employing the services of acclaimed fiddle master, J.P. Cormier.

An added treat is the album booklet which houses the words and histories of these Heritage songs

and the splendid tales of yore they weave. New songs for the fine tuned ears of Celtic listeners.

John Roman

Gabriola Radio

Anna Acevedo Lyman

Album – Sway ( Quien Sera)

Anna Lyman is a Jazz singer and her music on this disc will ” Sway” between jazz, salsa,

and bossa nova genres. Here she employs some top sessionmen in Daryl Jahnke, Bill Coon

(guitars), Rich Kilburn (bass), and Buff Allen, Dan Bruebeck ( drums). Dan is the son of Jazz icon, Dave Bruebeck, of “Take Five” fame.

This Vancouver Island University ( Nanaimo) music major has a four octave voice that is

well suited to the Latin material. This her second album has some retro jazz standards and

others, like these two, that were penned by herself. The song, Lighter, is light and airy, with a soothing lounge feel.

The second track, Island Man, is a great fit for our Gulf Island region with its sail for the

weekend and just nice to be on the water message. This album is alot of fun and will have you dancing around the room before you know it.

John Roman

Gabriola Radio

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The Fiery Cart

 

 

 

Les Finnigan

Album – The Fiery Cart (2009)

Les Finnigan’s new instrumental acoustic guitar release “Fiery Cart” follows on the heels

of his 2007  Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, ” Things My Guitar Said”.  The twelve new

tracks are guaranteed to fill any room and it is hard to fathom that no edits or special effects

were used to  create this feast of acoustic delights . Fabrizio Alberico handcrafted the guitar

at his studio in Gibson, British Columbia and it is the clear and free flowing waterlike sounds

that make this disc so effective and enjoyable.

The “Cart” wears a coat of many colours and links us to musicians like the late,

Michael Hedges, and the contemporary work of Steve Dawson,  Joel Fafard and on an

international scale, Bill Frisell. The songs are impassioned, inventive and unpredictable.

No set pattern, tempo or mood surrounds the album ; however, no link in this chain of tracks

appeared weak to me.  The only thing I can say wrong about this cd is that it sneaks

up on you and ends too soon.

For an encore you might want to you stroll down to Granville Island and I think you know

the rest of the story.

John Roman

Gabriola Radio