Roots music column, August 7
Thanks for dropping by Fervor Coulee. While I’ve been a bit neglegent in posting lately, I have been listening to a great deal of excellent music and plan on writing a few reviews and comments in the next week. I am fortunate to be able to hear so much music sometimes it is hard to sort ones thoughts and remain focused for the extended period of time I require for writing. So, excuses aside, I’ll get at it so please stop by again. This week in my roots music column, I reviewed two recently released discs. Gordie Tentrees is a songwriter based out of Whitehorse and he has just released the strongest of his three albums, Mercy or Sin. Rhonda Vincent has had a huge impact on the bluegrass world since returning to the music on which she was raised, and her live presentations have always been crowd-pleasing. With Destination Life Vincent has revitalized her music, and has released what I feel is her strongest, most complete album in years. So, head on over to the Red Deer Advocate newspaper site http://tinyurl.com/l92274 and give them a read, please.
Because I sometimes write long, the editors had to chop a bit of the Tentrees review to make the column fit; I am well aware that I went a wee bit over on my alloted allowance. So, I’ll paste the last few sentences here:
Producer Bob Hamilton (Hungry Hill) keeps things flowing, and his steel guitars show up when Tentrees sets aside his Dobro.
Alfred, as are but two of the dozen songs, is a Tentrees’s original, and is mined from territory similar to that explored by Corb Lund and Ridley Bent. Bert Jansch’s Rambling’s Gonna Be the Death of Me is provided a dark, concentrated interpretation, while Same Old Blues comes from Indio Saravanja and provides the album with what could serve as its subtitle- “brand new song, same old blues.”
And I thank you for your continued interest. I’m off to the Edmonton Folk Festival, and will write some reflections upon my return. Donald
Tags: 2009 Releases, Americana, Bluegrass, Canadian, Disc reviews, Donald Teplyske, folk music, Gordie Tentrees, Rhonda Vincent, roots music, Rounder Records
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