Two Time Polka, About Time Two (Own Label, 2003)
Turkey Hollow, Live Turkey (Outer Green Records, 2001)
Jim Hurst and Missy Raines, Synergy (Pinecastle, 2003)
Various Artists, Spain in My Heart (Appleseed, 2003)
The above titles could be filed under Americana of varying degrees, as the music featured on each album is essentially American in inspiration and influence. However, there is also a difference between them, as two are bluegrass albums of particular sorts, one is a compilation of songs dedicated to the Spanish Civil War and the other is probably the best shot of Cajun/American roots music not made by Americans. So this omnibus review deals with American Roots with a twist -- if that whets your appetite or tickles your fancy, then read on.
Two Time Polka hail from Cork City in Southern Ireland and have been part of the local rock scene for a number of years. A good time band if ever there was one, they play a lively mixture of Cajun, Bluegrass, and Rock and Roll mixed with Irish and Eastern European styles and are guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face. Fronted by Ray and Geraldine Barron -- who between them play mandolin, mandola, fiddle, accordion and concertina -- and Tomas Dunne’s high lonesome vocals allied to a solid rock rhythm section, they can turn an Irish bar into a Texan Cantina on a Saturday night with no problem. Capturing the packed wall-to-wall, sweat-soaked aura of a gig within a studio doesn’t bother these rampant Leesiders; they just tear into it, all systems go.
Two Time Polka’s second album, About Time Two has more of their fiery excitement. Kicking off with a Cajunised version of ‘Hound Dog’ (yes that one!), they convince me that Elvis was a Cajun in a past life, while Bill Monroe’s ‘Roanaoke’ and ‘Jerusalem Ridge’ are driven by Ray Barron’s compulsive mandolin. Tomas Dunne’s heart-wrenching vocals tug at the emotions on ‘Another Lonely Night’. A final classic salvo is a rip-roaring version of Chuck Berry’s ‘Promised Land’, copped from Louisiana Hell raiser Johnnie Allen, that simply drags one along with its ferocious energy. Then there's the gentle closing ‘Azalea Waltz’, with Geraldine Barron’s delicate concertina mixed with cello, mandolin, and guitar providing a graceful caressing climax. About Time Two proves conclusively that Two Time Polka is probably the best Cajun/roots band never to come from America. Check them out and be the envy of your neighbours.
The Outer Green Records label in Portland Maine is usually the home of Schooner Fare -- a U.S. folk trio of the Romanoff Brothers, Steve and Chuck, and Tom Rowe. Some of Steve Romanoff’s songs ended up as hits in Ireland, including 'Portland Town', which The Barleycorn charted with in the mid 80’s. Tom Rowe, with his son Dave and Denny Beau, now form a new outfit named Turkey Hollow (Editor's note: Tom Rowe just passed on this week from a heart attack. Go here for details. Both Schooner Fare and Turkey Hollow will go on as duos. Tom's life was music; he'd want it this way.). Turkey Hollow is a bluegrass/folk trio with a line-up of banjo, guitar and electric bass accompanying their vocals. Their CD, Live Turkey, is a warts-and-all live set recorded at Slates Restaurant in Hallowell, Maine, on January 15, 2001.
Theirs isn’t the fiery all out sort of bluegrass, but rather a solid, vocally strong front line with a repertoire mixing 60’s folk classics, Bluegrass, old-timey songs and original tunes. Grandpa Jones’ ‘Eight More Miles to Louisville’ provides a good opener. Bob Dylan’s ‘Don’t Think Twice’ and Gordon Lightfoot‘s ‘Alberta Bound’ sound not unlike Schooner Faire with a Tony Rice-style lead guitarist in there, and a Chet Atkins medley highlights some adroit guitar picking. But their original material is their strongest suit. ‘Springtime Love’, ‘Long way to Go’ and ‘Gonna Miss You’ conjure up images of Happy and Artie Traum in the Rounder classic ‘More Music from Mud Acres -– Woodstock Mountains’. These stand head and shoulders above the rest, suggesting that composition is perhaps the avenue they should pursue.
Live Turkey has both humour and pathos in equal doses and is worth a listen.
Jim Hurst and Missy Raines provide that most unusual of duos within the Bluegrass scene: a guitar and double bass-playing pair whose music easily mixes folk, blues and bluegrass in the shiniest of new acoustic formats. Their most recent effort, Synergy, captures the taut yet fairly loose regime that produces quality music. Like any classy acoustic band, take away the red-hot fiddler, mandolinist or banjo player and you’re left with the guitar and stand up bass. If that's not sound, no matter what the pedigree of the soloists, a weak back line always lets you down. Synergy highlights the essential groundwork between guitarist and bass player and the telepathic relationship that exists therein. Vocally, the pair possess strong distinctive voices found on ‘Cold Hard Business’ and ‘I Aint Got the Blues’, and the interplay between them is a joy to hear. Synergy is an object lesson in rock solid dynamics and proves the Hurst/Raines duo as tight a rhythm section as they are the stars of this particular pairing.
The Spanish Civil war of 1939 was, up to some years ago, one of the forgotten eras of history in both Irish and American terms. It’s only fitting, then, that Irish and American artists feature on Spain in My Heart as a remembrance of that brief yet turbulent era. Over three thousand American volunteers travelled to Spain between 1936 and 1939 to join the International brigades fighting for the democratically elected Spanish Government against the fascist troops lead by General Francisco Franco. The American left fully supported the cause of Spanish democracy, and a whole canon of songs emerged from this period.
Spain in My Heart gathers some of those songs, and some more recently composed tracks, such as Christy Moore’s ‘Vive la Quinte Brigada’. The RTE Television documentary ‘Even the Olives Are Bleeding’ highlighted the great input to the International brigades given by the Irish volunteers. For that reason, it is heartening to see Aoife Clancy’s recording of ‘The Bantry Girl’s Lament’ and her duet with Say Black on ‘Vive la Quinte Brigada’ included in this collection. Of the home-brewed contributions, John McCutcheon shines on ‘The Abraham Lincoln Brigade’, and Laurie Lewis revisits ‘The Peat Bog Soldiers’, while Spanish language tracks from Michelle Greene and Joel and Jamaica Rafael keep up the native input. Spain in My Heart is both a historical document of a forgotten revolution and a powerful reminder of the human willingness to help his fellow man in trying to overthrow oppressive government regimes.
So there you have an eclectic bunch of Americana-inspired releases, each with their own distinctive twist on the roots theme. Two Time Polka know how to rock and tear it up while eliciting a wistful smile or two as they grapple beautifully with the nuances of Cajun music. Turkey Hollow play bluegrass with the enthusiasm of early 60’s US folkies, while Jim Hurst and Missy Raines are the back line from Heaven, and Spain in My Heart acknowledges the Irish and American input to the Spanish Civil war. Like I said in the opening salvo of this review, this is roots music with a twist. To re-work Mr. Spock‘s immortal comment in Star Trek, ‘It's Americana, Jim, but not as we know it.’
Two Time Polka can be reached here. Information about Wild Turkey can be found at Outer Green's Web site. Look for Jim Hurst and Missy Raines on Pinecastle's Web site. And information about Spain in My Heart can be found on Appleseed's Web site.
