Susan Hamlin,Younger Than the Sun (Floodwood Music, 2002)
Guitarist/singer Susan Hamlin is originally from Buffalo, New York, and grew up with a grandmother who had come over from Ireland. In earlier days, she "took to the road as a Philly-based college folkie and later joined the alternative band that later became the Hooters." Younger Than the Sun is her second solo album and is a mix of Celtic songs and tunes, American traditional songs, and on-the-road rock covers.
Most the tracks are solidly but fluidly cemented in American Anglo-Celtic acoustic tradition. Not surprising, the most pleasing for Celtic traditionalists are three Celtic tunes sets, drawing on Scotland, Ireland, and Cape Breton. These sets, including "The Flagstone Of Memories/Blind Nory/Miss Monaghan's Reel," "Calliope House/Cape Breton Jig in E minor/Stan Chapman's" and "MacKenzie's Farewell/MacDonald's Reel," may actually be the most vivid tracks on the album. Of the band members, listeners may most likely recognize Swannanoa devotee and guitarist Zan MacLeod, but fiddler George Wilson and piper Neil Anderson particularly stand out as well. The Quebecois-lilted "MacKenzie's Farewell" set allows Wilson's fiddle and feet to duet with Anderson's pipes.
The same band backs the vocals. "I wanted the listener to to know the thrill of being in that sweet spot every session room has, in the electrifying flow of tunes and songs, some performed with little or no accompaniment. We meant every note," says Hamlin in her liner notes. Electrifying probably isn't the precise term in the listeners' seat, especially with that early 80s boombox, but the songs and tunes are fresh, clear, honest, and true to life, and Hamlin's voice is pretty. I am always complaining about singers who tack on synthetic, generic backing arrangements and this is surely not the case here! One of the nicest songs is an Appalachian piece, "Leatherwinged Bat." A gentleman called during my radio show to ask "Who is that?" The arrangement is subtle, certainly no a capella head knocker, and a little dark, and I was surprised. But then I thought, "He liked it because it is a nice version with a nice singer."
Almost everyone will recognize "Shanendoah," sung and played clearly and simply with Hamlin on guitar and Wilson on tempered banjo (usually "tempered" and "banjo" are contradictions!). "Oh the Wind And Rain" features Hamlin again on guitar and piper Anderson on whistle. On "Salley Gardens," sung half in Gaelic, Zan McLeod is the guitar player in a relaxed, contemporary style. Hamlin's American voice takes it cue from both old and modern influences, and within that framework, her pretty vocals vary little in method and mood....usually.
Breaking up all this "tradition" are three covers from folk and rock. One, a mellow "Girl from the North Country," is no surprise, though Hamlin comes forward more as a country-folk singer. The other two are folk versions of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic" and The Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime." "Into the Mystic" sounds much like acoustic contemporary folk from Ireland. With spoken Gaelic chants, pipes, and lots of percussion, the interesting "Once In A Lifetime" bursts forth as a world-pagan festival. The ability to appreciate these rejuvenated classics depends on the listener's ability to remember the original. For the blank-brained traditionalist, they may prove to be more of a change of key interlude that provides a chance to pull off at an espresso stand and get a chai tea.
Recommended for devotees of domestic Celtic and pretty vocals...a nice album!
