Great Peacock. E.P.

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Reading a bio of this duo especially on April First might lead one to think someone’s playing a joke here. Their name for example, Great Peacock? What on earth? Easily explained however by Andrew Nelson, “We kept noticing this hilarious trend of bands with names like Fleet Foxes, Deer Tick, Vulture Whale—they all had two names,” Nelson says, “one of which was always an animal.” What about the perennial poncho worn by the other member of the duo, Blount Floyd? Well he seems married to it stating in an interview when asked what he’s never leave home without he responded “my poncho.” It might make him look like a dyed in the wool hippy but then Clint Eastwood looked cool in a poncho and god forbid that anyone would pull him up for that.

So poncho wearing Floyd and smart guy Nelson have known each other for years and shared some bands together but eventually they’ve realised their voices sit together as smugly as a bug in a rug and having ditched their amplified guitars they’ve recorded a sublime E.P that sits firmly in the tradition of two man vocal harmonies with a line traced from the Everlies to the Lost Brothers. They do add some muscle to the songs with some fine backing (Dan Fernandez – Pedal Steel Guitar, Jeremy Byrd – Drums, Nathan Roland – Bass, ,Adam Stewart – Fiddle) and at times there’s a tendency to sound somewhat like the aforementioned Fleet Foxes and the Avett Brothers. The opening songs, Take Me To The Mountain and Desert Lark are the primary culprits here as they get an almost anthemic delivery, soaring at times but the guys sound great, fully fledged and confident. They shine however on the remainder of the songs. Sailing is a beautiful ballad with acoustic guitars and vocals to the fore while a keening pedal steel billows in a plaintive manner. It segues wonderfully into Family Home where the pedal steel hums and soars over a sumptuous pillow of acoustic guitars and piano. The sound conjured up is reminiscent of David Crosby’s If Only I Could Remember My Name and one could imagine that good old Jerry Garcia is piloting this one. They close the E.P with the gentle Bluebird which has a fine campfire feel and showcases their fine harmonies.

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Coyote Grace Now Take Flight.

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A Seattle based trio Coyote Grace began as a duo busking at the famous Pike Place Fish Market while more recently their profile was raised on several tours in the States supporting the Indigo Girls. Now Take Flight, their fifth album, certainly supports their claim to wider acclaim packed as it is with some fine playing and above all excellent songs. The trio (Joe Stevens, Ingrid Elizabeth and Michael Connolly) impress with some fantastic harmonies while Stevens and Elizabeth both have distinctive and attractive voices. The overall sound is not too far removed from the likes of Larkin Poe, Old Crow Medicine Show or indeed the Indigo Girls themselves. Acoustic based with plenty of frills in the shape of mandolin, banjo, ukulele, accordion and fiddle these are not country songs but a very pleasant set of intelligent songs that have a radio friendly approach that would please those whose idea of roots music is the Avett Brothers.
The main strength here however is in the songwriting. Stevens produces several gems including the delicate Flowers and the superb These Gray Days which captures perfectly the feel of winter malaise and which features some very impressive upright bass playing by Connolly. Elizabeth is no slouch in the songwriting stakes although she favours an earthier touch which is apparent in the bluesy stroll of Born Blind while she gets downright dirty on the slinky organ driven Kansas which manages to reference the Wizard of Oz on a tale of a groupie chasing her chosen star. Fact is all of these songs are great including a choice cover of Springsteen’s I’m On Fire. Well recommended.

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