This album from Appalachian whizzkids Furnace Mountain has been kicking around for several months now and the only excuse we have for not reviewing it earlier is that it’s been in the automobile CD changer almost since arrival and has lightened many trips. Now rescued from the buggy we can confidently say that it sounds as good when stationary and sipping a fine brew.
The follow up to their 2009 album Fields of Fescue which was universally praised The Road To Berryville captures the band (David Deventer, fiddle, Aimee Curl, bass and vocals, Morgan Morrison, bouzouki, guitar and vocals and Danny Knicely, mandolin and fiddle) playing live in the studio and was funded via Kickstarter. Playing to a small audience the band stretch out on several of the songs here allowing them to demonstrate their undoubted instrumental prowess while the choice of songs and instrumentals, traditional and contemporary is top notch. Deventer and Knicely excel on fiddle and mandolin and at times the soloing and ensemble playing is intense and best heard here on the awesome Millwood Boyce. The live setting allows the numbers to flow from one to another and is particularly apt as at times their sound flows like mountain streams while the husky voice of Curl and the harmonies recall that high lonesome sound.
Barney opens the album and immediately the feet are tapping as this up-tempo murder ballad with Curl and Morrison trading verses while mandolin and fiddle dart about nails their trademark sound, old time Carter family type homilies zapped into the modern age. Fol De Rol takes W. B. Yeats by the collar and yanks him to Virginia with some intricate vocal interplay. The following medley of Virginia Girls/Sandy Boys marries their mountain vocals and fiddling with an instrumental coda which perhaps demonstrates one of the reasons why they were such a big hit at Celtic Connections two years ago as it sounds like a miniature fiddlers rally. The medley idea is repeated several times throughout the album as a song is coupled with an instrumental , at times fast and furious (The Nightshift Lullaby/Kookybird), elsewhere more contemplative and measured (The Crow On The Cradle/The Road To Berryville).
Of the more contemporary songs Thrown By The Bull (by Old Man Ludecke) is simply superb sounding as if the band are in the room with you as Curl’s wearied vocal gets close and intimate and the mandolin, fiddle and guitar build a delicate web around it. Who Could Blame Them (by Nathan Moore) is a tremendous heart tug of a song with stark instrumental scaffolding. The band also zip through a sprightly cover of Dylan’s I Want You which almost captures the ebullience of the original and a fine swing time version of Bonaparte’s Retreat.
The live studio setting is a neat idea as it allows the band to capture their show in hi fidelity sound and show off their chops. A stunning outfit the fiddle and mandolin breaks are a delight while the vocals and song choice are the icing on the cake. Very much recommended if string band music excites your listening buds.
Tag Archives: Furnace Mountain
Round up Reviews
A brace of Americana roots type music albums arrived here over the past few weeks so I thought I’d gather them together in one piece.
First up is Woody Pines’ “Counting Alligators.” Fronted by the eponymous Pines this is a great little album of old time songs that range from the jump jive of “Rich Gal, Poor Gal” with its parping sax and syncopation to a great cover of “Satisfied and Tickled Too” which is one of the best versions of the song I’ve heard. At times foot tapping and up-tempo the best moments however are the slower songs such as “Walking Down the Road” with mournful fiddle and a wonderful air of melancholy.
While Woody Pines have their feet firmly in the urban side of American folk Furnace Mountain, from Virginia have a more rural feel with echoes of the Celtic traditions passed over the ocean on their album “Fields of Fescue.” With blazin’ fiddles and terrific strumming the band fit perfectly behind the vocals of Aimee Curl who has a little bit of Karen Dalton’s lazy rural twang about her. Allied to this is David Van Deventer’s fiddle which swings, cajoles and whoops throughout. This is infectious dancing music and begs to be heard live.
From the jackrabbit jive of Woody Pines and the cool clear rural dancesteps of Furnace Mountain we finally we have Gordie Tentrees with his offering “Mercy or Sin.” Coming from the singer songwriter tradition with his roots in country blues and sounding like a young John Prine, Tentrees and his band play seductively with guitars licking and curling around his lyrics. At times they play dirty as on “Devil Talks” with ferocious guitar and stinging dobro but again the best is in the quieter moments where Tentrees and the band swing with a lazy nonchalance with a hint of menace in the tale.
