Finding connections Image: Ken Barclay
Redood Mountain / Glad Cafe Glasgow / 28.9.17
Folk-country with a Caledonian twist
Following in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly is a brave move, but Redwood Mountain mine the same musical material for new gems. Writing new tunes for some of the songs collected by Alan Lomax on his mid-20th century travels through the rural south of the US, the duo is keeping some pretty rarified company: Lomax was the first to record Guthrie, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters and others, and gave Pete Seeger his first break.
But by seeking out songs with some kind of Scottish connection and pairing guitar with trad fiddle Redwood Mountain's Amy Geddes and Dean Owens do manage to shed some new light on the material.
Folk-country with a Caledonian twist
Following in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly is a brave move, but Redwood Mountain mine the same musical material for new gems. Writing new tunes for some of the songs collected by Alan Lomax on his mid-20th century travels through the rural south of the US, the duo is keeping some pretty rarified company: Lomax was the first to record Guthrie, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters and others, and gave Pete Seeger his first break.
But by seeking out songs with some kind of Scottish connection and pairing guitar with trad fiddle Redwood Mountain's Amy Geddes and Dean Owens do manage to shed some new light on the material.
Bleak subjects, cheery delivery Image: Matthew Magee
At The Glad Café Geddes and Owens led a good-natured romp through some pretty dark subject matter (wife-shootings, prostitution, slavery) set to their own new melodies. Katy Cruel, about a prostitute Owens said was probably Scottish, had a heavy northern influence, its dark harmonies and mournful fiddle turning it into a bleak lament.
Get Along Home Cindy was pure Americana, complete with enthusiastic audience singalong, while On The Range Of The Buffalo was plain, uncomplicated and bleak.
Get Along Home Cindy was pure Americana, complete with enthusiastic audience singalong, while On The Range Of The Buffalo was plain, uncomplicated and bleak.
Withering asides Image: Ken Barclay
Owens chatted merrily through some of the songs' backstories while Geddes punctured the bonhomie with cruelly funny withering asides.
Some of the songs had a slight pastiche feeling, but others were rich and touching. The music felt most interesting where the Scottish influence was heaviest, where you felt new lines and connections were being drawn, uncovering the common roots of two very different strands of folk music.
Some of the songs had a slight pastiche feeling, but others were rich and touching. The music felt most interesting where the Scottish influence was heaviest, where you felt new lines and connections were being drawn, uncovering the common roots of two very different strands of folk music.
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