Two Young Musicians Use Finesse to Cut Close to Traditional-Roots Bone
An interesting collection I received a while back is a Michigan duo effort who have mastered traditional Americana despite their geographical location. After a few listens you would think they were from Appalachia or areas in that vicinity. But music today is quite universal. I have heard great blues from Europeans who never stepped onto delta soil or traversed anywhere in Chicago. Yet, their knowledge and performances are solid.
With their fourth album “Fall Away Blues,” – Red Tail Ring has a diverse recipe of traditional, old-time, and newly realized melodies and it’s all done with adept professionalism. You can hardly tell what was vintage and what was just recently written by the duo themselves.
The duo — relatively young — is nonetheless impressive because their minimalist sound is as if they’ve been playing for decades. No pomp and circumstance. No showboating. Laurel Premo plays fiddle and banjo and sings while her partner Michael Beauchamp handles guitar, banjo, and vocals. With a name like that he should be playing Cajun and zydeco.
On this new album, they perform with spare instrumentation in a manner that is still spiritually steeped in the power of their delivery. Back porch for certain, but accomplished and authentic. Neither has a distinctive voice – something different like John Prine or Iris DeMent, but they do have inspired vocals. You know they love what they sing and what they play and you can sense they understand what this music is. When the duo sings together there are potent reminisces of the duets between John Prine and Iris (“In Spite of Ourselves”). There are even some remembrances of the late Richard and Mimi Farina in their approach.
“Gibson Town,” is a well-delivered track – with soulful banjo plucking by Michael who also gives one of his finest vocals. Laurel plays something called a gourd banjo and when her vocals join Michael’s their voices breathe atmosphere into the lyric. According to the PR, the tune is about the tragic Kalamazoo, Michigan mass shooting in February 2016. It reinterprets a haunting Muddy Waters melody to lyrics as stark and intense as: “They caught a man on Ransom Street/ he went out with a loaded gun, now eight bullets gone, now eight bullets gone…Can a chain of a thousand hands, bear the pain of such a night?”
That’s great folk lyrics from a young pair of musicians. These two have not just decided to refresh and regurgitate old standards they add a touch of today and personalize their work so their audiences can relate to the story. There are many, many old folk songs out there that are over 75 years old and have fallen into the public domain. The lyrics may be dated but the original compositions/melodies still have potency. It’s not plagiarizing when you try to maintain a song’s depth into another era – you continue to credit the original author and if their relatives are still alive they can reap the rewards as well. This is what folk music is all about. Lyrics in old melodies have been updated for centuries.
“Gibson Town,” is an exceptional example and Laurel’s “Visiting,” starts with some passive banjo and acoustic guitar in a moody melody. The voices of Michael and Laurel in unison have excellent chemistry. This male/female duo is not so much a Sonny & Cher as a possible reincarnation of Richard & Linda Thompson. However, with that, some of their songs would have to step up a little darker, a little more energetic and feisty. On this track, they display their finesse and control. Much the same as Christine Collister & Clive Gregson. But, perhaps their voices are set a little further apart in color and that needs to be worked out.
In some cases, a folk music lover would say smoothed out, in this case, I would say crumpled up a little. Michael and Laurel are so good that their voices at times are too silky and perfect for this kind of music. They need to get down into the dirt a little and sound like they lived the words they are singing. Is that criticism? Not really. Their performances are admirable as is. But in order to sustain an audience, they need that additional vinegar in some tunes. In some tunes. Julie & Buddy Miller had it.
“Camp Meeting on the 4th of July / May Day,” is a beautiful fiddle workout by Laurel. The tune is traditional with some Laurel Premo tweaking. It has passion, it shimmers and the tone of her fiddle is hearty. Though it’s just an instrumental her showcase keeps your interest throughout. Laurel then starts “Yarrow,” — and this has that ever-pleasant Celtic type melody that runs through it. The composition is traditional with an additional credit Child 214. This is a beautifully realized folk-tale with no showboating, just persistent, tight musical layers controlled solely by two exceptional performers. Laurel’s lead banjo jells cleanly with the whipped cream of Michael’s acoustic guitar.
Michael’s lead vocal on his own composition “A Ghost Whispers,” reminded me of the excellent hippie-folk singer-songwriter, Shawn Phillips, when he recorded his 70’s album “Collaboration.” On that album, Shawn’s vocal on “Moonshine/Armed” is reminiscent of the way Michael sings today and that is not bad at all. Phillips has recorded countless successful albums over the decades so he is no wannabe. Each word pronounced clean and clear. Phillips’ — later in his career — became a little more grandstanding on his albums but his quiet tunes are similar to these. This song features banjo/acoustic guitar with an emphasis on the melody. Michael is a little looser with his vocal and it’s effective. A change from some of the other tunes he sings lead on.
Laurel closes the album with an assured fiddle on “I’d Rather Be the Devil,” and as the PR mentions she channels Skip James’ ethereal falsetto through her fiddle playing. I couldn’t agree more. Laurel has added new lyrics to this classic blues song and will probably add several new decades’ life to it.
Laurel singing the blues – this folk lady does it! Evidenced by the live version video enclosed here. She even has the bona fide blues facial expressions and she gave me goosebumps. She hits her desired notes with ease and she sustains her vocal like the flavors of whiskey on ice cream. This may be her fallback forte because she had that Bonnie Raitt aesthetic cut to the bone. Laurel is a pleasure to watch live seated in a chair – she has the body and head movements that suggest an ass-kicking performer if she ever gets up from that chair — the way Elvis did in his ’68 Comeback Special when he finally got up from his chair. Thoroughly enjoyable duo. Watch the video.
If she ever decides to cut loose with a full-tilt blues band Laurel would be…. uh, something for sure. But for now, Laurel and her fiddle blues supported by Michael’s banjo is delivered with sufficient inspiration and gusto. When Michael supports Laurel’s vocals on the chorus the interlocking sound of their voices is textured and organic. OK, it’s not down and dirty blues yet, and it’s not a foot-stomping juke joint blues. It’s a folk take off on a blues song and it shows how easily an excellent song can adapt into historic roots credibility.
The finale has Laurel letting loose with her vocal (she can do it, but she just skims the surface here). Her fiddle playing is wonderful as applied with Michael’s banjo. For just two accomplished musicians — Michael and Laurel take a listener on an inspiring formidable journey.
The 12-song CD was produced by Red Tail Ring and the CD art was designed by Laurel Premo. It includes attractive photos of Laurel on the cover and Michael on the back panel – as photographed by Mary Whalen. There is a small leaflet booklet enclosed with all the lyrics and composition credits.
Website: http://redtailring.com/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/redtailring/
Bandcamp: https://redtailring.bandcamp.com/
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this review/commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of No Depression. All photography is owned by the respective photographers and is their copyrighted image; credited where photographer’s name was known & being used here solely as a reference and will be removed on request. YouTube images are standard YouTube license.
John Apice / No Depression / May 2017