Pete Seeger -- Tomorrow's Children

PETE SEEGER with THE RIVERTOWN KIDS AND FRIENDS
Tomorrow’s Children
Appleseed Records
peteseeger.net

Despite vocal powers that have diminished with age, Pete Seeger remains a vital activist, song leader and musician. Tomorrow’s Children, most of which features Pete singing with or backing up the Rivertown Kids, a group of 20 school kids from around his hometown of Beacon, New York, as well as some other kids and several adult musical friends, is an inspiring album that captures the great sage of the folk music scene doing something that he’s always loved: singing meaningful songs with members of the generation that will carry on making a difference into the future.

Pete is present on every song – variously as a musician, a chorus-singer or a song leader. But it is his inspiration on the youngsters of the Rivertown Kids – and on the adult contributors, too – that makes this album unique.

The manifesto of the Rivertown Kids is heard in “We Sing Out,” a collective song the kids wrote based on the melody of Tom Paxton’s “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound.” The kids reject the notion that they should be seen, not heard, as they declare their interest in protecting the environment, family farms and local communities, their solidarity with the sick and the poor, and their commitment to justice and equality. Their message is repeated in the series of new verses they wrote to “We Shall Not Be Moved,” the old spiritual that Pete helped popularize as a union and civil rights anthem.

Among the adult contributors to the album are Dar Williams and David Bernz, who are heard with Pete on “Solartopia,” a new song inspired by Harvey Wasserman’s book of the same name on green energy; Sarah Underhill, who sings “River,” my favourite Bill Staines song, with Pete; and David Amram and Victorio Roland Mousaa who perform “Mastinchele Wachipi Olewan (The Rabbit Song),” a Lakota round dance song.

Ultimately, I think this album is a step in Pete’s passing of the torch to younger generations. There is a version of “Turn, Turn, Turn” with new children’s verses written by Toshi Seeger (Pete’s wife), and a version of Pete’s classic “Quite Early Morning,” sung with the Rivertown Kids, that says “And so keep on while we live/Until we have no more to give/And when these fingers can strum no longer/Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger.”

Pete wrote “Quite Early Morning” back in the late-1960s. Clearly, he wasn’t ready to give up his banjo or guitar 40-something years ago. Now, at 91, Pete Seeger still has more to give and his fingers continue to keep on strumming. And Pete's still got a firm hand on the torch.

--Mike Regenstreif

This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history (July 27-August 2)

Folk Roots/Folk Branches with Mike Regenstreif was a Thursday tradition on CKUT in Montreal for nearly 14 years from February 3, 1994 until August 30, 2007 (and around the world via the web for most of those years). Folk Roots/Folk Branches continued for some time as occasional features on CKUT, and is now a blog. Here’s the 48th instalment of “This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches,” a weekly look back continuing through next August at some of the most notable guests, features and moments in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history.

July 27, 1995: Show theme- Train songs.
July 29, 1999: Guest- Julie Adams.
July 28, 2005: Extended features- Tributes to the late John Herald and the late Long John Baldry.
July 27, 2006: Guests- Terry Joe “Banjo” & Dara Weiss.
August 2, 2007: Guests- Kim Beggs & Bob Hamilton.

--Mike Regenstreif

ALLISON BROWN
Viper at the Virgin’s Feet
Allison Brown
allisonbrown.ca

Clear-voiced singer and songwriter Allison Brown – who should not to be confused with Alison Brown, the Nashville-based banjo virtuoso – spent several years hosting a folk music radio program (an activity I know something about) on CHRW in London, Ontario. Listening to Viper at the Virgin’s Feet, her second CD, it is rather obvious that she’s listened to a lot of great music and has let the timelessness of traditional music and generations of great artists inform her own songwriting and her wise choice to balance her repertoire with well-chosen traditional and contemporary folksongs.

Allison has a particular affinity for gospel music, an influence that you can hear with some subtlety in “All the Birds,” the original song that kicks off the CD, and more overtly in “Something Holy,” an original that she sings with the skill of a veteran bluegrass singer. She also applies that bluegrass approach to a fine version of “In My Time of Dying,” an African American gospel song from the repertoire of Josh White that Bob Dylan did on his first album. She also does a fine medley that moves from the white gospel tradition on “Uncloudy Day” to the black gospel tradition on “Evenin’ Train.”

My two favourite tracks on the CD are Allison’s versions of Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho & Lefty” and Iris DeMent’s “Our Town.” Both of these songs have had several classic interpretations and her versions stand tall among them. Producer David Essig’s lead guitar work and Rick Scott’s harmony vocals on “Pancho & Lefty” are a perfect touch. Her take on “Our Town,” to my mind DeMent’s best song, is simply lovely.

--Mike Regenstreif

Red Horse -- Gilkyson, Gorka, Kaplansky

RED HORSE
Red Horse
Red House Records
redhouserecords.com/redhorse.html

Red Horse is a project that brings together three of today’s finest singer-songwriters, Eliza Gilkyson, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky, as a kind of contemporary folk supergroup (something that Lucy did about a dozen years ago with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell as Cry Cry Cry). There are 12 songs with each taking the lead vocal on four with the others providing some gorgeous harmonies. Each sings one of their own songs, one written by each of the other two, and one cover tune.

It’s a lovely, compelling CD filled with exquisite arrangements of superbly written songs. Given the three principals, how could it be anything but?

Eliza opens the album with a lovely version of Neil Young’s “I Am a Child,” that perfectly captures the song’s naïveté. Later in the album Eliza offers lovely versions of Lucy’s “Promise Me,” a slow, luxurious love song; John’s “Forget to Breathe,” a dreamer’s imagining of a more perfect world; and her own “Walk Away from Love,” a song she first recorded on Hard Times In Babylon.

Lucy’s first song is a fine reprise of her love song “Scorpion,” originally recorded on Flesh and Bone. She goes on to sing sublime versions of Eliza’s “Sanctuary,” a song I’ve always interpreted as a kind of prayer from someone dealing with something dark and difficult; John’s “Blue Chalk,” a compassionate song about others in those dark and difficult places; and the traditional “Wayfaring Stranger.”

John’s first song in the spotlight is Eliza’s “Wild Horse,” a new song to me (it’s not on any of the seven of Eliza’s albums on my shelves) that captures the essence of a free spirit in an arrangement that is seemingly perfect in its sparseness. John goes for a fuller production in his folk-rock version of Lucy’s love song, “Don’t Mind Me,” and then gets beautifully sparse again on the very folkish “Coshieville,” a song written by Stuart McGregor but which I associate with the great Scottish folksinger Archie Fisher, and his own “If These Walls Could Talk,” which I also don’t recognize and assume to be a new song.

This is a CD I expect to listen to often in the months – indeed, years – to come. My one criticism is that the album was recorded in three different places with the files passed around so that the others could add their parts. While this approach resulted in a beautiful album, I miss the spontaneity that could have only come from Eliza, John and Lucy being in the studio and singing live from the floor together.

The cover art, by the way, is a painting by Tom Russell, a great singer and songwriter who has also become increasingly recognized for his great visual art.

--Mike Regenstreif

This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history (July 20-July 26)

Folk Roots/Folk Branches with Mike Regenstreif was a Thursday tradition on CKUT in Montreal for nearly 14 years from February 3, 1994 until August 30, 2007 (and around the world via the web for most of those years). Folk Roots/Folk Branches continued for some time as occasional features on CKUT, and is now a blog. Here’s the 47th instalment of “This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches,” a weekly look back continuing through next August at some of the most notable guests, features and moments in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history.

July 21, 1994: Extended feature- Songs about baseball.
July 20, 1995: Guest- Brian Morton.
July 22, 1999: Guest- Brendan Nolan.
July 20, 2000: Guest- Rory Block.
July 25, 2002: Extended features- Tributes to the late Alan Lomax and the late Dave Carter.

July 24, 2003: Guest- Priscilla Herdman.

July 21, 2005: Extended feature- The 40th anniversary (July 25) of Bob Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival.

July 26, 2007: Guests- Ron Hynes; Bruce Murdoch.
July 24, 2008 (Folk Roots/Folk Branches feature): Summer songs.

Pictured: (top) Mike Regenstreif and Priscilla Herdman at the 2000 Champlain Valley Folk Festival; (centre) Ron Hynes and Mike Regenstreif at the 2007 Branches & Roots Festival; (bottom) Mike Regenstreif and Bruce Murdoch at the 2007 Branches & Roots Festival.

--Mike Regenstreif

Montreal Celtfest – July 31

Montreal Celtfest, a new Celtic music festival produced by the folks at Hello Darlin’ Productions and Hyperbole Music – the same folks that have been producing the Folk Festival on the Canal for the past three years – in association with the Montreal Highland Games and McAuslin Brewery is set to take place, July 31, noon-8:00 pm, on the grounds of the George Springate Sports Centre (behind Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School) in the Montreal West island suburb of Pierrefonds in advance of the Montreal Highland Games which happen the next day at the same location.

The festival has a very promising line-up that begins with pipers and highland dancers and will include sets by Belfast Andi & Swift Years, who did a fine set at the Canal festival last month; Ennis, a sister duo from Newfoundland whose harmonies are thrilling; The Once, a Newfoundland trio that I’ve not yet heard myself but about whom I’ve heard great things; and Sarah Burnell, one of Canada’s finest young fiddlers, who was in a fiddle workshop I hosted a few years ago at the Ottawa Folk Festival.

There will also be two sets featuring flute and whistle virtuoso Dave Gossage, probably Montreal’s Celtic music MVP. One set has Dave fronting his own group and the other features him as part of Solstice. Dave’s set at the Canal festival in June absolutely blew me away. It was the first time I’d heard him since his days in Orealis with the late Kirk MacGeachy and everything about his set was world class.

Speaking of Kirk MacGeachy, the stage at Celtfest will be named in his memory.

There will also be on-site rugby and hurling games. Hurling, BTW, is a game and does not refer to the activity that happens in Irish pubs when the denizens have had too much to drink.

Tickets are available at the gate or by calling Hello Darlin’ Productions at 514-524-9225.

--Mike Regenstreif

This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history (July 13-July 19)

Folk Roots/Folk Branches with Mike Regenstreif was a Thursday tradition on CKUT in Montreal for nearly 14 years from February 3, 1994 until August 30, 2007 (and around the world via the web for most of those years). Folk Roots/Folk Branches continued for some time as occasional features on CKUT, and is now a blog. Here’s the 46th instalment of “This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches,” a weekly look back continuing through next August at some of the most notable guests, features and moments in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history.

July 14, 1994: Extended feature- Bill Staines.
July 13, 1995: Extended feature- Robert Earl Keen.
July 17, 1997: Guest- Paul Geremia.
July 16, 1998: Guest- Dave Van Ronk.
July 15, 1999: Guest- Eric Bibb.
July 13, 2000: Guest- Josh White, Jr.
July 19, 2001: Extended feature- Tribute to the late Mimi Fariña.
July 14, 2005: Show theme- A Woody Guthrie Special on the 93rd anniversary of his birth.
July 19, 2007: Guest- Brendan Nolan.
July 17, 2008 (Folk Roots/Folk Branches feature): Daughters of familiar artists.

Pictured: Mike Regenstreif, Nora Guthrie, Kris Kristofferson and Jimmy LaFave talk about the enduring legacy of Woody Guthrie at the 2007 Ottawa Folk Festival.

--Mike Regenstreif

Ruth Moody -- The Garden

RUTH MOODY
The Garden
Red House Records
ruthmoody.com

Ruth Moody grew up in a Winnipeg-based family that studied and played classical music. Drawn to folk music, she first made her mark on the folk scene as the lead singer of a Celtic-oriented band called Scruj MacDuhk.

Shortly after Scruj MacDuhk broke up, Ruth got together with Cara Luft and Nicky Mehta and formed the sublimely harmonious Wailin’ Jennys which, despite Cara’s early departure – she was replaced by Annabelle Chvostek who was later replaced by Heather Masse -- has become and remained one of the most popular folk groups of the past decade.

The Garden, a kind of chamber-folk album that reflect Ruth’s interests in folk and roots-oriented pop music as well as her classically-influenced background, is her first full-length solo release and it’s a set of fine compositions made riveting by her intimate arrangements – she variously plays guitar, banjo, piano, ukulele and accordion, and surrounds herself with some excellent musicians and harmony singers – and lovely soprano voice.

While I quite enjoy the entire CD, my favourite songs include “The Garden,” which opens like a solo Appalachian folksong with Ruth singing to her banjo but builds into a gorgeous full stringband arrangement featuring the members of Crooked Still, including Aoife O’Donovan on harmony vocals; “Never Said Goodbye,” a lovely, lonely, piano-and-strings ballad that seems so reminiscent of my late friend Kate McGarrigle; and “Closer Now,” which reminds me of Ruth’s best work with the Wailin’ Jennys (and which features gorgeous harmonies from Jenny-mates Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse).

--Mike Regenstreif

Andy Cohen -- Built Right on the Ground

ANDY COHEN
Built Right on the Ground
Earwig Music
andycohenmusic.net

It’s probably close to 40 years since the first time I encountered Andy Cohen. I was a teenager immersed in the folk scene and he would have been in his 20s and already an accomplished traditional blues revivalist. I think I first heard him when Bruce “Utah” Phillips got me to come down and hang out in Saratoga Springs where he was a prime mover in Wildflowers, a musicians’ co-op that also included Andy. Not too long after that, I recall him showing up in Montreal to play at the Yellow Door. I sat and listened closely to Andy play three sets a night for three nights in a row.

Thinking back to those days, I’m reminded of something the young Bob Dylan said about 10 years earlier:

“I ain't that good yet. I don't carry myself yet the way that Big Joe Williams, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Lightnin' Hopkins have carried themselves. I hope to be able to someday, but they're older people.”

Dylan’s point – I think – was that this kind of music is something you keep growing into, something that reflects your lifetime of experience. The truly dedicated revivalists of that period – people like the late Dave Van Ronk, the late “Philadelphia” Jerry Ricks, Paul Geremia, Roy Book Binder, Chris Smither, Martin Grosswendt, Rory Block and a few others, including Andy Cohen – have kept on getting better as they’ve gotten older. Listening to Andy now, in concert – I saw him do a house concert in Ottawa recently – or on this fine new CD, is a much deeper musical experience than it was, circa 1972, when I saw him at the Yellow Door.

These are primarily old songs and instrumentals that Andy is playing. Most date from the first half of the previous century and are drawn from the repertoires of the regional artists who defined early blues, jazz, country and folk music and who mixed these different strains of music together to create the wonderful music of what Greil Marcus dubbed “old weird America.” Picking the bejeezus out of his vintage Gibson J-45, or pounding boogie woogie patterns on the piano, and singing like he’s lived these songs, Andy gives us riveting renditions of such numbers as Big Bill Broonzy’s “Mopper’s Blues,” Jelly Roll Morton’s “Grandpa’s Spells” and Memphis Minnie’s “Me and My Chauffeur.”

As a life-long Woody Guthrie aficionado, I must call your attention to Andy’s hilarious version of “Mean Talkin’ Blues.” It’s the only version, other than Guthrie’s, that I can ever remember hearing.

In Andy’s hands, these old songs are hardly museum pieces. They are vital, fresh and contemporary (there’s even a clever reference to Barack Obama in his updated version of Sam McGee’s “Railroad Blues”). There is also Andy’s newly-composed “Jim Dickinson Stomp,” a most-worthy tribute to the late and legendary Memphis musician and record producer that Andy plays on guitar and dolceola, and a really nice version of Bobby Charles’ beautiful “Tennessee Blues,” that features Larkin Bryant, Andy’s wife, on mandolin and harmony vocals.

--Mike Regenstreif

This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history (July 6-July 12)

Folk Roots/Folk Branches with Mike Regenstreif was a Thursday tradition on CKUT in Montreal for nearly 14 years from February 3, 1994 until August 30, 2007 (and around the world via the web for most of those years). Folk Roots/Folk Branches continued for some time as occasional features on CKUT, and is now a blog. Here’s the 45th instalment of “This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches,” a weekly look back continuing through next August at some of the most notable guests, features and moments in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history.

July 7, 1994: Extended feature- Odetta.
July 9, 1998: Guest- Judy Collins.
July 8, 1999: Guest- Kelly Joe Phelps.
July 6, 2000: Guest- Kelly Joe Phelps.
July 11, 2002: Extended feature- A tribute to Woody Guthrie in advance of the 90th anniversary (July 14) of his birth.
July 8, 2004: Extended feature- Tribute to the late Sis Cunningham.
July 7, 2005: Guest- Ruthie Foster.
July 12, 2007: Show theme- A tribute to Woody Guthrie in advance of the 95th anniversary (July 14) of his birth.
July 10, 2008 (Folk Roots/Folk Branches feature): Tom Russell interprets others’ songs.
July 9, 2009 (Folk Roots/Folk Branches feature): Tribute to the late Jackie Washington.

Pictured: Jackie Washington and Mike Regenstreif at Library & Archives Canada in Ottawa (2008).


--Mike Regenstreif

Steve Gillette -- The Man

STEVE GILLETTE
The Man
Compass Rose Music
abouttheman.com

The Man is a very different kind of album for Steve Gillette – one of the finest folk-oriented singer-songwriters since the 1960s. (His best-known song is “Darcy Farrow,” a standard of the folk repertoire since Ian & Sylvia recorded it about 45 years ago.)

The Man is a concept album that tells the story of Danny Murrow, a guitar player who was there at the dawn and flowering of the jazz age in the early decades of the 20th century leading up to and including the Great Depression and Second World War. Steve uses a combination of spoken word narration on top of instrumental versions of songs from that era, songs from those days he sings in Danny’s character, and several original songs that he wrote – and one Bessie Smith song that he rewrote – to move the story along.

Steve tells Danny’s story using a combination of fact and fiction. The fictional Danny interacts with all kinds of real musicians including the likes of Paul Whiteman, Bix Biederbecke, Bessie Smith, as well as John Hammond, the legendary talent scout and record producer. He picks up songs from Fats Waller, Count Basie and Yip Harburg and is affected by the contemporary events of the world from the racism of the era to the stock market crash and the loss of his son in the war – an event that leads him into a period of intense soul searching in which he concludes (in one of Steve's original songs) that "God is love, only love, nothing more, nothing less."

Steve surrounds himself with some great musicians on these tracks including the likes of Bill Shontz, Peter Davis, Dave Davies and Peter Ecklund on horns; Randy Wolchek and Steve’s late father, George Gillette, on piano; Jack Williams on guitar; Scott Petito, Glen Fukunaga and David Jackson on bass; Mark Graham on harmonica; and Paul Pearcy on drums. Among the all-star back-up singers are Cindy Mangsen; Kim and Reggie Harris; and Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino (Magpie).

I love what Steve has done with this album. In telling Danny’s fictional story, he’s also giving us a small slice of the early jazz world.

Steve has also put together a website about the project that is well worth checking out.

--Mike Regenstreif

Jeff Healey -- Last Call

JEFF HEALEY
Last Call
Stony Plain
jeffhealey.com

The late Jeff Healey (1966-2008) was – with great reason – one of Canada’s most popular blues-rock guitarists and an exciting bandleader. He was also an expert on the hot jazz and swing of the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s – I remember some great radio shows he hosted on the CBC playing old 78s – and, in the last decade or so before cancer took his life, went public as a traditional jazz singer, trumpet player and guitarist, touring and recording a series of fine albums with the Jazz Wizards, a group distinct from his blues-rock band. As much as I enjoyed hearing Jeff play blues-rock, I much preferred hearing him in the jazz context.

And, as much as I enjoyed hearing Healey in the Jazz Wizards, he was, apparently, frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t be singing and playing the trumpet and multiple guitar parts all at once. So, for his final recording project, Jeff decided to do an album on which he’d overdub most of the parts himself. Just two other musicians, violinist Drew Jurecka and pianist-clarinetist Ross Wooldridge, join him on selected tracks.

All 14 songs are a joy to hear. Listen to his amazing playing – rhythm guitar, lead guitar and trumpet – and singing on “Some of These Days.” It’s just one guy doing the job of four musicians and sounding better and tighter than most bands.

Healey turns in another amazing two-guitars-and-vocal performance on “Hong Kong Blues,” one of my favourite songs by the great Hoagy Carmichael, one of my all-time favourite songwriters.

There are several wonderful instrumentals including “Guitar Duet Stomp,” which, as the title implies, is Healey playing two guitar parts; and two guitar-violin duets – “The Wildcat” and “Black and Blue Bottom” – with Jurecka that pay tribute to the great guitar-violin recordings of the ‘30s by Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti.

Healey recorded this album just a few weeks after undergoing major surgery. You can’t tell from listening to his great playing and fine singing that he wasn’t in great shape. Sadly, he lost his battle with cancer about a year after laying down these tracks.

--Mike Regenstreif

This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history (June 29-July 5)

Folk Roots/Folk Branches with Mike Regenstreif was a Thursday tradition on CKUT in Montreal for nearly 14 years from February 3, 1994 until August 30, 2007 (and around the world via the web for most of those years). Folk Roots/Folk Branches continued for some time as occasional features on CKUT, and is now a blog. Here’s the 44th instalment of “This week in Folk Roots/Folk Branches,” a weekly look back continuing through next August at some of the most notable guests, features and moments in Folk Roots/Folk Branches history.

June 30, 1994: Show theme- All Canadian music.
June 29, 1995: Show theme- All Canadian music.
July 3, 1997: Guest- Guy Davis.
July 2, 1998: Guest- Chris Smither.
July 1, 1999: Show theme- All Canadian music.
July 4, 2002: Guest- David Amram.
July 3, 2003: Guests- Jay McShann and Duke Robillard.
July 1, 2004: Show theme- All Canadian music.
June 30, 2005: Guests- Eric Bibb and Michael Jerome Browne.

June 29, 2006: Guest- David Clayton-Thomas.
July 5, 2007: Guests- Chris Jagger; Eleni Mandell.

Pictured (top): Michael Jerome Browne, Mike Regenstreif and Eric Bibb at CKUT during Folk Roots/Folk Branches on June 30, 2005.

Pictured (lower): Mike Regenstreif and David Clayton-Thomas at CKUT during Folk Roots/Folk Branches on June 29, 2006.

--Mike Regenstreif

Oliver Schroer -- Freedom Row

OLIVER SCHROER & THE STEWED TOMATOES
Freedom Row
Borealis
oliverschroer.com

The late Oliver Schroer (1956-2008) was a great Canadian violinist/fiddler, composer, record producer, accompanist, and music teacher whose music – rooted in classical, folk, jazz and many strains of world music – seemed to know no boundaries. He remained vital and creative even through the final year and days of his life as he battled and finally succumbed, with great dignity, to a particularly virulent form of leukemia.

Oli recorded some of the basic tracks for Freedom Row about 10 years before he died and, for whatever reasons, set the album aside working on it sporadically over the years and then intensively, even from his hospital bed, in his final months as he battled leukemia. While Hymns and Hers, another album that Oli worked on during the battle was quiet and spiritual, Freedom Row is an album of joyous, lively tunes that reflect his positive, optimistic outlook on life.

There is a wonderful blending of musical genres, styles and feelings in some of these tunes. “Paddy in Timbuktu” mixes Irish and West African influences, “Jora Dance” reflects the joy found in many of the world’s folk dancing traditions, while “Don Victor’s Parade,” reminds me of New Orleans Mardi Gras music (despite being inspired by a musician Oli met on a Mexican island).

Other favourites here include “All the Little Children in the World,” a fiddle tune with a sing-along chorus, “Dancing on the Waves,” which has the feel of a Cajun waltz, and the funky, percussive “Barking Spiders.”

The core musicians of the Stewed Tomatoes who appear on most tracks include bassist David Woodhead, drummer Rich Greenspoon, percussionist Ben Grossman and guitarist Rich Pell. All kinds of other great players (and singers) make cameo appearances on various tunes.

In his liner notes to the tune, “Fiddle with a Broken Wing,” Oli said “this tune had a limping quality that reminded me of a bird with a broken wing, still trying to take flight somehow.” Although the tune may have been composed many years before his illness, to me, it’s a metaphor for the determination he showed to always remain a vital and creative force. Oliver Schroer lives on in the music he left for us.

--Mike Regenstreif

Merle Haggard -- I Am What I Am

MERLE HAGGARD
I Am What I Am
Vanguard
merlehaggard.com

I’ve always felt that Merle Haggard is one of the all-time great and definitive artists in country music. Real country music that is – not the homogenized, kinda-twangy, committee-written, focus group-approved stuff that Nashville major labels and country radio have specialized in for years, if not decades.

Without major label constraints and hit single pressure, Haggard – like such peers as Willie Nelson (most of the time) and the late Johnny Cash – is free to be who he is as an authentic, roots-oriented, jazz-inflected country singer and songwriter. “I am what I am” he tells us in the title track to this album, the latest in a string of several fine albums he’s released over the past 10 years or so, and that’s just fine with me. He-what-he-is retains the authenticity that I want to hear in a singer and songwriter.

Among my favourites of these 12 songs are “Oil Tanker Train,” a sweet, childhood reminiscence about a train – carrying a cargo of oil – that would pass by his childhood home, “Live and Love Always,” a nifty, western swing and Dixieland duet with wife Theresa Haggard, and “Mexican Bands,” his gringo’s tribute to Mexican music (and food).

Haggard receives able back-up throughout from the Strangers, his longtime band, which is supplemented judiciously by just a few other musicians. The arrangements remain faithful to his classic sound.

--Mike Regenstreif