DURHAM COUNTY POETS
Grimshaw Road
Ormstown, Quebec, a small town in the Chateauguay Valley about an
hour or so southwest of Montreal, has a music scene that is seemingly out of
proportion to its size and the finest band to come out of that scene is
the Durham County Poets, a
five-piece unit whose mostly original repertoire encompasses such styles as
folk, blues, rock, swing and gospel – often mixed and matched within the same song.
I quite liked the Poets’ first two albums. Both Where the River Flows, released in 2012, and Chikkaboodah Stew, from 2014, were full of good songs and fine
performances. But, their brand new release, Grimshaw
Road, is their best yet. With more than five years of performing together, they’ve really gelled as a band and their songwriting – each of them
contributes or collaborates – is stronger than ever.
The band is fronted by lead singer Kevin Harvey, a naturally laid back vocalist who nails the essence
of whatever song he’s singing, bringing it to life in a way that serves the
music and, particularly, the lyrics. He’s well supported by guitarists David Whyte and Neil Elsmore, bassist Carl
Rufh and drummer Jim Preimel.
Several of the band members occasionally double on other instruments and there
are some guest musicians on some tracks including producer John McColgan on percussion and veteran Montreal saxophonist Jody Golick.
The album opens with the band in blues mode on “Grimshaw Road,” in
which the singer relates a late-night encounter with the devil. It sounds like
it could be an encounter like Robert
Johnson’s mythologized visit to the crossroads, but the narrator here hears
the sound of a heavenly choir and is guided away by an angel.
A few of my favorite songs on the album include the contemplative “Streets
and Sidewalks,” which is reminiscent of early James Taylor; the infectious “Monday Morning,” a swinging blues
about a workingman starting his week; the jazzy “Bowl Full of Lazy,” which
sounds like it could have come from one of Tom
Waits’ early LPs; and “Outside Cat,” a jump blues that could be taken
literally as a description of an actual cat prowling the neighborhood or
metaphorically as a hipster description of someone living by his own rules.
In addition to the original material there are two songs not written
by members of the Durham County Poets. Both are great performances and both
feature guest vocalists in duet with Kevin. On a beautiful version of the late Penny Lang’s “Diamonds on the Water,”
they are joined by Michael Jerome Browne
(I presume this is one of the songs they’ll perform on June 15 at the Montreal Folk Fest on the Canal’s tribute concert to Penny) and their version of Blind Willie Johnson's “On
Your Bond,” with Suzie Vinnick, comes
from deep in the gospel well.
One minor complaint: The CD digipac and lyric booklet feature black-and-white photos – which I quite like – but the lettering for the credits and lyrics are in white and, unfortunately, white lettering on a black-and-white background is frequently difficult to read.
Among the stops on the Durham County Poets’ series of
album-launching concerts is a show here in the Ottawa area on Friday, June 16, 8 pm, at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield.
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--Mike Regenstreif
After 5 years of playing together they are still having fun and that's the way it should be. Great job fellows.
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