DEBORAH ROBINS
Lone Journey
Zippety Whippet Music
On Lone Journey, Deborah Robins offers a set of 23 lovingly performed traditional
folksongs and composed songs that have mostly entered the folk tradition – sung
and played front porch or kitchen table style – mostly solo or with occasional
backup from Larry Hanks, her husband
and usual performing partner.
Deborah has a
lovely voice and accompanies herself solidly on nylon-string guitar and
banjo-guitar (a banjo head with a guitar neck and strings so it essentially
sounds like a banjo but plays like a guitar).
Among my favorite
tracks on this generous set are a pretty version of “Tell Old Bill” (which I
can’t listen to without remembering my late friend Dave Van Ronk); “Goodbye to My Stepstone,” a coming-of-age song
sung from the perspective of a young person leaving home to make his or her own
way in the world; “Take It Slow and Easy,” one of Jesse Fuller’s goodtime blues songs featuring Larry playing some
fine Lead Belly-style 12-string guitar; and a sprightly version of “Dance,
Boatman, Dance,” an infectious riverboat song learned from Bob Gibson.
Lone Journey is a nice reminder of the
simple joys of traditional folk music.
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--Mike
Regenstreif
