NORA JANE STRUTHERS & THE PARTY LINE
Country Carnival Pack
Norajanestruthers.com
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Are you sick of
Country music that sounds like that slick 1980s pop-rock genre called “New
Country?” Are you ready for some Old Country? The kind where pedal steel wails,
voices keen, and fiddles fly during the breakouts? Check out the latest EP from
the angelic Nora Jane Struthers, who might just have the most gorgeous voice
since Lori McKenna broke through. Country
Pack is a sampler from her 2013 release Carnival
with a few other tracks thrown in; including her killer cover of “Till I Kissed
You,” an Everly Brothers classic. It’s typical of Struthers’ approach--a
vintage piece or rockabilly, complete with strong walking bass lines from Brian
Duncan and gorgeous close harmony singing with Joe Overton. The latter also
plays banjo, as we hear on "Party Line," the song for which the band
is named. Overton also hews more to tradition than to innovation. Not that
there’s anything wrong with Bela Fleck-like artistic improv, but if you want to
induce the feeling of coal dust Appalachia, Overton’s is the better musical
frame.
I have read that
Ms. Struthers is a fan of vintage clothing as well as retro music. It is, of
course, a risk to turn back the clock, but Struthers and her band are not a
Country version of Sha Na Na. Quite the opposite. Her Appalachian-style tunes
sound stump-water genuine, her bluegrass selections evoke backwoods creeks, and
her honky-tonk conjures the smell of stale beer rather than overpriced
Chardonnay. On "Carnival" we rekindle the sense of wonderment from a
country fair and that whirl of energy we associate with simpler times. This is
Country-folk music that’s about love gone wrong, hope, hard times, simple
things, the road, and the cabin. "Must Have Been Out of Mind" feels
like what you'd get if you crossed heartbreak Country with gospel music. Each track manages to be complex
musically without overwhelming Struthers’ voice or resorting to studio
chicanery. Loved it! –Rob Weir
Check this track on YouTube.
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