DEER RUN DRIFTERS - RESTLESS YOUTH
2015 - Self Released
Deer Run Drifters consists of two sets of brothers and a bass player! Sounds like the cue for yet another feeble joke, but believe me this highly original five piece band are no joke. Their music is not only highly skilled but has a dynamic atmosphere that gives the impression they were born to make this music, which they probably were! This is the band's second album, with their debut being called 'Appalachian Blues,' the perfect name for the music made by this alt. country 'plus' band who hail from a small Appalachian town in Southwest Virginia.
The band line up is Chris Link on guitar and vocals, Joe Link, mandolin, Shane Edgell on banjo, Sean Edgell plays guitar and harmonica with Will Norton on bass. Chris Link has a high lonesome nasally twang that evokes days long gone, but this is modern alt. country string band music, despite the addition of a little percussion as their sound has evolved! His voice is laden with character and he has the ability to get inside his songs subject matter and completely inhabit them, dragging every last drop of emotion from the stories. Meanwhile the expert playing and arrangements of the bands instrumentation and strong melodies ensures a perfect mix of warmth and edginess.
Some band members have a background in Appalachian folk whilst others have more of an alt. country lineage. Their aim was to take the two elements and blend them with the music they grew up listening to whilst staying true to the older tradition. If we gauge the success of their aim on a percentage scale, there is no doubt they have succeeded 100% and whilst their sound is evolving there are little changes from their debut that generally are at least small improvements, large improvements not being possible from a band who make albums of this supreme quality. The deep taproot is in old timey Appalachian music but what makes them unique is their ability to project themselves as a modern band without ever losing sight or sound of their roots. There is so much variety in their instrumentation without ever resorting to using more than the above named instruments, their skills being such that they are able to blend these instruments in different ways giving the sound variety albeit often dominated by the banjo and with the occasional intervention of electric guitar. Chris Link's lyrics often have a poetic feel but the overriding feeling is that these are stories with great depth, some of them epic, that have been set to music.
The album opens with Good Days, its acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and deep bass getting things rolling before the lead vocal comes in on a song that whilst having a lovely warm melodic feel has an edgy reflective story line that is perfectly evoked by Chris Links vocal and the perfectly matched instrumentation and melody. That is followed by the title track Restless Youth, led by a lovely plinking, almost haunting, banjo sound that is rooted by the guitar, until that is, Chris Links evocative vocal comes in. That is supported by the harsh electric guitar break, before a lovely chiming mandolin softens the sound again, always with the banjo working away as the foundation alongside the bass. Things change slightly on Nirvana'd, a song that has a different sound, not by huge changes in instrumentation but by using a different blend of the same instruments, including a powerful bass line, with Chris Link and the banjo starting to take on the feeling that they are the dominant elements on the album; no bad thing when they are so distinctive. On the excellent Cadillac Ranch there is a repetitive drum sound on this guitar and banjo driven song about someone returning home to a derelict ranch and reflecting on the problems he has left behind him whilst looking forward to the life of poverty that awaits him. The occasional suppressed keyboards add to the deep cinematic nature of this evocative tale. Finally, Can't Blame You is an excellent song about someone who rather than showing his true, deeply hurt feelings to an ex lover, blames everything except his lover, although nothing helps to cover the depth of his pain. The tremendous banjo and guitar sound give the song a lovely full sound that adds to the dramatic feeling of hopelessness.
It is unlikely the Deer Run Drifters will ever be a 'mainstream' band; there is too much of an 'edge' to their music for that to happen and rather than be dictated to by a multinational company they plough their own musical furrow. There is also the point that the public at large seem to be attracted to smooth, often bland, vocal styles, something that Chris Link will never have with his edgy nasal drawl. And yet, that is a large part of what this band, with their old hillbilly roots, are defined by, giving them their uniqueness and holding such appeal for me and if given a chance, all 'roots music' aficionados. This is a tremendous album that is genuinely breaking new ground with its blend of their 'hillbilly' roots and a completely natural alt. country edge, although it is true to say that, on this album at least, the emphasis is on the former, but who knows in the future as their sound develops further. Because of that gradual development of their unusual sound I really can't wait to hear album number three!
http://www.thedeerrundrifters.com/
Deer Run Drifters consists of two sets of brothers and a bass player! Sounds like the cue for yet another feeble joke, but believe me this highly original five piece band are no joke. Their music is not only highly skilled but has a dynamic atmosphere that gives the impression they were born to make this music, which they probably were! This is the band's second album, with their debut being called 'Appalachian Blues,' the perfect name for the music made by this alt. country 'plus' band who hail from a small Appalachian town in Southwest Virginia.
The band line up is Chris Link on guitar and vocals, Joe Link, mandolin, Shane Edgell on banjo, Sean Edgell plays guitar and harmonica with Will Norton on bass. Chris Link has a high lonesome nasally twang that evokes days long gone, but this is modern alt. country string band music, despite the addition of a little percussion as their sound has evolved! His voice is laden with character and he has the ability to get inside his songs subject matter and completely inhabit them, dragging every last drop of emotion from the stories. Meanwhile the expert playing and arrangements of the bands instrumentation and strong melodies ensures a perfect mix of warmth and edginess.
Some band members have a background in Appalachian folk whilst others have more of an alt. country lineage. Their aim was to take the two elements and blend them with the music they grew up listening to whilst staying true to the older tradition. If we gauge the success of their aim on a percentage scale, there is no doubt they have succeeded 100% and whilst their sound is evolving there are little changes from their debut that generally are at least small improvements, large improvements not being possible from a band who make albums of this supreme quality. The deep taproot is in old timey Appalachian music but what makes them unique is their ability to project themselves as a modern band without ever losing sight or sound of their roots. There is so much variety in their instrumentation without ever resorting to using more than the above named instruments, their skills being such that they are able to blend these instruments in different ways giving the sound variety albeit often dominated by the banjo and with the occasional intervention of electric guitar. Chris Link's lyrics often have a poetic feel but the overriding feeling is that these are stories with great depth, some of them epic, that have been set to music.
The album opens with Good Days, its acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and deep bass getting things rolling before the lead vocal comes in on a song that whilst having a lovely warm melodic feel has an edgy reflective story line that is perfectly evoked by Chris Links vocal and the perfectly matched instrumentation and melody. That is followed by the title track Restless Youth, led by a lovely plinking, almost haunting, banjo sound that is rooted by the guitar, until that is, Chris Links evocative vocal comes in. That is supported by the harsh electric guitar break, before a lovely chiming mandolin softens the sound again, always with the banjo working away as the foundation alongside the bass. Things change slightly on Nirvana'd, a song that has a different sound, not by huge changes in instrumentation but by using a different blend of the same instruments, including a powerful bass line, with Chris Link and the banjo starting to take on the feeling that they are the dominant elements on the album; no bad thing when they are so distinctive. On the excellent Cadillac Ranch there is a repetitive drum sound on this guitar and banjo driven song about someone returning home to a derelict ranch and reflecting on the problems he has left behind him whilst looking forward to the life of poverty that awaits him. The occasional suppressed keyboards add to the deep cinematic nature of this evocative tale. Finally, Can't Blame You is an excellent song about someone who rather than showing his true, deeply hurt feelings to an ex lover, blames everything except his lover, although nothing helps to cover the depth of his pain. The tremendous banjo and guitar sound give the song a lovely full sound that adds to the dramatic feeling of hopelessness.
It is unlikely the Deer Run Drifters will ever be a 'mainstream' band; there is too much of an 'edge' to their music for that to happen and rather than be dictated to by a multinational company they plough their own musical furrow. There is also the point that the public at large seem to be attracted to smooth, often bland, vocal styles, something that Chris Link will never have with his edgy nasal drawl. And yet, that is a large part of what this band, with their old hillbilly roots, are defined by, giving them their uniqueness and holding such appeal for me and if given a chance, all 'roots music' aficionados. This is a tremendous album that is genuinely breaking new ground with its blend of their 'hillbilly' roots and a completely natural alt. country edge, although it is true to say that, on this album at least, the emphasis is on the former, but who knows in the future as their sound develops further. Because of that gradual development of their unusual sound I really can't wait to hear album number three!
http://www.thedeerrundrifters.com/