HILLFOLK NOIR – WHAT’S THAT HAT FOR
2013 – Self Released
Having seen this talented trio live just a couple of days after giving a first play to this new recording, it’s difficult to avoid going over the top on this review. Their show was an absolute knockout that consisted of their take on what I would describe as authentic hillbilly music, often including some of their their own modern originals that blend so well with the old songs the seam is non existent! Their description of the music is ‘Junkerdash,’ probably more appropriate as it is unique to them, with them being pretty much unique in this 21st century. Had they existed way back in the 1920s they would probably now be talked about as ‘early stars of country music,’ such are their abilities to portray this genre with
such an enormous depth of feeling and authenticity.
The trio is comprised of husband and wife team, Travis and Allison Ward, with the former playing national resonator guitar, banjo, harmonica and most lead vocals and the latter on washboard, banjo and kazoo as well as being one of the most skilled musical saw players that I have seen and also some lead but mainly atmospheric backup vocals. Mike Waite provides an extraordinary foundation for their music to be built upon and is as pretty much essential to their sound as the other two. Although there are generic differences, when listening to the band I can’t help but think of Charlie Parr. The similarities are in the rawness and authenticity of the music they play with such passion and conviction. As with Charlie this is probably music that has chosen them rather than vice versa and it is pointless to look for any kind of affectation, it being simply heartfelt and totally natural.
This is a much more sparse effort than previous offering Radio Hour which had a conceptual feel to it with the ‘radio programme’ links between songs and whilst I loved that album, I love this even more! This album opens with Travis’s dominant resonator guitar in best blues mode on Goin’ Out West a hard driving song that is played with a tremendous intensity with the bass laying a solid foundation and Travis’s vocals joined by Ali’s washboard
and her atmospheric ‘hillbilly’ tones on the chorus. Don’t Do Me No Good has a nice instrumental balance between resonator guitar, bass and washboard on a song that has more of ‘hillbilly’ feel with perhaps a dash of vaudeville, thanks to the tempo, with Travis’s raw vocal contrasting with Ali’s more tuneful sound. Terrific song! The traditional Cluck Ol’ Hen is a duet on which Ali’s appealing ‘hillbilly’ twang dominates a hugely evocative version of this old song that has rarely if ever been bettered. It is followed by the incredibly catchy instrumental That’s
It with resonator guitar, bass and Ali’s ‘singing saw’ sharing equal billing. Many bands tend to use the saw purely as background but thanks to Ali’s expertise this talented trio are not afraid to use it on occasions as virtually a lead instrument! The saw brings a haunting feel to Viper blending well with the resonator guitar on a speedy ‘hillbilly blues’ song with Travis on lead vocals and Ali on backup. In many ways ‘Hillbilly Blues’ would be an accurate description of the music played by Hillfolk Noir, simply because their music is a throwback to the days when there was little or no separation between the music of poor black people and poor whites. Both often lived in similar levels of poverty and consequently played the music they felt in the days before commerce separated the two into ‘race music’ and ‘hillbilly.’ Race music eventually became the ‘blues’ and all of it’s myriad offshoots, with ‘hillbilly’ segueing into ‘country and western,’ and again, all of it’s offshoots. The old Henry Thomas blues song Fishing Blues has been recorded countless times over the last eight or nine decades and is a case in point. The song is certainly a blues but there is just as much of a ‘hillbilly’ feel to the song when performed by Hillfolk Noir leading anyone who is new to the song to accepting it as of ‘indeterminate genre,’ in much the same way as it was decades ago.
Hillfolk Noir are not so much a missing link between the old styles but they cannot really be defined as one or the other. As a consequence they are a pretty much unique throwback to the days before commercial recordings, albeit with a hugely entertaining style that has been updated for modern ears! This is their fourth recording that I am aware of (although Travis has a solo album out that will soon be reviewed as well) and along with the other three their style has developed into this finely balanced brew of old and new. Long may they continue on this path!
http://www.hillfolknoir.com/
Having seen this talented trio live just a couple of days after giving a first play to this new recording, it’s difficult to avoid going over the top on this review. Their show was an absolute knockout that consisted of their take on what I would describe as authentic hillbilly music, often including some of their their own modern originals that blend so well with the old songs the seam is non existent! Their description of the music is ‘Junkerdash,’ probably more appropriate as it is unique to them, with them being pretty much unique in this 21st century. Had they existed way back in the 1920s they would probably now be talked about as ‘early stars of country music,’ such are their abilities to portray this genre with
such an enormous depth of feeling and authenticity.
The trio is comprised of husband and wife team, Travis and Allison Ward, with the former playing national resonator guitar, banjo, harmonica and most lead vocals and the latter on washboard, banjo and kazoo as well as being one of the most skilled musical saw players that I have seen and also some lead but mainly atmospheric backup vocals. Mike Waite provides an extraordinary foundation for their music to be built upon and is as pretty much essential to their sound as the other two. Although there are generic differences, when listening to the band I can’t help but think of Charlie Parr. The similarities are in the rawness and authenticity of the music they play with such passion and conviction. As with Charlie this is probably music that has chosen them rather than vice versa and it is pointless to look for any kind of affectation, it being simply heartfelt and totally natural.
This is a much more sparse effort than previous offering Radio Hour which had a conceptual feel to it with the ‘radio programme’ links between songs and whilst I loved that album, I love this even more! This album opens with Travis’s dominant resonator guitar in best blues mode on Goin’ Out West a hard driving song that is played with a tremendous intensity with the bass laying a solid foundation and Travis’s vocals joined by Ali’s washboard
and her atmospheric ‘hillbilly’ tones on the chorus. Don’t Do Me No Good has a nice instrumental balance between resonator guitar, bass and washboard on a song that has more of ‘hillbilly’ feel with perhaps a dash of vaudeville, thanks to the tempo, with Travis’s raw vocal contrasting with Ali’s more tuneful sound. Terrific song! The traditional Cluck Ol’ Hen is a duet on which Ali’s appealing ‘hillbilly’ twang dominates a hugely evocative version of this old song that has rarely if ever been bettered. It is followed by the incredibly catchy instrumental That’s
It with resonator guitar, bass and Ali’s ‘singing saw’ sharing equal billing. Many bands tend to use the saw purely as background but thanks to Ali’s expertise this talented trio are not afraid to use it on occasions as virtually a lead instrument! The saw brings a haunting feel to Viper blending well with the resonator guitar on a speedy ‘hillbilly blues’ song with Travis on lead vocals and Ali on backup. In many ways ‘Hillbilly Blues’ would be an accurate description of the music played by Hillfolk Noir, simply because their music is a throwback to the days when there was little or no separation between the music of poor black people and poor whites. Both often lived in similar levels of poverty and consequently played the music they felt in the days before commerce separated the two into ‘race music’ and ‘hillbilly.’ Race music eventually became the ‘blues’ and all of it’s myriad offshoots, with ‘hillbilly’ segueing into ‘country and western,’ and again, all of it’s offshoots. The old Henry Thomas blues song Fishing Blues has been recorded countless times over the last eight or nine decades and is a case in point. The song is certainly a blues but there is just as much of a ‘hillbilly’ feel to the song when performed by Hillfolk Noir leading anyone who is new to the song to accepting it as of ‘indeterminate genre,’ in much the same way as it was decades ago.
Hillfolk Noir are not so much a missing link between the old styles but they cannot really be defined as one or the other. As a consequence they are a pretty much unique throwback to the days before commercial recordings, albeit with a hugely entertaining style that has been updated for modern ears! This is their fourth recording that I am aware of (although Travis has a solo album out that will soon be reviewed as well) and along with the other three their style has developed into this finely balanced brew of old and new. Long may they continue on this path!
http://www.hillfolknoir.com/