THE DEER RUN DRIFTERS – APPALACHIAN BLUES

2014 – Self
Released
Hailing from Floyd, a small mountain town in the Appalachians of Southwest Virginia, the music this talented quintet plays will come as no surprise. It is acoustic music that I was tempted to refer to as ‘old timey’ but that would be too restrictive a description. Certainly there is a strong thread of rural old timey running through this excellent album but this music, whilst it could easily have had relevance in the 1920s is perhaps even more so now. As a number of young bands have successfully done recently, they have taken a traditional genre and rather than trying to copy that, have added their own individual stamp and updated the tradition. I’ve seen them compared to bands such as the Old Crow Medicine Show, Hackensaw Boys and Avett Brothers amongst others and whilst I can see why these comparisons were made the Deer Run Drifters sound feels more sparse and with more of a ‘hillbilly’ feel than any of the aforementioned and in most ways there is a strong individuality that will stand them in good stead
I must confess, for those that don’t already know, that if an album includes a well played banjo, mandolin, fiddle, etc. it is half way to impressing me and so it is with this terrific recording. Fairly obviously, to go the whole hog and be totally impressive requires considerably more, something this album achieves with ease. Chris Links’ vocals are strong and really have an Appalachian feel as well as accent, giving the songs a powerful grittiness and when you add the equally important and skilled contributions of the rest of the band it’s impossible to see failure as an option!
Unusually, this band consists of two sets of brothers and a friend! The brothers are Chris Link, who wrote most of the songs, handles lead vocals and acoustic guitar, his brother Joe on back up vocals and mandolin, Sean Edgell also on back up vocals, harmonica and acoustic guitar and his brother Shane on banjo and writer of the title track Appalachian Blues with finally Will Norton laying the foundation with the solidity of his bass playing. That foundation in many ways runs parallel with a building construction in that you don’t really notice it unless you make a deliberate effort but when you do the realization dawns that without that solidity much of the power and emotional content wouldn’t have the platform to take off from and would consequently be diminished. Ultimately a band that has a single lead vocalist and main songwriter but are very much a group of musicians of whom it would be true in many ways to say that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.’
The songs are all beautifully written, with some having a powerful poeticism and the arrangements and excellent musicianship never gets in the way of the often sad stories. Blackberry Wine starts with a solemn fiddle which adds a nice counterpoint to the chirpy banjo on the tale of someone who is coming to terms with the fact that he has lost his love to another, but there is always solace in the ‘Blackberry wine.’ In the case of Mama Oh Mama, a nice chiming acoustic guitar is soon joined by harmonica and banjo on the dramatic tale of a lawbreaker who finally apologises for what he has done to his family. There is a powerful haunting sense of realism to the song thanks to the instrumentation and Chris Links atmospheric vocal that evokes someone who has come to terms with and accepted his fate. Lowlife is in many ways a tale of torment on the story of someone who is in love with a girl but can’t change his ways, although perhaps he’s prepared to try, despite giving the listener the impression that it is unlikely. The excellent acoustic guitar, mandolin and banjo provide excellent support and atmosphere without ever dominating the song. Saving Grace has a nice roaming fiddle in the back ground on a song that has a philosophical edge of sadness running through it and an enhanced sense of drama thanks to the sparse but emotive instrumentation and particularly the world weary lead vocal. Finally, the title track, Appalachian Blues is a song that really is an evocation of the title with it’s high lonesome sound and theme with banjo to the fore on a hugely atmospheric song.
‘Atmosphere’ is a much used word in the above review but for a very good reason. There are likely to be very few albums released this year on which the tales are enhanced by a believable atmosphere that really does at times tug at the emotions, with there often being a desperation in Chris Links lyrics and vocals that few can match. Ultimately this is a debut album whose quality almost beggars belief, such is the power and commitment of this talented quintet for whom a successful future should be theirs for the taking!
http://www.thedeerrundrifters.com/
Hailing from Floyd, a small mountain town in the Appalachians of Southwest Virginia, the music this talented quintet plays will come as no surprise. It is acoustic music that I was tempted to refer to as ‘old timey’ but that would be too restrictive a description. Certainly there is a strong thread of rural old timey running through this excellent album but this music, whilst it could easily have had relevance in the 1920s is perhaps even more so now. As a number of young bands have successfully done recently, they have taken a traditional genre and rather than trying to copy that, have added their own individual stamp and updated the tradition. I’ve seen them compared to bands such as the Old Crow Medicine Show, Hackensaw Boys and Avett Brothers amongst others and whilst I can see why these comparisons were made the Deer Run Drifters sound feels more sparse and with more of a ‘hillbilly’ feel than any of the aforementioned and in most ways there is a strong individuality that will stand them in good stead
I must confess, for those that don’t already know, that if an album includes a well played banjo, mandolin, fiddle, etc. it is half way to impressing me and so it is with this terrific recording. Fairly obviously, to go the whole hog and be totally impressive requires considerably more, something this album achieves with ease. Chris Links’ vocals are strong and really have an Appalachian feel as well as accent, giving the songs a powerful grittiness and when you add the equally important and skilled contributions of the rest of the band it’s impossible to see failure as an option!
Unusually, this band consists of two sets of brothers and a friend! The brothers are Chris Link, who wrote most of the songs, handles lead vocals and acoustic guitar, his brother Joe on back up vocals and mandolin, Sean Edgell also on back up vocals, harmonica and acoustic guitar and his brother Shane on banjo and writer of the title track Appalachian Blues with finally Will Norton laying the foundation with the solidity of his bass playing. That foundation in many ways runs parallel with a building construction in that you don’t really notice it unless you make a deliberate effort but when you do the realization dawns that without that solidity much of the power and emotional content wouldn’t have the platform to take off from and would consequently be diminished. Ultimately a band that has a single lead vocalist and main songwriter but are very much a group of musicians of whom it would be true in many ways to say that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.’
The songs are all beautifully written, with some having a powerful poeticism and the arrangements and excellent musicianship never gets in the way of the often sad stories. Blackberry Wine starts with a solemn fiddle which adds a nice counterpoint to the chirpy banjo on the tale of someone who is coming to terms with the fact that he has lost his love to another, but there is always solace in the ‘Blackberry wine.’ In the case of Mama Oh Mama, a nice chiming acoustic guitar is soon joined by harmonica and banjo on the dramatic tale of a lawbreaker who finally apologises for what he has done to his family. There is a powerful haunting sense of realism to the song thanks to the instrumentation and Chris Links atmospheric vocal that evokes someone who has come to terms with and accepted his fate. Lowlife is in many ways a tale of torment on the story of someone who is in love with a girl but can’t change his ways, although perhaps he’s prepared to try, despite giving the listener the impression that it is unlikely. The excellent acoustic guitar, mandolin and banjo provide excellent support and atmosphere without ever dominating the song. Saving Grace has a nice roaming fiddle in the back ground on a song that has a philosophical edge of sadness running through it and an enhanced sense of drama thanks to the sparse but emotive instrumentation and particularly the world weary lead vocal. Finally, the title track, Appalachian Blues is a song that really is an evocation of the title with it’s high lonesome sound and theme with banjo to the fore on a hugely atmospheric song.
‘Atmosphere’ is a much used word in the above review but for a very good reason. There are likely to be very few albums released this year on which the tales are enhanced by a believable atmosphere that really does at times tug at the emotions, with there often being a desperation in Chris Links lyrics and vocals that few can match. Ultimately this is a debut album whose quality almost beggars belief, such is the power and commitment of this talented quintet for whom a successful future should be theirs for the taking!
http://www.thedeerrundrifters.com/