GRANNY’S ATTIC - Off The Land
WildGoose Studios WGS416CD
I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much from this CD based on the one live performance I had seen - a very tired one at the end of a four day festival a couple of years ago. My wife had been raving about this amazing young trio for a while telling me that I must see them; even she was very disappointed. However before I got chance to listen to Off The Land I saw Granny’s Attic at Derby Festival and what a transformation! Here was a band with attack, energy and a style all of their own. I was hooked and couldn’t wait to hear the CD!
No disappointment here either - three extremely talented musicians who breathe new life to traditional songs. Horkstow Grange is a sit down with a good malt moment. There are two distinctive voices, with Cohen on accordion and concertina, whilst in Lewis they have a fiddler of some quality with an ability to write original tunes of some note - After The Floods is a real gem. George completes the line up with sympathetic guitar work. As Lewis is getting more confident singing, so is their harmony and unaccompanied work, as is evident on Death Of Nelson as well as in the live performance.
It’s good to hear young performers giving new life to songs we all grew up on, developing them to sound fresh whilst not asking the listener to ‘look how clever we are’! I admit I was wrong about them and, on the basis of this CD, I reckon they will have quite a future. After all, they are still only just in their twenties.
www.grannysattic.org.uk
Dave Beeby
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this CD online from The Listening Post The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 116 of The Living Tradition magazine. |