"Imagine two
guys, sitting on a front porch with their instruments, trading songs.
On Occupational Hazards John Lowell & Ben Winship do exactly that.
The result is some of the purist, most direct music making I've heard
in many years.
Occupational Hazards is the second release made by the duo
under the moniker Growling Old Men. Lowell plays guitar while
Winship handles mandolin and octave mandolin. They each
contribute two original songs that seamlessly integrate with the
other, mostly traditional, tunes. Both seem to have spent hours
listening to the great brother duets such as the Louvins and the
Delmores because here they nail the tight harmonies and phrasing that
made brother duets popular. Their rendition of the Delmore
Brother's classic "Weary Day" typifies this
simple-to-explain/difficult-to-execute style, which combines lead and
tenor into a dual-lead part.
Not content to merely
deliver note-perfect vocal harmonies, Occupational Hazards also
offers up a primer on traditional instrumental technique.
Lowell's flatpicking guitar technique ranks among the cleanest and
lyrical you'll hear. Sure, he can play a lot of notes, but he
never uses more than needed to complete a phrase. Winship's
mandolin work combines invention with a fine sense of traditional
correctness. He can throw in a quick chromatic run, but never
strays far from double-stops and pentatonic scales. The duet
format allows the mandolin and guitar to stray further from their
designated roles. Listen carefully, and you'll pick up a lot of
fresh ways to ornament bluegrass style.
The sonics
demonstrate how good a recording can be when you use simple recording
techniques and top-shelf gear. On the opening of "Georgia Buck",
you can hear Lowell and Winship waiting out a thunderstorm raging in
the background. I love stuff like that.
I have a simple
crucible for a must-have CD; if I put it on and then have to stop
whatever I'm doing and grab for an instrument, it qualifies.
Occupational Hazards stops me in my tracks. Killer stuff.
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