Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
The Smoky Mountain News has a couple of good reviews of local musicians with new records out:
On Laura Blackley’s Love and Monsters:
Blackley’s big voice and lyrical talents, one moment confessional and nail tough the next, are her trump cards. And while it’s hard not to use the word “blues” in regards to her music, on Love And Monsters she embraces fully the whining pedal steel of country and folk’s gently strummed acoustic. But it’s not all gentle — check out “Eric Rudolph Ain’t No Hero” and the paint peeling rock of “Daddy’s Guns.” She ventures into gorgeous gospel-tinged blues in “Ain’t Gonna Lay Down And Die,” with some fine Dobro playing from Vince Junior weaving between the words. And the line from “Bitter Party Of One Blues,” the one that goes “… I hope they bury me face down so you can kiss my sweet ass …” well, that’s just classic.
Blackley’s songs are ripe with characters; the creepy ones, the ones you loved and miss, the ones you hate. “Wampus Cat” draws on traditional legend in its portrayal of a fearsome, vengeful creature that “… picks her teeth with children’s middle ear bones.” Her guard comes down on “Imperfect Love Song,” illustrating that even the truest love is a tough thing to manage, and the song is bolstered by lush harmony work from the Near Misses. Throughout Love And Monsters Blackley’s voice is the star, sweet and rough all at once, and she’s supported by musicians and arrangements that give these songs the space needed to breathe and resonate with the listener. What more to say? Great tunes, great players … I’d give Love And Monsters a whole bunch of stars if I hadn’t abandoned that whole “rating system” thing years ago.
Cary Fridley’s Down South:
The first notes of the track that opens Fridley’s latest, Down South, sound as if you’re inside the guitar’s body, hearing every vibration. “When The Levee Breaks,” along with all the tunes collected here, get wonderful treatments by Freight Hopper alumnus Fridley and some of Asheville’s best players. Her choice of songs, drawing from the traditional to those of Memphis Minnie and R.L. Burnside to the music of Appalachia, is remarkably diverse here — but all are tied by Fridley’s dedication to keeping this music alive and vibrant.
The sparse arrangement that starts the CD gives way to three courses of bluegrass bounce, the energetic instrumental “Shuckin’ The Brush” standing out along with Fridley’s mountain duet with fiddler/vocalist Steve Trisman on “Pretty Saro.” Once the band reaches the Burnside cover, “Going Down South,” it’s pretty clear that this isn’t going to be a strictly acoustic album by any means — Burnside’s juke joint blues drifts into the glorious honky-tonkin’s country of Ola Belle Reed’s “You Led Me To The Wrong,” with fellow A’ville luminary Woody Wood lending harmony vocal and some nasty guitar twang to the proceedings. Fridley’s single original contribution, the picture perfect weep-in-your-beer country of “Cheatin’” sets the tone for her gospel blues tinted take on “God Don’t Like It,” continuing Down South’s journey from the hills to the city and back. Fridley’s reading of “Barlow Knife” draws it all together somehow, fiddling and banjoing its way along until … well, just keep listening.
