All New
Community Music, 2022
8/10
The Grammy winners Tom Paxton and Cathy Fink penned an impressive 28 new songs during the Covid lockdown, and together with Marcy Marxer’s guitar, mandolin, cittern, banjo-ukulele, banjo-cello and washboard they recorded this double disc both live in concert and in studio sessions.
The title track opens the listen with flowing banjo, warm fiddle and playful vocals in the timeless folk climate that’s upbeat and harmonic, and “Pete’s Shoulders” follows with Paxton and Fink’s soothing voices emitting much beauty amid the bluegrass nods.
Deeper into disc 1, “Dry Times” makes great use of acoustic guitar strumming as Fink’s expressive singing is quite rich, while “The Freedom Of Forgiving” enters gospel territory, with minimal instrumentation and plenty of gentle singing. “Now, Not Then” exits this portion, and is a cappella, with well timed voices blending together strategically.
Disc 2 leads with the conversational duet “Good News”, and continues with the stirring beauty of the eloquent “Grateful”. Deeper still, the gritty “Is This Thing On?” offers insightful spoken word, and further yet, the chunky banjo and folk friendly “Friends Like These” is so well executed, it alone is worth the price of admission.
This is Paxton’s 68th album and Cathy and Marcy’s 49th. Obviously, there’s a wealth of talent and experience here, and additional help from Kimber Ludiker on fiddle, mandolin and harmony, and Alex Lacquement’s contributions on bass and harmonica help make for a very cordial and welcoming listen in the area of folk, bluegrass, swing, country and Celtic sounds.
Travels well with: Steve Goodman- The Best Of Steve Goodman; Ian & Sylvia- The Lost Tapes