More Homespun Values

Another disk evocative of the open spaces of the American west and showing the acceptable face of the region with honest homespun values and gimmick free well crafted musicianship. It is a disk called The West Was Burning by Martha Scanlan, another for which the term Americana was suitably coined some years back. The disk features a mix of more or less solo acoustic sings and those with a small band backing containing exemplary playing from the likes of ex Band member Levon Helm on drums together with his daughter Amy. Multi instrumentalist Dirk Powell handles many of the chores, with fiddle and banjo being well to the fore and understated support coming from pedal steel and dobro. Most of the songs are self penned by Scanlan although there is a cover of Bob Dylan's Went To See The Gypsy and a fine country instrumental Call Me Shorty. There is an obvious gospel feel to Get Right Church but the overall mood is one of gentle resignation and delight in simple beauty and companionship. The live recording of Seeds Of The Pine is a standout with fine banjo accompaniment and there is no hint that it is a live concert recording until the applause burts in at the end. The title track and Up On The Divide could be looked upon as keynote tracks and the disk finishes with the moving and spiritual hymn Ten Thousand Charms.