DETAILS
TRACKS
- The West Was Burning
- Get Right Church
- Went To See The Gypsy
- Seeds Of The Pine
- I Don't Even Have To Ask
- Call Me Shorty
- Walkin'
- Up On The Divide
- Set Me Up High
- Isabella
- Ten Thousand Charms
RELEASE DATE
01/01/2007
Martha Scanlan was a member of the contemporary old-time string band the Reeltime Travelers, who probably are best known for their appearance on the T-Bone Burnett-produced Cold Mountain soundtrack. For her first solo outing, Scanlan keeps one foot in the past and the other in the present. There is plenty of fiddle, mandolin, Dobro, and banjo playing on this disc (often courtesy of producer Dirk Powell), but Scanlan doesn't limit her sound to acoustic instruments. The second track, "Get Right Church," is a robust, foot-stomping rendition of the Rev. James Cleveland gospel classic that is more Saturday night than Sunday morning. Later on, her original "Isabella" nicely balances front-porch fiddling with juke joint guitar. This song of sisterhood also slips in some subtle political references, name-checking the mother of civil rights figure Emmitt Till as well as Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, a female Native American political activist who was mysteriously murdered in the '70s.
Scanlan doesn't hammer her listeners with her music, but takes an appealing low-key approach to both her songwriting and arrangements. The warm-hearted, winter-set courting tune "Walkin'" makes a simple yet poetic observation: "Ordinary is as ordinary sees/The quiet beauty in the shapes of trees." She uses the evocatively down-to-earth lyric "Somehow packing up your things/Didn't seem to bring/The peace I'd hoped to find" to describe post-breakup angst in "I Don't Even Have to Ask." Her songs are also very much rooted in nature and the outdoors, whether physically (the bittersweet rancher's tale "Up on the Divide") or metaphorically (the picturesque love song "Seeds of the Pine"). Trees are a recurring image, popping up in almost all of her original tunes. Besides her own earthy, folksy tunes, she also tackles the obscure Bob Dylan number "Went to See the Gypsy" and conjures up comparisons to Emmylou Harris on her tender, spare cover of the spiritual "Ten Thousand Charms." The Powell instrumental "Call Me Shorty" makes for a curious inclusion, as this bluegrass interlude seemingly serves -- at least on this disc -- as a showcase for the backing band. Still, Scanlan's unpretentious but thoroughly charming debut should appeal to fans of Gillian Welch and Iris DeMent and lovers of other Americana angels.
EXPLORE
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Old Unconscious
The Circular Ruins
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Califone
Califone CD Reissues
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The Hackles
Song For The Fool
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Federale
Our Side Of Their Story
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Adam Selzer
Slow Decay
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M. Ward
End of Amnesia
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Chainsaw Records
Chainsaw Records Bundle
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Jeff London
Trouble Trust
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Defective AI
A Book Of Coherent Warnings
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Eyelids
Jay Gonzalez Sings Eyelids Sings Jay Gonzalez Sings Eyelids
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Old Unconscious
Lyle
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Team Dresch
Team Dresch Bundles
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Hallelujah The Hills
Against Electricity
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Norfolk & Western
Dusk In Cold Parlors
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Norfolk & Western
Dinero Severo
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José Medeles
Art of Slowness: The Halfling Session
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Martha Scanlan
Tongue River Stories: Autumn
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Old Unconscious
Sunfort
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Martha Scanlan
The River and The Light
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The Hackles
The Twilight's Calling It Quits
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1939 Ensemble
New Cinema
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Eyelids
Maybe More
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Corrina Repp
How A Fantasy Will Kill Us All
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Motrik
Safety Copy
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Annalisa Tornfelt & Gideon Freudmann
Unraveling
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Hallelujah The Hills
No One Knows What Happens Next
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1939 Ensemble
Beats & Saints
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The Builders And The Butchers
Dead Reckoning
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Arch Cape
Arch Cape
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Kpants
Smile And Nod Accordingly
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Boxhead Ensemble
Electric Guitar
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Eyelids
or
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Nick Jaina
A Bird In The Opera House
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No. 2
What Does Good Luck Bring?
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The Geraldine Fibbers
Lost Somewhere Between The Earth and My Home
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Matthew Hattie Hein
In Search of Lost Hein
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Dave Depper
Utrecht Suite
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Norfolk & Western
Centralia
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The Maroons
You're Gonna Ruin Everything
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Motrik
"33"
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Red Red Meat
Post-coital Ghost Dreams From A Warm Mammal Pile
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The Builders And The Butchers
Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well
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The Born Losers
The Born Losers
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Boxhead Ensemble
Here: Chicago Sessions
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Tim Rutili & Craig Ross
Guitars Tuned To Air Conditioners
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Eyelids
Slow It Goes
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Kind of Like Spitting
You Secretly Want Me Dead - RSD 2016
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