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

Federale
Reverb & Seduction

The Third Sex
The Third Sex - Back To Go

Califone
The Villagers Companion

The Delines
Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom

Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld
Save It For Later

The Hoom
On Gabadon

Boxhead Ensemble
Ancient Music

Blue Cranes
My Only Secret

Califone
Califone CD Reissues

Johanna Samuels
Bystander

Califone
villagers

Jenny Conlee
Tides: Pieces For Accordion And Piano

The Hackles
What a beautiful thing I have made

The Hackles
Song For The Fool

Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld
Last Stars First Light

No. 2
First Love

José Medeles
Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems

Federale
Our Side Of Their Story

The Delines
The Sea Drift

Motrik
MØØN: The Cosmic Electrics of MØTRIK

Dave Depper
Europa

Motrik
Artificial Head

Eyelids
The Accidental Falls

Califone
Echo Mine

The Hackles
A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should

Federale
No Justice

Eamon Fogarty
Blue Values

Team Dresch
Captain My Captain

Team Dresch
Personal Best

Martha Scanlan
Tongue River Stories: Autumn

The Hackles
The Twilight's Calling It Quits

1939 Ensemble
New Cinema

Eyelids
Maybe More

Corrina Repp
How A Fantasy Will Kill Us All

Tim Rutili & Craig Ross
10 Seconds To Collapse

Motrik
Safety Copy

Eyelids
or

Sin Ropas
Mirror Bride

Annalisa Tornfelt
Search Zero

Luke Ydstie
Collected Essential Works

Jenny Conlee with Steve Drizos
French Kayaking Music

Kind of Like Spitting
You Secretly Want Me Dead

The Valiant Arms
Swallow The Sea: The Songs of The Crabs

Annalisa Tornfelt
The Number 8

Hook & Anchor
Hook & Anchor

Eyelids
854

Motrik
Motrik
