2001 saw the release of Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer’s stunning ‘Drum Hat Buddha’ which was, and still is one the best albums we’ve ever carried. Sadly Dave died in 2002 and in addition to the legacy of the three excellent duo albums he also left a number of unrecorded songs.
‘Flower of Avalon’ (named after a song he wrote as a gift for Tracy) features 9 of these previously unrecorded pieces and one reworked traditional song, and with Tracy taking on the roles of singer, instrumentalist and co-producer these are as close to the original and intended sound as possible.
The songs cover an array of subjects that range from contemporary social commentary in ‘Hey Ho’, dark murders in ‘Preston Miller’, right through to mythical balladry in ‘Mother, I Climbed’; and as you’d expect from the pen of Carter many of these songs are allegorical and littered with reference points from fables, folk-tales and real life.
While Tracy provides violin, guitar and banjo to the disc, it’s her vocals that really stand out here – her voice is warm and full of feeling and she’s the prefect channel for these songs and she conveys the stories and rich imagery effortlessly.
Other musicians featured on the disc include John Jennings (who also co-produced the album), Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lorne Entress and Jim Henry, and the backing includes guitars, dobro, banjo and piano that creates a sound that’s close to the sound of the Dave & Tracy discs without being an exact copy.
There are a number of superb songs here, notably ‘Mother, I Climbed’ an epic acoustic ballad with great vocal support from Carpenter, ‘Gypsy Rose’ is instantly memorable with superb melodies and strong vocals, and ‘Laughlin Boy’ is engaging story and a stirring bluegrass/Celtic romp.
‘Flower of Avalon’ is everything you could wish it to be – it’s full of stunning Dave Carter songs beautifully performed by Tracy, and while it’s not a Dave & Tracy album, it’s as close as we’re going to see, and hopefully this marks the start of a successful solo career for Tracy.

£13.49