Following on from the enormous success of last month's superb lead album, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer's 'Drum Hat Buddha', we have been able to secure stocks of their 1998 self-released album 'When I Go'.
This is a wonderful disc in the same style as their two more recent releases, but is notable for the lack of drums or percussion. The instrumentation is simple on paper; guitars, banjo, violin, mandolin, harmonica and accordion is what you get, but the textures and rhythms produced by these six instruments is magical, anything else would have been superfluous. The space created by the acoustic backdrop brings their vocals and the interplay between the singers to the fore - it's difficult to imagine two people whose voices interact together so seamlessly. There are many points in the disc when it all gels together so well, it's hard to stop yourself raising a smile or a nod of acknowledgment to the beautiful simplicity of it all.
Like 'Drum Hat Buddha' and 'Tanglewood Tree', this is a disc full of thoughtful, intelligent lyrics and detailed narratives covering a huge range of subjects, while musically it falls into a similar niche as the later discs, somewhere in-between folk and country - it just approaches it from a slightly more acoustic point of view.
'When I Go' is an excellent album in every respect; strong melodies,
sensitive arrangements and outstanding performances throughout.

£13.49