bluegrass
Midnight Skyracer – Fire
Self Released – 2 February 2018
The reservoir of talent on the current acoustic-folk-bluegrass scene seems nigh bottomless!… Those cheeky Carrivick Sisters Charlotte and Laura seem to crop up everywhere these days, notably in newgrass-contemporary-flavoured quartet Cardboard Fox (who’ve just released their second album Topspin), and this fresh-sounding all-female quintet is yet another string to their bows (so to speak). Here in this sparky new “girl-power bluegrass” outfit Laura and Charlotte are teamed up with virtuoso banjoist Tabitha Agnew and mandolinist Leanne Thorose – both of whom also sing (and how!) – and double bass player Eleanor Wilkie (who doesn’t sing, but as it turns out has also written some of the songs for this debut Midnight Skyracer album).
High-energy playing, characterful and strongly individual solo and harmony singing, high-class original songwriting, and a real talent for cutting through to the core of old-time bluegrass standards like Hazel Dickens’ Working Girl Blues (and that one’s a blinder!) – well what more could you want? Just get the opening track, Leanne’s Fuel To My Fire, slotted into the player, and feel the hard, tough, gritty energy she voices, set to one of the most driven, motoring rhythms you can imagine, not a beat or note missed – wow!
Leanne’s gutsy, commanding voice takes the lead on five tracks; Tabitha’s altogether gentler vocal presence (equally effective in its own way) leads on three, and Laura on just one (an impeccably-harmonised, true-hearted cover of the gorgeous Bill Monroe number Sitting Alone In The Moonlight). As for the remaining track, well you can tell by its title that Spinous Shark, is gonna be an edgy instrumental tour-de-force – and so it proves. In fact, it’s a surprise not to find at least a couple more instrumental cuts here, given the superlative chops on display (but then again, you could say that the lasses’ proficiency isn’t strictly On Display but just part of their furniture and the air that they breathe!).
The disc’s menu and careful sequencing both celebrate and showcase the expressive variety and individuality of the participants. But even so, you can’t fail to sit there open-mouthed at the astounding dexterity of the playing, which is brilliant even by championship-standard bluegrass standards – for there’s sensitivity in shading and dynamic balance too alongside and inside the high-octane note-spinning virtuosity. You just can’t believe the band’s been together barely a year! Yeah, I gotta say it, this CD is tremendous.
Tour Dates
5TH MAY • CROSSOVER FESTIVAL • CONGLETON, CHESHIRE
8TH MAY • SUDHAUS • TÜBINGEN, GERMANY
9TH MAY • FABRIKBEITZ • WÄDENSWIL, SWITZERLAND
11TH MAY • JENAER FRÜHLINGSMARKT • JENA, GERMANY
12TH MAY • PRIVATE CONCERT • BÖLLENBORN, GERMANY
13TH MAY • WODAN HALLE • FREIBURG, GERMANY
14TH MAY • KAUFMÄNNISCHE SCHULE – NEUBAU • BAD URACH, GERMANY
15TH MAY • NEUE WELT • INGOLSTADT, GERMANY
16TH MAY • RATTLESNAKE SALOON • MÜNCHEN, GERMANY
17TH MAY • CLUBHEIM • VÖHRINGEN-ILLERBERG, GERMANY
18TH MAY • SCHWIIZER PÖSCHTLI • RIFFERSWIL, SWITZERLAND
19TH MAY • SPRING BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL • WILLISAU, SWITZERLAND
27TH JUNE • BURNETT’S HILL CHAPEL • MARTLETWY, PEMBROKESHIRE
28TH JUNE • LYCEUM FOLK CLUB • NEWPORT, GWENT
29TH JUNE • SPARC THEATRE • BISHOPS CASTLE, SHROPSHIRE
30TH JUNE • MUSIC AT THE BUILDINGS • ASHINGTON, WEST SUSSEX
1ST JULY • WHITSTABLE SESSIONS • WHISTSTABLE, KENT
2ND JULY • THE HARRISON • KINGS CROSS, LONDON
3RD JULY • DARTFORD FOLK CLUB • DARTFORD, KENT
4TH JULY • THE MUSICIAN • LEICESTER, LEICESTERSHIRE
6TH JULY • PRIDDY FOLK FESTIVAL • PRIDDY, SOMERSET
7TH JULY • ABBOTSBURY FESTIVAL • ABBOTSBURY, DORSET
9TH JULY • THE BELL INN • BATH, SOMERSET
15TH JULY • FOLK BY THE OAK • HATFIELD HOUSE, HERTFORDSHIRE
27TH JULY • BEER AND BLUEGRASS • POOLE, DORSET
10TH AUGUST • CROPREDY FESTIVAL • CROPREDY, OXFORDSHIRE
19TH AUGUST • PURBECK VALLEY FOLK FESTIVAL • HARMAN’S CROSS, DORSET
24TH AUGUST • SHREWSBURY FOLK FESTIVAL • SHREWSBURY, SHROPSHIRE
25TH AUGUST • TWINWOOD FESTIVAL • TWINWOOD. BEDFORDSHIRE
30TH AUGUST • UPWOOD VILLAGE HALL • UPWOOD, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
6TH OCTOBER • DERBY FOLK FESTIVAL • DERBY, DERBYSHIRE
http://www.midnightskyracer.com/
Photo Credit Allan Wilkinson