The Burying Ground – A Look Back
Independent – 15 May 2020
On 1 May, Vancouver’s fabulous retro-roots outfit The Burying Ground were booked to play at Canada’s only floating pub – the Dinghy Dock, on Protection Island, just offshore of Nanaimo, BC – but…well, you know. I was going to that show, but…sigh. The last time I saw the band was at at a tiny downtown bar, and via their achingly cool, though gritty blend of acoustic country-blues, old-timey, ragtime, gospel and folk, they transformed the place into something akin to a bygone speakeasy for the evening.
The Burying Ground is something of a touring machine, so like every working musician on earth they’ll be desperately missing the road right now, but if ever you do get an opportunity to witness them perform at some indeterminate point in the future, don’t let it pass. Be sure to order a large whiskey, grab a pew near the stage and settle in, because with their huge catalogue of vintage material and comparable originals I get the feeling they could, and happily would, play all night.
Until then there is good news from the band in the form of a new album, A Look Back, and from what I understand there is the possibility of another offering before this insane year is over. That will arrive as and when but, concerning the matter in hand, what we have before us now is another absolute charmer from the core duo of Woody Forster (guitar, vocals) and Devora Laye (washboard, singing saw, vocals), augmented by their most recent touring companions Wynston Minckler (upright bass), Clara Rose (fiddle, harmony vocals) and Joshua Doherty (harmonica, harmony vocals).
There cannot be too many acts around whose principal influences and musical heroes emanate mainly from the first half of the 20th Century, but The Burying Ground is emphatically one of them. Yet they do not merely ape the source material that inspires them: Forster and Laye are devotees that study and absorb it deeply, filtering such as prewar blues, early jazz and American rural folk music traditions into their own lovely material. Punk rockers at heart and previously in actuality, they acutely recognize and hold dear the ‘original punks’ – the Lead Bellys and the Woody Guthries of this world – and reverently project the same spirit of fierce independence.
To this end, and as with their previous three albums, A Look Back is pure, straight-down-the-line, authentic folk music for today but, as the title implies, with admiring and respectful glances cast well into the past. Comprising eight songs occupying 29 minutes, it’s a compact offering, and, set alongside their previous work, feels like the subtlest of reboots before embarking on their next project. What I mean by this is, firstly, that apparent unfinished business is dealt with in revisiting two songs from their 2015 debut, Big City Blues – How Long and Behind These Eyes. Additionally, on both new versions (and generally throughout) Forster’s vocal is softer, gentler, with less gravel, the former song being a sweeter rendition, and just a shade more country. The latter is slowed down, yet extended by 30 seconds, creating a more haunting atmosphere than the original. They improve on the originals yet are also contrasting enough in approach to stand on their own.
A Look Back was recorded in Vancouver in January, live off the floor at his Heavy-O-Sonic studio by Marc L’Esperance, who boasts quite the CV with work for Po’ Girl, Geoff Berner, and dozens of locally lauded Vancouver/BC roots and alternative acts behind him. Without compromising their punk-folk ethics L’Esperance has skillfully teased out a warmer sound for The Burying Ground, and between him and the band, the space has been created for every musician to feature: Laye’s singing saw, Doherty’s harmonica, Minckler’s bass and Rose’s fiddle all get their time in the spotlight.
In wrapping up, when speaking of The Burying Ground, it would always be remiss not to mention Yann, the brilliant illustrator responsible for creating the band’s beautiful sleeves to date, and also a tattoo artist at Strange Society Tattoos in Nelson, BC. Specializing in strange little birds and evidently highly skilled at work requiring great detail, in housing their music in such magnificent artworks Yann has played an important role in helping The Burying Ground establish their identity, and to that end for A Look Back has produced another gorgeous, stylized package for this fine, fine band.
Pre-Order A Look Back via Bandcamp: https://theburyingground.bandcamp.com/album/a-look-back
https://www.theburyingground.com/
Photo Credit: Mary Matheson