Dirk Powell – When I Wait For You
Vertical Records (UK & Europe) / Compass Records (US & Canada) – 4 September 2020
Dirk Powell has been beavering away on the US roots scene for the best part of three decades. Initially noted for his skill with fiddle and banjo he’s broadened into a true multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, composer, recording engineer, arranger, producer. His skill set seems to know no bounds and is much in demand, collaborating with both musicians and film directors. This collection of his own music has been keenly anticipated. Firstly because, before this, he’d released only six solo albums, and secondly, in this crazy COVID world, the album had already been given a launch concert back in January at Celtic Connections 2020 (reviewed here). During the six years since his last album, Dirk has been far from idle. At a quick count, he’s credited with playing, producing or recording on twelve albums as well as playing with Joan Baez on her 2-year-long farewell tour. This enthusiasm for collaboration has been characteristic of Dirk’s work throughout his career and leads to his own albums being richly peppered with guest musicians, keen to repay the compliment.
When I Wait For You, benefits from this payback in spades and, most particularly, highlights the respect and rapport that has grown over the last 10 years or so between Dirk and some of the best Scottish and Irish musicians. A rapport that blossomed through Dirk’s work with the BBC’s Transatlantic Sessions, the television series that just keeps on giving. It’s led to several members of the programme’s house band performing much the same rôle for this album. So, leading the guest credits list, we have Donald Shaw (accordion and piano), Michael McGoldrick (flute, whistle and vocals), John McCusker (fiddle and vocals) and James Mackintosh (drums), all four contributing to most of the album’s 13 tracks. Donald Shaw also produced alongside Dirk. I approached my first listen to When I Wait For You fully expecting it to be a melting pot, blending the Celtic with the Appalachian Old Time and Cajun roots of Dirk’s music. But, even so, an abundance of pleasing, even jaw-dropping, surprises awaited.
It opens with Everything is Alright, a gentle love song with a melody that, once heard, refuses to leave you. Like the majority of the album’s tracks, it’s a Dirk Powell composition. The album title is taken from this song’s chorus, with the message that waiting, even if it is for all night, really is alright, “when a love is true”. The song is an opening statement of threads that run through the album. With a nod to the six-year gap since Walking Through Clay, Dirk describes the new album as being about “an acceptance that the waiting itself is OK”. And with this first song, Dirk makes clear his intention to be more personal and expressive in his song writing. Behind the lyrics, there’s a richly textured arrangement, the rhythm set up largely by strummed chords, strings backing up the melody and adding fills alongside snatches of mandolin. The liner notes don’t generally detail who plays what on each track and as, in addition to the house band, Dirk is listed as contributing acoustic and electric guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass, piano, mandolin, keyboards, button accordion and percussion, it’s far more rewarding to simply sit back and revel in the luxury of these delightfully crafted arrangements.
The transition into the next track, Olivia, is set up with a gentle but insistent drumbeat, seeming to herald a change of mood from the very laid back, drum-free opening song. But once Dirk’s vocal begins, it’s clear the mood isn’t going to be all that different, as his lyrics wistfully meander between reminiscence of the young Olivia he used to know and the woman she’s now become. One thing that does change between the two tracks is the personnel. Adding to the house band, Nashville’s Jamie Dick is on the drums and there’s a bass line from New York City man, Jason Sypher, two musicians that have had a long working relationship with Dirk. The three of them have also recorded extensively with Rhiannon Giddens and, sure enough, she’s a welcome guest on other tracks of the album, adding vocals, viola and minstrel banjo.
The Silk Merchant’s Daughter is the only traditional song on the album and it’s a song that Dirk has recorded before on his 1999 album Hand Me Down. Then, it was given a very traditional ballad treatment with a single female voice and sparse fiddle. The 2020 version couldn’t be more different, opening with a strong, steady drumbeat, whistle and fiddle. In an interesting twist to the arrangement, while Dirk carries the vocal throughout, as the story introduces new characters, he’s joined by additional voices. Nickel Creek’s Sean Watkins as the sailor, Dirk’s daughter, Amelia Powell, as the damsel and Bill Smith as the ship’s captain. As the song reaches it’s happy ever after ending all the voices come together for a brief singalong before the instruments take a final run through the melody. Dirk and Donald Shaw take credit for the arrangement and they’ve generated some Appalachian folk-rock at its gentle best. Nickel Creek’s other Watkins, Sean’s sister, Sara, duets with Dirk on The Little Things, another of his simple but oh so effective love songs. There’s guitar, fiddle and flute in the background but it’s the voices, whether taking separate verses or combining in harmony that grab and hold your attention.
The only track on which Dirk shares writing credit also allows him to embrace the Cajun strand of his musical background. Having grown up with the Appalachian tradition, thanks to a grandfather who was a Kentucky native, in his 20s he became a long-term member of Cajun band Balfa Toujours, leading to his current home and recording studio being at Breaux Bridge in Louisiana’s Bayou country. Les Yeux de Rosalie combines French lyrics from Dirk with a waltz-time fiddle tune from a slightly unexpected source, Michael McGoldrick. In classic Cajun-style, there’s a double-time coda that really swings, standing out from the gentle pace of most of the album.
Sticking to his intention of writing songs that are personal and expressive, Dirk has given us an album rich in love songs, but not exclusively so. Say Old Playmate and I Ain’t Playing Pretty Polly deal with issues of highly topical concern, racism and violence against women. Playmate’s lyrics grew from a childhood incident that had left a lasting impression on his father, being told not to play with a current best friend because of the colour of their skin. The traditional ballad Pretty Polly is a song that Dirk did play, in fact, he recorded it on his debut solo album in 1996. But in the age of #MeToo, he sees it as just plain wrong to be singing songs about men murdering women and I Ain’t Playing Pretty Polly strongly makes his case.
The lyrics of I Ain’t Playing Pretty Polly mention two figures from Dirk’s childhood and teenage years, his grandfather, always called Papaw, and his great-uncle Clyde. They were both self-taught musicians, Papaw steeped in the traditions of his native Kentucky Appalachians, Clyde more widely travelled and more in tune with the music of the day. Between them, they helped guide Dirk towards being the musician he is today. Dirk has written extensively about these early influences on his web pages. I found his honesty and openness both moving and informative and, while it’s quite a lengthy piece, I’d urge anyone with an interest in his music to read it. If you’ve yet to develop such an interest, listening to When I Wait For You is a magnificent place to start. It will entertain you, for sure, but will also gently pull you into a world of music so absorbing it could only come from that rare combination of technical brilliance and joy of collaboration that Dirk Powell has in abundance.
When I Wait For You is on Vertical Records in the U.K and Europe, and Compass Records in the U.S and Canada, on September 4th.
Pre-Order via Vertical | Compass