Ash Etchells-Butler (dms/mand); Conrad Bird (gtr/vcl); Ruth
Patterson (vln/vcl/cell); Rosie Bristow (acc/dms); Ali Reay (bs gtr).
(Review by Lance)
The album notes are great...”At its heart the album is a kind of
journeyman’s diary of the road to First Avenue from ‘beats and bars’, the
vibrant heart of our hometown music scene, to a host of delightful venues
hidden in the crevices of the Ouseburn Valley, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The
rambling lovers, the fairy forest-dwellers, the lost sea-souls and Dixieland cowboys,
the Romani rock ‘n rollers, with their healthy amount of medicinal booze and
burlesque, are just a few of the people we met along the way. Hope you
enjoy...”
Well that’s a pretty fair
description making my job almost done!
Almost!
Well let me tell you brothers and
sisters, even with a hangover, this band still sounds great.
A mix of folk, blues, country,
cajun, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll the Crackers somehow manage to channel the best
of all genres into their own brand of music. As well as playing fine fiddle
Patterson sings in an attractive folksy/bluesy voice Bird’s vocals and guitar
offer contrast.. Songwriting credits are not given although I suspect they all
had their say with, possibly, Bird the
major contributor – correct me if I'm wrong guys.
Rosie Bristow’s accordion
combines well with Ruth’s fiddle and the overall sound is foottappingly
fantastic
If you've heard them on a gig you
will probably already have this album. If you haven’t, then don’t wait till
Christmas – these crackers are to be pulled now!
Lance.
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