How many songs by Scottish bands feature the word “rain”? ‘Raintown’, ‘Tinseltown in the Rain’, ‘Why Does it Always Rain on Me?’, and that’s before we even get to Dean Owens’ brilliant ‘Raining in Glasgow’ and all the rest. There’s a reason for that, of course, the same reason why ‘The Flood’ opens with the song ‘Edinburgh Rain’. The message isn’t always negative; rain has the power to clear the air and “Wash my blues away”.
Wayward Jane (Dan Abrahams, Sam Gillespie, Rachel Petyt and Michael Starkey) is an interesting idea, combining the basic elements of an Appalachian string band with some traditional Scottish folk influences. The end result is an original sound that’s somewhere between a string band , folk troubadour and ceilidh band mixing the influences subtly to create a sound that’s best described by the title of one of the instrumentals, ‘Doucement’ which translates as gently or softly. Wayward Jane take some of the harder edges away from the string band and soften them with Sam Gillespie’s wooden flute playing and laid-back performances.
The album’s a mixture of songs and instrumentals, mainly originals, but with the addition of a couple of reworkings, one the traditional song ‘Little Satchel’ and the other a fairly traditional string band version with lovely four-part harmonies of ‘Shake Sugaree’, the Elizabeth Cotten song that’s becoming an Americana standard.
To come back to that rain, the album has a watery theme running through it, including the banjo and fiddle-led ‘Didn’t It Rain’, telling the all-too-familiar story of catastrophic weather events in the Southern states. There are also three pieces back-to-back in the middle of the album with aquatic themes; ‘Crossing Over Water’ begins with two guitars and builds with fiddle and banjo to four-part instrumental harmony before Rachel Petyt comes in with a very traditional folk vocal, ‘The Flood’ is a typical string band instrumental giving all the players a chance to demonstrate their skills and ‘Down by the River’ has a country feel with unison banjo and fiddle and lovely harmonies.
What makes ‘The Flood’ so original is the varying textures created by the playing and the range of vocal styles. The instruments are used in every possible combination (particularly with the addition of wooden flute) to make each piece distinctive. It’s a lovely album with pleasant surprises wherever you turn.
‘The Flood’ is out now on ‘Down The River Records’ (WJ003) and you can still see the band at these tour dates.
Here’s the video of ‘Crossing Over Water’:
