A joyous set of songs built on collaboration where the principal players still have a place to shine.
Banjoists Steve Martin and Alison Brown have called up a boatload of friends to guest on their album. The list includes Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, the Indigo Girls, Tim O’Brien, Jason Mraz, and Della Mae. They open with a banjo duet, ‘Friend of Mine,’ which has a timeless quality to it. The instruments sparkle, and they mesh together so that in places it sounds like a single player.
From there, the album quickly goes off piste with songs like the Bossa Nova-influenced ‘Michael’, which features Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz. ‘Dear Time’ with Jackson Browne and Jeff Hanna highlights Martin’s comment that “with the banjo, there are so many styles you can work with, but Alison and I both have an ear for its more melodic, melancholy aspect.”
Alison Brown describes their playing relationship. “We didn’t start off by saying, “Let’s make an album.” We were just having a good time writing songs, and at some point, we realized we’d written enough to gather them all together and put a bow on it. There was a joy and ease and sense of fun to the whole process, and now hopefully everyone who listens will share that joy.”
On ‘Evening Star’, which features the folk trio of Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker, and John Doyle, they allow their guests to lead the song with the banjos taking a rhythm role in the song. Michael McGoldrick’s whistle and John McCusker’s fiddle weave around each other, and the Banjos fit neatly into the gaps. ‘Girl, Have Money When You’re Old’ features Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers on a song which once again drifts across genres.
For that reason, this feels like a project which was driven by Brown, who has made a habit of putting her music into unexpected contexts. The Tim O’Brien collaboration ‘5 Days Out 2 Days Back’ is a tale of life on the road, the compromises made to family life, and drawing a child into the musical life. It’s no surprise to find that it was nominated for Song of the Year, Collaborative Performance of the Year, and Music Video of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards. It really is the highlight of the album, and maybe placed too early in the album, as you keep expecting something else as good to pop up. ‘Wall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye)’ with Vince Gill is the only slight misstep in an album where all the songs are worth repeated plays. Even that is more about the slightly awkward performance than the songwriting.
It’s good to hear a collection of tunes where there is no agenda other than just getting together with a group of like-minded collaborators to play. However, the songs which are just the duo in charge feel the most natural and joyful. Martin’s amusing musing on chart success ‘Bluegrass Radio’ and the frenetic ‘Let’s Get Out Of Here’, which closes the set, are both excellent pieces, and round off a fine album.
