Dave Sutherland born in London. In the nine years since he started struggling his way through the few chords he knew down the London pubs, Sutherland’s learned to pick guitar like a wizard, paid his dues as support act to Glenn Tilbrook and Bert Jansch (who produced his debut), toured the US and recorded two albums.
This is his third, delivered in a slightly nasal honeyed sandpaper voice that variously bears traces of Dylan (on the opening title track, a marvellous song about former cop confined to a wheelchair after a shooting) Roger McGuinn, John Prine, and, for the real 70s obscurists among you out there, Jimmy Stevens (and if anyone knows what happened to him I’d love to hear). With the banjo driving bluegrass stomper Candyman (that’ll be drugs then), waltz time swayer
Dead In Her Head , folk-blues shuffle Sugar Babe
and lost love song Where Are You Now?
it’s amply evident that he’s steeped in a rootsy mixture of American country-folk and Celtic, but as
Happier Blue and the frankly quite brilliant I Don’t Play With The Rolling Stones And She Don’t Sing The Blues
(a title Shel Silverstein would have killed to have written) reveal, he’s also more than capable of kicking up the folk-rock dust too.
The album’s laced with a reflective melancholy - even on
Going Down To Georgia ’s tale of a guy (a fugitive?) who’s gota gun to a hostage’s head - that finds perfect expression in the closing From The Vauxhall Tavern ...to the Deptford Broadway
with its lines ’where we stood now stand houses when they levelled all the land," its cascading mandolin accompaniment and a feel that’s best described as Martin Stephenson if he were Don McLean.
It’s barely been off my player since it arrived, its unassuming acoustic simplicity, imaginative arrangements and Sutherland’s warm vocals and beguiling melodies making him the most welcome surprise discovery of the year so far. And, just for the ’where are they now?’ Brigade, please note the credits list Annabel Lamb on backing vocals.. Right, now to track down the other albums.
Mike Davies
Net Rhythms ..
