Their ensemble may look like a bluegrass band- there’s
a banjo, fiddle,
dobro and other trappings- but you won’t find any
songs about mama or
whiskey. For Kate Lamont and Doug Sauter picking a
genre has been a
career long escapade, shifting from folk, to
progressive folk to
progressive rock, to bluegrass to soul grass to
chamber punk and currently
settling on FOLK. WORLD. AMERICANA.Kate Lamont’s soulful vocals and poetic lyrics paint
stirring images while
Doug Sauter’s guitar and banjo playing is certainly
the result of some
Bela Fleck/Michael Hedges gene merge. Grover Parido,
cellist
extraordinaire, Matt Koher, vangaurd mandolinist/
fiddler, and Ryan
Deasy, celebrity bassist, create a split-personality
string section that
adds as much wild melody as it does tasteful
restraint. Joshua Strodtman,
dobro /African percussion, adds the “world “ genre to
the repertoire,
playing his “kit†made of djembes, sangbans and a
guitar case kick drum.Their instrumentation and arrangements are as complex
as the most
intricate symphony but far more accessible and
melodic. They make elegant
choices, giving their material wide appeal. Deft
reflections of the human
condition, Blueprintmusic songs are inspiring,
heart-breaking,
adventurous, peaceful. Who are they? A bluegrass
October Project? A jazzed
up Alison Krauss and Union Station? I give up. Just go
and listen to their
music.BLUEPRINTMUSIC/Slow Pace Quickening: They might be from Indianapolis but they are so in touch with the classic spirit of music from the Gulch that their devotion to eclecticism and wide ranging sounds would make Bear Richert smile. A collection of sonic mini-movies, this is music that gleefully doesn’t fit the format but crosses a bunch of boundaries at the same time and delivers almost a cinematic sound. Smart writing about the goings on the macro world around us and an encompassing fusion of sounds make this special adult music you can really sink your teeth into. You almost have to describe their music in a backwards fashion by calling out styles it could be and saying no it isn’t: isn’t not folk, not classical, not NAC, not world…but a little of all of it. Fun stuff that takes you someplace else.
Review by Chris Spector Midwestrecord 12-21-07
www.midwestrecord.com..
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