Tune-age daydream

More musical interpretations and extrapolations

by Bob Gulla

Lest we assume that the local scene is merely an ever-pulsating bastion of careening indie rock, here's a colorful assortment of otherwise tune-age -- ranging in hue from green to blue, red-red-hot to warm and fuzzy.

The Sevens: Celtic Groove Brand (Newgrange Records) 

If there's any scene in the Providence area that's well-hidden it's gotta be the Celtic-folk-traditional music scene. Aside from hardworking stalwarts like Atwater-Donnelly and Pendragon, most of the proponents of this most enjoyable idiom either can't find the way to high-profile gigs, venture north to Boston, or head south to NYC where the local traditions and demographics are better represented.

Not so the Sevens, a New England-based Celtic quintet that maintains its roots in and around Rhode Island. Mark Roberts, a veteran of Irish music and the band's multi-instrumentalist, producer, and booking agent, et al., hails from Warren. His resume reads impressively, with entries on a Rounder flute/whistle collection and on the sound track to John Sayles's The Secret of Roan Inish. Fiddler Sarah Blair began plying her trade around Providence before branching out. Upright bassist Stuart Kenney cut his teeth with Cajun great Dewey Balfa and the roots band Wild Asparagus. Percussionist Mark Hellenberg has recorded and toured with the great Irish outfit the House Band, while singer-guitarist Liza Constable last year recorded a jazz-blues album of her own. She also performs with the French trio Chanterelle.

Anyway, that's the long way of saying that the Sevens didn't simply spring up out of the green, green grass of East Providence. That fact is resolutely evident on the exceptional, but misleadingly titled "Celtic Groove Brand," an astonishingly tasteful journey across the acoustic soundscape of traditional American and Celtic instrumentation, with detours touching upon Cole Porter ("Miss Otis Regrets"), Kentucky bluegrass ("Dark Hollow"), and world music/ polka ("Ballydesmond Polkas"). As for the name, well, I guess the record does do a certain amount of grooving, like any Celtic band worth its Harp lager. But it's so much more than that. It's dark ballads ("Run Sister Run"), it's patient, delicate jams ("I Truly Understand"), and it's downright bewitching on their many reels and jigs. It's Celtic music without all the cliches and 100-mile-an-hour musical sprints, without all the Titanic banalities. In fact, change the album title to "Celtic Cool Brand" and then you'd be talking. Someone sign these guys.

Fatwall Jack: Girl Next Door (Sheerness Records)

Let's get one thing straight right now. Erica Rodney, the woman so seductively photographed on the front of the new Fatwall Jack record, is no "Girl Next Door," not unless you live next to Etta James. I'm tellin' you, the girl can sing her heart out. Listen to her growl the title line in James Brown's "It's a Man's World" or how she leans into Ms. James' own "Something's Got a Hold On Me" and hear it for yourself. But Rodney's vocals are not the only gutsy thing jumping outta this handsomely packaged record. Like lots of area bands, Fatwall Jack -- bassist Tom Duval, guitarist Pete Henderson, and percussionist Chuck Schuler -- know what it means to play blues and R&B. Their deep vibe on the opening "Hot Weather" absolutely kills, and the swingin' groove they explore on the traditional "Taint What You Say, It's What You Do" would make Roomful tap a toe or two. "Right Track" weighs in with a pert Stax rhythm, an effect achieved in large part by guest Ken Clark's Hammond, while "Girl Next Door," the smokin' original written by guitarist Henderson, is a mature and devastating blues number, the kind you'd hear flaming out of Robillard's axe. Check the horn charts, chill to the nuances, feel the blues, and tell me it ain't true enough.

Bonnis Herd (Honest Records)

It's pretty easy to admire the unrelenting enthusiasm apparent on Bonnis Herd's eponymous debut. The Seekonk quintet is obviously seizing this opportunity with all their might, knowing it may be their one chance to make an impact on a crowded, by-now-deafened music community. In their press materials, the band attempts to distinguish itself as a multi-lead vocal rock band, which I guess is a unique enough artistic point to stress. Yet it doesn't work for a couple of reasons: Jason Parker, one of the three members singing lead, has a voice that resembles Tom Waits in an unsettling way; the other two vocalists, Bart Price and Pete Hoogerzeil, sound more comfortable in their singin' shoes. The other reason is that there needs to be a certain cohesion, a streamlined consistency to a band's approach to help them establish a recognizable sound. If you use three singers with three very different voices you might as well have three different names for your group cuz folks won't recognize you on the radio from one song to the next.

Anyway, the real difference with the Bonnis Herd sound, and it is a good quality sound, is in the band's uncompromising homage to straight-up classic rock, from the Stones ("Nobody By Me Nowhere") and Neil Young ("A.M.I.") to the Band ("It's Not My Fault"). Throughout the recording there's an undeniable emotional investment that's nicely captured. It could be because the recording sounds as if it was recorded live, and the two guitars, keyboard, bass, drums line-up is an archetypal configuration of fleshed-out '70s rock. That's the point Bonnis Herd should stress. They're a good band with some good songs. But three different singers will not get the band where it wants to go.

John Burrows: The Perfect Storm (self-released CD)

New England singer-songwriter John Burrows follows in the very organic, storytelling footsteps of guys like Gordon Lightfoot and Arlo Guthrie. Burrows has a warm, mellow voice, nice for some of the more dramatic raconteur numbers. Unfortunately, it doesn't serve him well enough on some of the more uptempo tracks, like the silly but fun "Two Minute Warning" and the rambunctious "Caribbean Love Song." On the ballads, though, Burrows' velvety melodicism stands out nicely and his sweet acoustic picking on songs like "Now and Then" and the shimmering, Lightfoot-esque "Please" lead me to believe he's a true new romanticist, a softy perfectly suited to singing odes to love and narrating compelling story songs.

Apparently, Burrows, an occasional sailing captain himself, wrote the lead track "The Perfect Storm," after reading a book about the fatal Andrea Gail shipwreck. (Remember Lightfoot's Edmund Fitzgerald saga?) Now that tale will see its celluloid release starring Clooney and Wahlberg. Could be good publicity for Burrows, who deserves notice for his downhome stylishness and tender, folkie presentation.

WANDERING EYE. Cool shows: World music jammers Entrain at Jokers Nightclub in New Bedford on Friday (2/25). Opening are the X-ToNeS. Also on Friday at Lupo's is M-80 in the 9 p.m. slot, opening for the Toasters and the Allstonians. It's an all ages show. R&B swing-roots ravers Black & White hit Gillary's in Bristol on Saturday; on Sunday they head to Westerly for the Mardi Gras Swing Dance Party at Dooney Aviation. It starts early at 6:30 p.m. There's more hot stuff on Saturday with Dave Howard and the High Rollers joined by Young Neal Vitullo at Judy's Bar and Grill on West Shore Road in Warwick. Show time is 10 p.m.

Bob Gulla can be reached at b_gulla@yahoo.com.