Open Ear Review of BACKWOODS by Larry Keel and Natural Bridge

by Patrick Hinely/ Open Ear

The Rockbridge Advocate ~  February 09

Carrying on a heritage can be a difficult task for anyone who wants to extend or expand a tradition as well as preserve it, and grow it must if it is not to petrify. Guitarist and band leader Larry Keel’s gift is to be able to do this gracefully, without sounding like he’s sitting on any fence, though he has one foot firmly planted in the proud history of Euro-indigenous Appalachian musical tradition, while his other sets restlessly out for places the music hasn’t been yet.

He has achieved a balance which eludes many, yielding a sound kinetic but seldom frenetic, capable of a sweetness that doesn’t cloy, as well as an irresistibly driving energy, each unto their own appropriate moments.  Keel does not do this alone, and Natural Bridge too has an unusual balance, one that few ensembles can maintain, in being both organized and organic at once, masters of their instruments, with chops to spare and nothing to prove.

This is a good place to be, especially when heading into a recording studio, where the urge for inclusion can too easily prevail over the ruthless surgery known as editing, with the latter being as essential a part of the creative process for a properly finished album as was the initial creation of the music. BACKWOODS is based in song forms, but not confined by those. Instrumental filigree is flawless, extensive, expansive, in the moment, and thus always tasteful.

“Bluegrass in the Backwoods,” a classic Kenny Baker tune, clock in longest, at 5:30 +, bringing Django pleasantly to mind, as well as, to a lesser degree, Grisman’s dawggy style. The shortest, just under 1:40, is another instrumental, “Bohemian Reel,” by Natural Bridge banjo player Jason Flournoy, who plays it as if possessed by the spirit of Earl Scruggs, which was in turn possessed by the spirit of J.S. Bach. The other instrumental is Keel’s own “Crocodile Man” an exploratory adventure that sounds like the player shad decided beforehand where the song would start and where it would end up, but not how they would get from one to the other. In any case it was a  scenic route.

All seven of the other tunes have vocals, from Keel’s “They,” a declaration of Independence if ever there was one, to the unusual vocal harmonies of the Beatles’ “Mother Nature’s Son” and the philosophical comedy of Tom T Hall’s “Faster Horses,” Mandolinist Mark Shimick penned two tunes, “Ghost Driver” and Swarmin’ Bees” and and generously shares a solo spotlight in both. Keel’s “Bitten By a Snake” may be the most fun, with massed voices resonating joyously, and his “Diamond Break,” co-credited to Chris Jones, is what a hit in Nashville might sound like if the music mafia there was struck with a sudden attack of taste.  There’s something here for all comers , without fluff.

The Selflessness award goes to bassist Jenny Keel, whose pulse steady and fluid, and whose harmony vocals lend a grace that can make the chorus into a choir.

It takes courage as well as focus to face today’s market with an album that times in under 37 minutes, less than half the capacity of the CD format. But then I have to admire anyone who doesn’t keep talking after they’ve finished saying what they have to say. That is an act of mercy, and, on that note,enough said.