One-time Arkansas state fiddling champion Everett Wren takes to the ring for his second solo match, Cascades, where he throws stinging jabs of plucked strings, soaring solos and plaintive vocals interspersed throughout strong body blows of bluegrass, folk, Irish, Tin Pan Alley and old-time music. It’s a fun listen.
The 11-round set opens with “Ungrounded,” which features fiddle flurries, while “Fleety” shields a percolating pop sound behind an Americana double arm block. “Starlight,” for its part, mines old-school rock, with an electric guitar and staccato drums giving way to a trumpet and, then, Wren’s fiddle. While Wren’s vocals will never be confused with those of, say, Adam Lambert, he gets the job done in this existential ode to the heavens above.
The instrumental “Angie & Tim Reel” blends traditional Irish and Americana to delightful effect, while “Tug at Stars” sounds like it hails from a 1930s-era Hollywood musical, just about. “Find a Way” again blends an assortment of styles, opening with a folky shuffle that expands into something much grander. “The Day Before,” another delightful instrumental, weaves magic from the multi-instrumentalist Wren’s mandolin.
“Coffee & Jam” sounds like a refugee from the 1970s, just about, when country-infused accoutrements accented many rock songs. Electric guitar gives way to fiddle, all while heady drums kick up a storm. “Some Kind of Truth” sports the same decade—Souther, Hillman & Furay, perhaps, or maybe Dan Fogelberg circa his early albums. “Banish Misfortune,” on the other hand, travels even further back in time, to the late 1800s; It’s an old Irish jig that Wren learned long ago, when his family’s band played a Branson, Mo., amusement park. The album closes with a nice rendition of the traditional “Weeping Willow.”
To return to the silly boxing metaphor I abandoned by the second paragraph: Wren’s cornermen include bassist Taylor Turner, who co-wrote two of the 11 songs, and drummer Sasha K.A., while old Lost & Nameless mates Harmoni Kelley (bass) and Nathan Quiring (keyboards) lend support, as well; Quring also co-wrote “Tug at Stars.”
The press release quotes Wren as saying, “This album continues the celebration of the incredible humans who perpetually inspire and encourage me and who channel something from the universe most often decoded through music. These are songs about human journeys through the space-time continuum: the ghosts of who we may have been or may become and who extend beyond cascades of light.” In addition to all that, I’d add that it’s a delightful outing that holds up over repeated plays.
The Old Grey Cat 