Around these parts, the April showers that brought May flowers have lingered into the deep summer. Carolina’s fabled blue skies have been gray more days than not, or so it seems, with rain and flood warnings pockmarking most every weather forecast. (Turn around, don’t drown!) Yet pleasant conditions can be found here in my den, where Dane George’s Spring Buds has brought much sunshine the past few days.
George, an adept mandolinist, has long been a part of the Appalachian old-time and Celtic scenes in Halifax/K’jipuktuk, Nova Scotia, where he plays with the Old Beef Stringband as well as Art Bouman’s group, Koromanti and the North Star. Joining him on this, his debut album, are fellow Stringband mates Ellen Kearney (guitar) and Amy Lounder (fiddle), as well as Adrianna Ciccone (fiddle) and Ellen Gibling (harp), whose Pear Tree was a Christmastime favorite of mine last winter. Other players include Mary Beth Carty (guitar/accordion), Sarah Frank (fiddle), Luke Fraser (guitar), Dan MacCormack (banjo), ude Pelly (guitar), and Adam Pye (bass fiddle).
The 14-track, 41-minute sonic odyssey travels mountain roads and cobblestone streets, celebrating both melody and mandolin, with each tune inspired by specific friends and loved ones. The opening “Lynn and Luna,” for instance, celebrates his mother and her beloved dog, while “Dress Me Up and Kiss Me” is dedicated to a childhood friend who was struck by cancer as a young mother. (She’s now in remission.) The jaunty “Mary Frances Crossing a Small Part of the Himalayas,” which he wrote for his partner, marries mountain music with a spiritual essence; one can all but see her trek up a snow-covered path while a god ray leads the way.
The album closes with “Spring Buds + Both Sides Now,” which blends an original tune with the classic Joni Mitchell song, with the latter sung by Ellen Kearney.
I’ll close with this: We entertained a friend for dinner last night. I soundtracked the evening with Amanda Whiting’s recent EP, as I can’t get enough of it, the Somewhere Soul Rituals Volume 01 collection, Whispers of Rain by Alina Bzhezhinska & Tulshi, and this, which—despite being old-time rather than ambient jazz—proved a perfect fit.
It’s available to stream from all the usual suspects, plus can be purchased on CD or vinyl from Bandcamp.
The Old Grey Cat 