Reviews
Artist:Crooked Still
Album:Still Crooked
Label:Signature Sounds
Tracks:11
Website:http://www.myspace.com/crookedstill
Crooked still have been around for longer than any of us would think.It takes courage for any established band to move forward and embrace change as a positive development. After five years of touring and establishing themselves as "the most important folk group to emerge from Boston since the early 60's"(Boston Globe), Crooked Still were forced to announce the imminent departure of cellist Rushad Eggleston group in November of 2007.. The four later became five with the addition of fiddler Brittany Haas and cellist Tristan Clarridge . Lead vocalist Aoife O'Donovan famously told No Depression magazine, "When you're in a quartet, and one of your members who's been a huge creative part of your sound decides to leave, it definitely crosses your mind to just not do it. But we had spent five years building a name for ourselves. And if you look at almost every band that's successful, there's been line-up changes." This is very true if you look back at any number of groups and bands; many have experienced changes and come back as good if not better than ever. This is certainly true in the case of Crooked Still. They remind me of bluegrass band The Greencards and have gained many comparisons to Alison Krauss. I actually find Aiofe O'Donovan's voice far more listenable that that of Alison Krauss, but I can see where the reference comes from.
Whilst 'Still Crooked' is the band's third CD, it is also the debut CD for the new line up. It perfectly balances unknown traditional material with three new tunes from the band, along with "Did You Sleep Well?" by fellow old time musician Nathan Taylor and an interesting addition, a Mississippi John Hurt standard. The entire album was recorded "live" in one big room, with everyone playing together. Merrill captured most songs in one or two takes. "I was outside in the hallway, because my voice is so quiet," O'Donovan said at the time; "Recording live, you don't have an option to overdub; that always makes a better album." The beauty of this having been recorded live is that it feels very real and honest and it clearly captures what happened in the moment, rather than being an edited studio recording.
"We rehearsed for a few days before we recorded," Clarridge said. "We'd listen to a source recording, strip the songs to the bone and build an arrangement incorporating everyone's ideas. It's fun to see how many directions you can take a song." Everyone brought material for consideration. "As we worked on the songs, we realized there was a lot of loss and mortality in the lyrics," banjo player Greg Liszt said. "You can't make a folk album without delving into what's happening now and we were surprised at how current the songs sounded. On 'Captain, Captain' a woman asks what happened to her lover and the Captain replies 'he dropped down dead in the gulf.' It's a 400-year-old line, but it gives you chills." Captain Captain' without a doubt is one of the most striking songs in this collection, and for me the album's highlight is a song called Tell her to Come Back Down' - quite simply, it is stunning.
Whilst clearly rooted in the folk music genre, it is hard to distinctly categorise Crooked Still's sound. They admit this themselves; "It's hard to pin down our music," bass player Corey DiMario says. "We play improvised old time music, bluegrass, folk and our own songs within the broad context of a string band. Like a lot of today's bands, we have modern and traditional influences that confuse the boundaries. We want to keep blurring those lines to make something all our own." Without a doubt they manage this. I can't think of any other band out there at the moment who have the same style and sound these five have honed. In these times where record stores and the internet seem awash with new music, I feel optimistic that this distinctive sound is what will make Crooked Still stand out from the crowd and make people take notice. This is no less than this highly talented quintet deserve. Unfortunately I missed them on their recent UK tour, but I am immensely looking forward to them gracing our shores with their music in the near future.
Helen Mitchell