Brian Peters & Jeff Davis
Album: Sharp's Appalachian Harvest
Label: Pugwash
Tracks: 16
Website: http://www.brian-peters.co.uk
Website: http://www.jeffdavisoldmusic.com

The catch-all sub-title for this disc is "a selection of traditional songs and music from the collection made by Cecil Sharp in the Appalachian Mountains between 1916 and 1918", but its plain, honest accuracy cannot give a flavour of the sheer vibrancy of the performances therein. Sharp and his secretary Maud Karpeles spent just the three summers in seeking out old British ballads and songs that had been carried across to the Appalachian region by emigrants 150 years earlier and still survived in oral tradition, and they amassed an impressive tally of upwards of 1600 songs. Quite honestly, the onward transmission of this material could not be entrusted to better hands, for Brian and Jeff can between them boast many years of research into, and experience of performing versions of, these songs and they work superbly well together. Their recent teaming to produce this disc containing but a tip-of-the-iceberg selection of the songs Sharp collected thus proves a seriously fruitful venture. The musicians' evident commitment and straightforward, unfussy and direct delivery also has the virtue of appealing both to the hardened song collector and enthusiast and to the casual listener, while they provide ample textural variety both through alternation of lead vocal duties and judicious switching of instruments during the course of the album (it helps that both men are very fine singers and exceedingly proficient instrumentalists - Brian on guitar, anglo-concertina, mandolin and fiddle, and Jeff on banjo, fiddle, mandocello and the humble jew's harp and spoons).

Glancing at the tracklist will yield many titles that will be familiar to folk/roots/old-time aficionados, but I'd wager that in virtually every case the version presented here will be either wholly or largely unfamiliar and come absolutely fresh to the listener. It's not the purpose of a review such as this to enter into any great level of detail regarding the songs, but suffice to say that several classic ballads originally published on broadsides are represented here, including Edward, The False Knight Upon The Road, The Gypsy Davey, Barbara Allen and the less-often-heard Earl Brand. The less customary melodies used by Jeff and Brian often bring a sense of real discovery to over-worn ballads like William Taylor, while Boney's Defeat (aka The Isle Of St. Helena) is aptly capped by a sparkling version of the tune Bonaparte's Retreat, and on the other hand The Green Willow Tree (a Golden Vanity variant) is done effectively a cappella. Further incidental delights can readily be found in items like Brian's latest treatment of the hoary A Frog Went A-Courting, and Jeff's relish in the nonsense refrains of The Foolish Boy can't fail to bring a smile to the face.

A small handful of the items recorded here might tend nowadays more to be regarded as indigenous American in origin, and in all truth they very probably were thus - think of Hold On and Sugar Babe, for instance - while even Jack Went A-Sailing might fall into this category too, especially listening to Jeff and Brian in their ebullient interpretation, for the sense of involvement and lively enjoyment in performance that they bring to all these pieces - and to the disc's presentation, with its finely detailed liner notes - is palpable. Though highly informed, this disc is anything but dry, and Brian and Jeff have both the knowledge and musicianship to put the songs across entertainingly. One could say they stay sharp to the bottom of the glass!

David Kidman