Harpeth Rising
Album: Tales From Jackson Bridge
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.harpethrising.com

Named after a small, but powerful river in Tennessee, US combo, Harpeth Rising, have been quite prolific as a band since the release of their self-titled debut back in 2010. If you include the shared credit album, "The End Of The World", released in conjunction with the band's fiddle player, Jordana Greenberg's dad, David, "Tales From Jackson Bridge" is album number four.

The band have a sound that hints at the theatre generated sound tracks for silent movies over which they lay lyrics, sparseness and harmonies in varying order. The sound is largely string driven, though in total there are only thirteen strings between the band, four apiece on the cello and fiddle, with the banjo taking an additional one and a percussionist, mainly hand percussion to give a beat.

There are times when I found myself thinking of the Moulettes, but I know enough about both bands to know that this is a case or parallel evolution, rather than influencing, but it makes a good reference point, with that slightly between the wars otherworldliness infusing the sound.

Whilst I'm a big fan of the quirks that Harpeth Rising bring to their songs, two of the standouts for me on "Tales From Jackson Bridge" are instrumentals, the self penned "Eris" and the simply extraordinary cover of the folk classic, "House Of The Rising Sun"

There is something very live and vibrant about the way Harpeth Rising put their albums together. I've been lucky enough to catch them twice, both times at favourite festivals, Cambridge And Purbeck and on both occasions they've shown just how good they are with their material, giving it different spins, which makes me suspect that if they were to record "Tales From Jackson Bridge" tomorrow, it would sound different again.

The good news is that they are going to be back over in May, check website for details, but even if you can't get to one of their dates, you can make up for it by grabbing yourself a copy of "Tales From Jackson Bridge" and having a great time.

Neil King