The Hillbenders
Album: Can You Hear Me?
Label: Compass
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.thehillbenders.com

You probably don't have to be an empath to suspect that a band called The Hillbenders are steeped in the traditions of bluegrass and mountain music and may well have an album that sounds as if it's been recorded acoustically around a single microphone, usinging a combination of single and double stringed instruments and multi-voice harmonies.

The Hillbenders are a Stateside based five piece that have been building a reputation back home since they formed some six odd years ago. They won the best band accolade at Telluride back in 2009 and this year also saw them gain an invitation to play the prestigious Merle Fest.

"Can You Hear Me?" is their new album and one that they hope will bring them the chance to open up touring opportunities on the side of the Pond next year. I guess you could call it a showcase album in many respects, with the band pretty much throwing everything at it, in a bluegrass sense, up to and including the kitchen sink.

Undeniably the strength of the album is in both the story nature of the songs and the tight, if slightly raw, harmonies that are used to deliver them, but that almost discounts the role of the hook laden solos that the various members of band dive into at the drop of a hat.

You can tell by the quality of the playing just how good the musicianship is right across the quintet, what is the really nice touch is the way it complements the homespun feel of the album, rather than detracting from it. There are times when you can almost sense the blisters and callouses forming on the band's fingers.

Whilst the bulk of the album has that mountain music feel, there are times where you can feel influences that are more Tex-Mex making their prescence felt, which not only provides a respite from the fast, driven pace of the album, it also allows the band to explore the wider aspects of the American folk narrative.

The Hillbenders come with a reputation and on the strength of "Can You Here Me?" it would appear to be entirely justified.There is a case for you getting an album, just so you can singalong with the choruses, should they get over here next year.

Neil King