Jen Maurer and Paul Kovac
Album: Boy = Girl
Label: Boy Equals Girl
Tracks: 16
Website: http://www.boyequalsgirl.com

Although Kovac and Maurer have both been individually active as full time musicians since the 90s, it's unlikely that the wider world will be aware of any of the bluegrass bands in which they've played. However, this, their first side project collaboration, should certainly bring them attention beyond their Ohio stomping grounds.

With Maurer on upright and electric bass and acoustic guitar and Kovac playing 5-string banjo and both electric and acoustic guitar, it trades in a 16 song mix of traditional and contemporary bluegrass/hillbilly music, with two co-writes, three covers, one traditional number and the rest of the songwriting credits shared equally.

It kicks off with two Kovac tunes, Blue Modal #2, a banjo dominated Appalachian folk duet about wanting to be buried near the train tracks and river rather than "planted on that hill", and the desert spaghetti western twang of Back In Your Arms Again before Maurer steps into the spotlight with her Isn't It Funny's slow waltz crooner channelling Brenda Lee. Showing her stylistic versatility, her other contributions include the bluesy swing of Wish I Was On That Train, two numbers about death, the gospel blues Cold Cold Ground with its Working In A Coalmine rhythm and the unequivocally titled spare bluegrass ballad Oh Death, and, accompanied by just jazzy percussion, Little Baby Rocks & Cries evoking Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby off the Oh Brother soundtrack.

Kovac is no less diverse, his other contributions offering up the playful call and response Western Swing I Did, I Do, I Will that could have been lifted from a Bob Wills archive, fabulous honky tonk ballad duet What If I Fall and the breezy, open vistas acoustic country folk pop of Enjoying The Ride, the pair's other joint composition the bluegrass picking instrumental Dog Done Died.

Their covers are inspired too, embracing a banjo frisky arrangement of the traditional hollerer Lonesome Reuven's Train, a jazzy toe tapping (quite literally) banjo driven swing version of The Marshall Tucker Band's This Ol' Cowgirl, obscure Dylan and Danny O'Keefe folk blues number Well, Well, Well and, best of the bunch, a stripped down, desperation-veined Appalachian lament reading of Amy Winehouse's Back in Black. Inevitably with pairings such as this the Welch and Rawlings comparisons are duly trotted out. For once, they may well be right.

Mike Davies