Well established Leith singer/songwriter Dean Owens was given a 1960s collection of American Folk Songs. He was so taken with some of the lyrics that he wrote his own melodies for them and set about recording the results. He's been joined in this project by long time collaborator Amy Geddes to form the new duo, with this gig marking their debut. Guitar, fiddle, harmonica and two excellent voices combine to bring these old songs to life.
Owens spent time explaining the background to the concept, and also to each song. He's an engaging, amusing speaker and the anecdotes added to the sense of exploring the past. The patter's not quite slick enough yet, but that will improve with time.
The lyrical subject matter is often on the gloomy side, with plenty of lost love, death and grinding out hard lives. But the melodies frequently belie the content and there are some very catchy and memorable tunes in the set. It certainly helps that Owens encourages the audience to join in a number of the choruses and brought a sense of fun to the proceedings. His voice is as smooth as ever, and just about passed the test of some surprisingly low notes in a song about the mass slaughter of the buffalo, a genocidal campaign to starve the native Americans.
Geddes' understated fiddling enhanced without dominating, and she provided sympathetic vocal backing. Sharing the lead on one of Owens' own composition was reminder of what a beautiful, if not terribly strong, singing voice she has, and her musicality was shown to the full in a couple of haunting tunes, one penned by Owens, the other a traditional piece from her own Galloway.
The crowd would happily have stayed for more by the end. A mix of fun, history and excellent music.
I couldn't resist buying the CD, and it lived up to the expectations generated by the gig. Redwood Mountain deserve to be heard widely.
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