The name, and the acoustic line-up (double bass, guitars, mandolin, banjo, 5 string fiddle) suggest this would be an evening of country, bluegrass, maybe some wider Americana. But they prove to be so much more than this. There are certainly country influences in there, not least in the harmony vocals, but so too are jazz, soul, gospel, classical, folk, pop and more besides. This is a band with the imagination to match their musicality and the results are often surprising.
They play a lot of their own songs, and some instrumentals, but also heavily reworked covers from an eclectic range of sources. Where else would you hear a set that included songs from Woody Guthrie, the Carter Family, Eagles - and King Crimson?
Melody Walker provides most of the lead vocals, and her powerful voice is especially suited to the gospel numbers, but excels throughout, and she's a strong rhythm guitarist. The instrumental flair comes from Adam Roszkiewicz on mandolin, Jacob Groopman's guitar, and a man who has become one of my new musical heroes, the remarkable fiddler Leif Karlstrom . All three delivered some spectacular solos, but Kalstrom was consistently unpredictable and full of surprises in his playing. Underlying all these fireworks up front is Jeremy Darrow, a solid bassist with a flair for more than just rhythm.
Songs dominated the set, but there was a brief interlude when mandolin and fiddle played an excellent duet, followed by those two plus Groopman and Darrow playing a soaring piece that was one of the highlights of the evening. (Sadly not recorded yet.)
It's good to see a band that's happy to 'magpie' from so many genres and bend that material into their own sound. File Front Country under 'Great Music'.
Front Country are touring Scotland for the remainder of this week, and definitely worth a look if they are coming to a venue near you.
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