A quick survey of recordings by contemporary old-time artists these days might well reveal a strong preference for dance music played by fiddle-driven string bands, with a few vocal numbers thrown in for good measure. This new disc by Beverly Smith & Carl Jones offers a differing perspective -- a strong emphasis on vocal numbers, punctuated by a few fiddle tunes.
Both Smith and Jones have been fixtures in the old-time scene for years. Smith is probably best known for her work with the Heartbeats and Big Hoedown, Jones for his work with Norman Blake and James Bryan. On Moving Lightly Through This World, their first CD as a duo, they have assembled a diverse collection of songs and tunes, both old and new, that flow seamlessly together.
Unlike some of their peers, Smith & Jones don't seem quite so interested in merely re-creating the sounds heard on 75-year-old hillbilly 78s or imitating the old master fiddlers and banjo pickers. Their style seems to value innovation as much as derivation. However, it's very apparent that these two are quite well versed in those old 78 records, folk song collections and archival field recordings which constitute the sources for much of their material.
That material includes some lesser-known Carter Family songs, a couple of Jimmie Rodgers numbers, songs taken from a collection of Alabama folk songs, and three archaic and crooked fiddle tunes (played by Smith) associated with West Virginia. In with these are four well-crafted songs written by Jones that deal with love, loss, and just living life, capturing the emotions of those experiences without resorting to cliche or sentimentality.
The approach Smith & Jones use in performing the songs, whether new or old, is similar: mostly tight duet harmonies accompanied by their own guitars (and an occasional mandolin or banjo), with an emphasis on simplicity and understatement. The results are sometimes breathtaking, always fresh, yet deeply immersed in the wellspring of old-time country music.
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