A Night In With “I’m With Her”: See You Around

There is a rich tradition of, mainly, female artists, celebrated often in their own right, coming together to work as a trio, often mining a seam rich in country roots. I guess Dolly, Emmy and Linda are the template, but honourable mention also to Case/Lang/Veirs and even to Liv On, the unexpected combination of Beth Neilson Chapman and Amy Sky with Olivia Newton-John. (Livvy is on a bit of a roll of late, with a tribute album awaited from Evan Dando acolyte, Juliana Hatfield, with this perhaps not unrelated, I gather, to the return of the Neutron-Bomb’s breast cancer, now spread to her spine. Sad news even if Grease makes you curl.) Well, added to these now hear “I’m With Her”, kicking fresh blood into the format.
This is Aiofe O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins, all of whom have seen some solo acclaim and/or with their earlier bands: Sara with Nickel Creek, Aiofe with Crooked Still. Fine singers and instrumentalists all, capable of knocking wistful hell out of anything and everything stringed, from guitars through banjos, fiddles and mandolins. This is actually a belated debut, released tomorrow, as they have toured a couple of times, including over here, where they notched out a night out from/with @vulpes-vulpes back in April 2015. Sadly I missed that tour, but have seen them each individually, Jarosz being my highlight of Cambridge Folk Festival in 2014. Watkins and O’Donovan have each popped up in the yearly Transatlantic sessions touring jamboree, albeit in different years.
So what is it like? Thankfully it is much as you would expect from the names of the tin. This has no re-inventions or revisioning, just the simple joys of acoustic music, sung and played with joy and precision. Less yee-hah than country weepies, a sympathetic production from Ethan Johns gives the project a nostalgic whiff, his father Glyn being the sort of producer inescapably associated with this style of music. With only the stream, thanks @bargepole, to guide me, and the official press releases, it is difficult sometimes to tell who is who and which is which. I gather all the songs are collaborative efforts, barring the closer, a hitherto unperformed Gillian Welch number, the near acapella 100 Miles, leavened by little else than pump organ, until the strings slowly filter in. As you might expect, much is made of their harmony vocals, which are a treat, notably on Wild One, which starts with ethereal ooo-s that remain tingling on my neck. There is also one instrumental, a bluegrassy showpiece, Waitsfield, which as a mark of its quality is almost a favourite. OK, I could do without the seemingly de rigeur Andrews Sisters style, here personified, in a slowed shuffle, by Ryland (Under the Apple Tree.) Well it/he would be, wouldn’t he? Stand out tracks for me are the opener, featured here, the Welch closer, and Pangaea, a mournful ensemble number, roughly midway between the two.
So, all in all, a classy piece of work. It is true, sometimes it seems a bit worthy and, shhh, even, if rarely, a little ponderous. But that is listened to in the sterile surrounds of this review setting. Kick out that thought, as I have tried to do: this is back porch music in some sleepy southern state, for listening to outside as the sun goes down. Best of all, I am sure this is music for performance and I don’t doubt the live versions will transcend these versions, forever casting a retrospective glow on future listens, once heard in such a setting.
If AW did points, 7/10.
(Surprising fact; it was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios near Bath!)

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