CD Review |
LOST TIME Fine Acoustic Music in the Bluegrass Tradition |
Review of the debut CD It's About Time by Lost Time. By Joe Cleveland (12/11/02) With all the cold weather we've been having, you may be looking for something to warm you up. The debut release of the bluegrass band Lost Time, It's About Time, may be just the ticket. The album features warm harmony singing fired by percolating banjo and mandolin work that gets the blood moving. The members of Lost Time, Don Anderson (bass), John Burton (banjo), Perry Cleaveland (mandolin and guitar), and John Short (guitar), all of whom contribute vocals to the album, got together as a band a couple years ago, but they are all veterans of the Central New York bluegrass scene who have known each other for over twenty years. Along the way, they've played in some of the region's most respected bluegrass bands, including The Down City Ramblers, Headin' South, Hard Times, Pleasant Valley, Chestnut Grove, and Rosewood. When they got together, they say that one of the things that told them something special was happening was not just that they could play well together, but that they each seemed to know when not to play. Listening to the new CD is like listening to a well-orchestrated dance where each member gets his chance to shine. These are four mature musicians that know how to listen to each other. It's About Time is a quality bluegrass recording with a good variety of tempos and grooves. There are, of course, a few barn-burners and the solo work from Cleaveland on mandolin and Burton on banjo make pretty quick work of the barns. The hottest of these numbers, "If You're Ever in Oklahoma" and "When My Time Comes to Go" bookend the CD. "Oklahoma" was written by roots-rocker J. J. Cale, but you'd never know it wasn't always a bluegrass number. The other song that surprises in this way is the playful bluegrass setting of "Some of Shelly's Blues," written by the Monkees' Michael Nesmith. The band's primary lead singer is John Short, and his vocals are sure and smooth. Short's standout lead is on "Good Imitation of the Blues" which he sings with strong, soulful emotion. In addition to Short's lead vocals, Anderson sings lead on three songs and Cleaveland on one. Anderson's lead on the song "Detour" proves that bluegrass can truly swing as well as burn. These singers spend about as much time singing together as they do on their own, making for lots of rich, three-part harmony singing on the album. Burton joins in to make it four-part harmony on "When My Time Comes to Go." Anderson wrote three of the songs on the album: "Whispering Yesterday's Lies," "Going Nowhere with You," and "Passing Time." A hallmark of Anderson's songwriting is the way he breaks up lyrical lines with the musical line to create some very satisfying surprises and turns of phrase. He sings of a couple who've left the restlessness of youth behind them, and who are "happy at home, going nowhere" with each other. A wonderful sentiment that wittily avoids being sentimental. Burton's banjo and Cleaveland's mandolin are the spot of whiskey that puts the kick in Lost Time's rich cocoa. They each play a number of wonderful solos and counterpoint each other well. Cleaveland's work is perhaps more adventurous, but Burton's sparkling work is no less satisfying. Cleaveland is featured on both mandolin and lead guitar on a tune he wrote called "Twelve Corners," named after an intersection in Rochester. On it, Cleaveland and Burton's clean picking cruises along in a way that belies the traffic jam that inspired the tune. The song "Cold Winter Shadow" resonates most strongly this time of year, and Central New York bluegrass fans are sure to greet the arrival of It's About Time with a line from the song: "It's kind of nice to have you here with Christmas coming on." Lost Time celebrates the release of their new CD, It's About Time, on Friday, December 13, 8 p.m., at Happy Endings, 317 S. Clinton St. For more information about the show, call 475-1853 or visit www.folkus.org. For more information about Lost Time, visit www.losttime.org. -- joe@folkus.org 315-471-7097 Joe Cleveland is a Professor of English Literature at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY, and writes reviews for the Syracuse New Times. Joe is the founder and director of the Folkus Project, promoting folk music throughout Central New York. He is not related to Perry Cleaveland. |
losttime.org For Booking: John Burton (315) 245-2863 jburton@twcny.rr.com |
