American Hornpipe

This is the fourth album from the American duo whose credo is ‘new-time old-time music’ and who follow the tracks and traces of the old-world folk tradition as it ascend into the Appalachians. Susan Robinson’s voice opens the album, with a British children’s rhyme-cum-lament for Robin Hood, ‘Who Killed Cock Robin, whilst Dana’s self-penned ‘The Invitation, featuring his expert banjo-picking, is a paean to the arts of unplugging – from electricity, the internet, and your phone network. What strikes you is how much his voice sounds like Martin Simpson’s – by the intonation and the weights on the consonants and vowels, they could be twins.

The couple met in New England at a house concert in 2002. Dana contributes three songs, and a tune to cowboy poet Hank Mattson’s When This Old Hat Was New, while they have Yorkshire’s Chris Coe to thank for the version of the ghostly Child Ballad, ‘The Grey Cock’ that Susan sings with a clear, straightforward delivery. As well as their own work on mandolin, guitar, banjo, and fiddle, they’ve got a backing assembly of drums, percussion, upright bass, and harmonium. The traditional songs are well chosen and wonderfully interpreted, with some ripping fiddle on the likes of ‘Lazy John, and the original tunes sit robustly beside them. It’s just the kind of music-making and song-making that keeps the past alive in the present.