Beauty and Butchery

The long hill in question happens to be found in the Sussex countryside, where these musicians live. Yet the band name evokes the continental US. That's not coincidental, for the Long Hill Ramblers may reside in Sussex, but they are wading waist-deep in the stream of US old-time music. There are the paw marks of everyone from Dock Boggs to Roscoe Holcomb and Peggy Seeger on their music, yet this album celebrates a tradition that spans the Atlantic. A fine example is the song ‘Little Margaret’, taken from a recording by Carolina banjo player Obray Ramsey. It is a version of the US folk standard ‘Shady Grove’, which in turn is a mutation of the English folk standard ‘Matty Groves’.

The whole album has a stripped-down sound, from the pin-sharp banjo of the track ‘Take Me Home’ to the drone accompaniment of ‘One Year when Bacon was Scarce’. Great melodies abound, played by fiddler Ben Paley, guitarist Tab Hunter and banjo and mandolin player Dan Stewart. The voice of Laura Hockenhull is pure and clear, with the scent of the Deep South about it.