Broadside Ballads Vol III

Canadian band The Deep Dark Woods have been around for years with their own rootsy indie folk, but a lot of their recent work has been heavy, deep dives into old British broadside ballads and folk songs. Not that I’m complaining. I’ve been obsessed with lead singer Ryan Boldt’s Broadside Ballads album series, started back in 2015 under his solo name, and I’ve been eager for more of his mellow reworking of the tradition. The band’s new Broadside Ballads Vol III album provides all that and more, kicking off with Nashville’s Erin Rae duetting with Boldt on the classic ‘The Banks of the Lough Erne’. If they can pull melancholy out of a chorus like ‘Ry tan tin-a-na, tan tin-a-na,’ you know that you’re dealing with masterful interpreters. Sourcing from the British and Irish song traditions, Boldt’s voice anchors this project, rich in character and feeling. Between Boldt and his band, plus fellow compatriots Kacy & Clayton, who would have thought that rural Saskatchewan would be home to the next wave of the British folk revival? But based on this album, the evidence is there.