Going Home

Since her debut in 2000, Canadian fiddler April Verch has sounded ever more confident both at soloing and at supporting whatever material and colleague she's working with. In this case, it's Joe Newberry, an experienced banjoist, guitarist and songwriter versed in the traditions of both his native Missouri and the Carolinas, where he's spent most of his life. Along with her instrument, deployed with an impressive range of dynamics and intonation, Verch pairs her high, sweet vocals with Newberry's likeable baritone-tenor on several of his plaintive original songs, with their heartfelt but sometimes ingratiating lyrics. The duo's spare vocal harmonies work to more ringing effect on Verch's original ‘Will You Wait for Me?’.
A couple of Verch's instrumentals show the affinity between the folk styles of her native Ottawa Valley and Louisiana's Cajun country. Although Newberry wields his strings well, Verch's virtuosity is showcased far more, including an affecting use of drone on Newberry's gentle ode to his own homeland, ‘My Dear Childhood Days’. The instrumental set ‘Back Up and Push/Carleton County Breakdown/John Brown’s Dream' is a tribute to Canadian fiddlers of yore.