The Newpart

Canadian fiddler, singer and step dancer April Verch has been a figure on the Canadian folk scene since the early 90s. This recording, with long-time collaborators Cody Walters (double bass, clawhammer banjo) and Hayes Griffin (mandolin and guitar), takes her into double figures as a bandleader. Named after the part of the Verch family house where she rehearses, jams and hosts family events, The Newpart deals with themes of nostalgia and belonging. Verch's focus here is early 20th-century bluegrass, folk and country tunes. Her trio gives idiomatic performances that are nevertheless curiously stripped back in volume and texture. The reticence of the ensemble as a whole allows her tasteful, fluent fiddle playing to shine through. Her step dancing, in the Ottawa Valley style of her home, brings an added rhythmic element and indeed is awarded one entire track, ‘Gilchrist’. Less successful are Verch's vocals; her quavering, sliding delivery are an acquired taste. Her singing appeals more on the country tunes such as Lew Childre's ‘It Don’t do Nothing but Rain’, but The Newpart never really takes off after its storming opening track ‘Belle Election’.