When I Wait For You

For the success of her widely acclaimed 2019 Smithsonian Folkways release, Songs of Our Native Daughters (reviewed in #147), Rhiannon Giddens gave a lot of credit to producer and accompanist Dirk Powell in whose Louisiana studio the album was recorded. When I Wait For You is an engaging journal of personal reflection and keen observation from an exceptionally talented multi-instrumentalist, singer and storyteller. The album is a 13-track, genre-hopping excursion ranging from Scots-Irish ballads and reels to American roots, folk-rock, classic country and traditional Cajun music. Powell’s session-mates include Giddens (fiddle, banjo), Sara Watkins (fiddle, vocals), Sean Watkins (vocals), Powell’s daughters Amelia and Sophie on vocals, and members of the Transatlantic Sessions house band: Donald Shaw (accordion, piano, production), Mike McGoldrick (flute, whistle), John McCusker (fiddle) and James Macintosh (drums).

There’s a quiet huskiness to Dirk Powell’s voice that lends itself to certain performances (such as on ‘The Bright Light of Day’) more than others (‘One Note’), while the harmonising passages with his daughters on tracks such as ‘The Little Things’, brighten the proceedings with a sonorous sheen. As an album, When I Wait For You imparts a sweet, alluring intimacy without being cloyingly overbearing about its intentions.