Search - Great Plains Gypsies :: Ride the Blinds

Blues and folk, shaken not stirred

John Tillotson | DeKalb, IL | 07/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With all the redundancy of pop music, it can be hard to find something fresh. On the Great Plains Gypsies' latest release, "Ride the Blinds," the music is not only fresh, but also inventive. The album is a collection of 12 stripped-down tracks that range from folk to country-blues to even a bit of hard-edged blues. While the music is fresh, the lyrics are the real magic of the Great Plains Gypsies. On some songs, vocalist and songwriter Dan Whitaker uses fluid melodies and vivid imagery to tell contemporary folk tales. On others, he makes the blues his own as he sings of heartache and loss. He adds subtle, effective piano lines at just the right parts.
Some of the most impressive moments on the album come when the band shows its talent for some traditional blues. The mandolins and slide guitar add the perfect touch to "New Lonesome Road Blues" and "Cow Milker's Blues." Scott Schenke's mandolin work can be heard throughout the album and adds flair to Whitaker's stories. Backing vocals by Schenke and drummer John Roche add a nice ambience to Whitaker's folk stylings; while the rhythm section of Roche and bassist Tim Anderson keep the grooves tight, letting Whitaker explore with his vocal melodies.
This album mixes folk with the blues perfectly. It doesn't stress one over the other, and the songs, as a unit, flow like the backwoods creek Whitaker talks about."