Search - Kendel Carson :: Rearview Mirror Tears (Dig)

A strong debut in Americana of a fiddle virtuoso: kudos to C

Vito Minerva | Italy | 06/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I heard Kendel in Utrecht last April. Her band mates were an upright bass player and an acoustic guitar player. Most song they played were from her debut album, but she also added some Celtic tunes to show her virtuosity with the fiddle.

I liked the performance, but, maybe because of the acoustic setting and the inclusion of some reels and jigs, when I bought her CD, I was expecting something close to the Duhks. Instead, it turned out to be more muscular: a country-rock album with plenty of electric guitar riffs (courtesy of John Platania), harmonica embellishments (Chip Taylor) and fiddle virtuosity (Kendel Carson, but this one was of course expected).



The CD is actually a double CD, with two songs (There's No Angel on My Shoulder and Who Wants To Ride This Train) put in a separate bonus disc. Since the main disc is only 38-mins long, they could have packaged all the songs in a single disc, but according to the liner notes, these last 2 songs didn't fit in well with the others and so were kept separate. Well, maybe they are right: Angel on My Shoulder (written about 40 years ago) is a folk-pop song about heartbreak, while Ride This Train is an up-tempo pure-rock number. The 11 tracks on the other disc fall somewhere in between these two extremes.



Chip Taylor wrote or co-wrote all the 13 songs in the 2-disc package. They are all good and make for a strong album with no weak numbers. Still, a sure crowd pleaser is "I like trucks", which has silly lyrics like "I like trucks, big trucks, I like cars that go fast, I like boys that talk trash and take it as it comes" and is ideal to sing-along in a tavern full of drunken people (by the way, this is the way the song seems to have been recorded; and I mean it as a compliment).



I also like the opening track: it starts with a spoken verse, then gains speed in the chorus with Chip joining in and continues with a fiddle solo; then there is another verse, a chorus and a solo and so on till the end. "Take me down to the river" probably takes cue from "Down In The River" of the "Brother Where Are Thou?" soundtrack, but gives it a more vigorous vibe. "I Certainly Know Why" is a female sing-along railing at a bad lover, with a nice accordion blending in.

The accordion, together with harmonica and fiddle, returns in "Gold in The Hills (of Saltery Bay)", a gentle folk song about the blossoming of love. Another slow tempo song is the sorrowful ballad "Ribbons & Bows", about the end of a love story. Kendel easily goes from meditative to sassy: an example of the latter is "Especially for a Girl", about female desire.



To sum up: this is a CD with lots of fiddle, harmonica and electric guitar, a balanced mix of slow- and up-tempo numbers, of serious and silly lyrics... It doesn't break any new ground, but it was one of the best album of 2007 in the Americana genre. Give it a try.

"

In the end, after a few listens, this is just great

rcb | Austin, TX United States | 12/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kendal is no Carrie Rodriguez, but her album is amazing. With some help from Chip Taylor (Jesus, this guy is prolific lately) she's come up with three of the best songs I've heard this year. Something about this utterly trancends her limited singing. It's great! The style is rock/americana, if you care. I think that "ribbons and bows" is my favorite."