Friday, 17 July 2015

Record Review - The Mid North

Published in the Shortlist section of The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday July 17.

The Mid North
Tales From A Mountain
Independent

You would be forgiven for thinking that the lush and downhome country sounds emanating from The Mid North’s second LP come straight from a small studio somewhere in East Nashville, such is the strength and obvious understanding of this typically American music.

And yet it’s Bellingen in the state’s mid-north from which Tales From A Mountain comes, the product of one of the finer country bluegrass acts Australia offers. To see them live is to see all five members huddled around the one mic, stepping closer when their part comes up, leaning in as one so’s to capture the five-way harmonies they’ve mastered.

The album captures this all and then some. From the rollicking banjo and fiddle-led tunes like ‘Corn Liquor’ and ‘Delta Mae’ to the slower numbers like ‘Undertaker’ (breathtaking in its quiet beauty) and ‘Storm Cloud’, this is a masterful interpretation of bluegrass and Americana, delivered in a way which seems so simple and easy, and yet carries with it so much depth.
3.5/5

Samuel J. Fell




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