The tastemakers have been in overdrive lately proclaiming
the talents of American folk band Darlingside. Over in the UK, a widely praised
performance at the Cambridge Folk Festival last year set the tongues wagging, and bringing things right up to date, involvement with the Celtic Connections
event has coincided with a wider tour of venues around the country. What cannot
be disputed is the ear of the tastemakers as the exquisite harmonies,
impeccable timing and intrinsic musicianship were on full display as this
four-piece combo called into Birmingham’s Glee Club.
The venue’s main room hosted Darlingside on their first
visit to the city and while far from full to its capacity, an orderly layout
housed a decent midweek turnout. Observing the audience’s response revealed an
enthusiastic gathering, many of whom were familiar with the music and savouring
the opportunity to listen to the music in a semi-intimate setting.
Prior to the main attraction taking to the stage, fellow
Boston based artist Dietrich Strause served up an aperitif of compactly
delivered middle line American folk music with a keen ear on Greenwich Village
revivalist tendencies. This was not Dietrich’s first visit to the city as he
supported UK artists’ Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker at the Red Lion Folk Club
in the latter part of last year. Like then, he delivered a highly palatable
performance. Although he is the proud curator of a new album, the most striking
song of his set came from an older release. ‘Jean Louise’ was the title of the track and who can resist a
cleverly constructed number on a To Kill A Mockingbird theme.
In the style of many contemporary retro sounding acts,
Darlingside choose the single microphone amplification which involves a twisted
degree of shuffling especially when the vocals continually switch between the
four members. Don Mitchell, Auyon Mukharji, Harris Paseltiner and David Senft
are the constitutional parts of the band; the personification of a rolling
first among equals.
Instrumentally, soft electric guitar does play a part but
it is the acoustic vibes of mandolin, violin, cello and acoustic guitar that
define the sound. However this does play second fiddle to the vocal
construction which is the overall explicit feature of being exposed to the
music of Darlingside.
Thinking along the lines of Simon and Garfunkel with a touch
of Crosby Stills and Nash will lead you into the vocal sonic room of
Darlingside. Of course this heavy slant on a lighter vocal sound will need some
adjusting to if you like things on a rougher more rounded scale, but there is
no escaping that Darlingside exploit their style rather well.
From an outsider’s perspective this show was as much about
experiencing the musical ambience of Darlingside rather than the micro detail,
hence a patchy recollection of song titles and general themes. They can be
explored fuller in their latest album BIRDS SAY of which the instantly
memorably titled ‘Harrison Ford’
obviously stood out. A more recent EP, WHIPPOORWIL also lingered in the memory
with the song ‘Fourth of July’ held back
for the encore and upholding the theory of saving the best ‘til last.
Darlingside have the talent potential to scale almighty
heights in the music world and not be shackled by genre convention. Their style
has reached this level before and the same could happen again. Maybe an evening
in Birmingham on the last day of January will be looked back on as one which
housed a band destined for greater things.
