James the Fang and Serious Sam Barrett - The Divine Horseshoe

 

Having just seen this duo last night at the Double Down, I had to pick up the record that they were touring with (apparently, there is at least one other - it is impossible to keep up with these highly prolific cats). While they both sing'n'harmonize, here Sam mostly plucks his lovely old Harmony 12-string (he is an excellent finger-pickin' player) and Jamie is generally on his upbeat, sawin' fiddle, keeping things jumpin'n'lively. 

Although they each contribute a couple of originals, the set is predominately made up of traditional songs, cowboy tunes, hillbilly and folk numbers from both sides of the ocean (I presume). Their record collection must be pretty astounding, as they continually come up with numbers that I've never heard before and I thought that I had a pretty good selection of early folk material these days. There is always more, I suppose, and never enough time to hear it all!

As I've said, I love this kind of music, and these guys do a fantastic job of presenting it - both are superior players'n'singers and give the tunes a fresh'n'unique perspective. I can't recommend this highly enough and be sure to see them if you are lucky enough to have them come to your town!