Unspoken Tradition: Imaginary Line
Song List: Carolina and Tennessee, Irons in the Fire, Crooked Jack, Soldiers of Dust, California, The Old Swinging Bridge, At the Bottom Again, Back on the Crooked Road, Bounty Hunter, Lookout Mountain.
An unspoken tradition brings to mind embedded rules that a place follows and bluegrass music has a prescribed formula that accompanies the genre without much discussion. The band does follow some of the ingrown bluegrass traditions, but it has developed over the years its own interpretation that takes its sound to new dimensions.
Band members are Saravanan Sankaran on bass and vocals, Audie McGinnis on guitar and vocals, Tim Gardner on fiddle and vocals, Zane McGinnis on banjo, Ty Gilpin on mandolin and guest John Doyle on “Crooked Jack.” The vocal trio of Sav, Audie, and Tim soar in tight harmonies and emotional connection, and Audie’s voice has a vibrant core that conveys emotion and empathy. Instrumentally, the banjo and fiddle provide a strong pulsing drive for each song and provide an energy even if the song is a lament on life’s restrictions and limitations. The last two years of Covid have limited the band’s touring but they’ve used the time to make each song compact and intense, and the instrumental solos intertwine in tight segments that underscore the lyrics. “Carolina and Tennessee” share a border that makes them separate but the imaginary lines disappear when the message offers bonding rather than boundaries. “Irons in the Fire” and “California” address the restless energy that gathers hope with a change in location but other songs address the life in Appalachia “At the Bottom Again” and “Soldiers of Dust” with its dying cities of rust. “Lookout Mountain” reflects on the “future coming down” with the rich building a castle with a fortune to be made, while the singer laments that “progress ain‘t caught up to the times.”
Two other songs stand apart: “Bounty Hunter” and “Crooked Jack.” “Bounty Hunter” begins with a solo guitar riff that fits the old country western music style as the singer faces the bounty hunter who will end his life but there’s an ironic twist: the hunted grabs a pitchfork and his dying fall from the hayloft skewers the unlucky hunter and we are left with “Gabriel and Satan shooting craps for my soul.” John Doyle adds his Irish bouzouki and voice to the tale of the injured miner Crooked Jack and the mix of bouzouki, fiddle, and mandolin add a jaunty lilt to the song. Unspoken Tradition extends its music beyond imaginary boundary lines, and succeeds in presenting stories well told, sung with harmony and embellished with musical flourishes.