Potato Moon is a band that I’ve heard on my independent radio station and seen live locally a few times, yet they never clicked with me until I got their newer album, After the Harvest, from the library. This 2008 album has 32 tracks, some of them full songs, some snippets that sound like movie scores, some of them short traditional songs arranged beautifully.
The full-length songs, mostly written by Ben Stancil, are the most original folk songs I’ve heard since Gillian Welch. Yet they’re still catchy, earthy, timeless, and genuine. The main vocals, too, are strong. Jane Jones, who I believe to be the main female vocalist, has a voice that can do anything. It’s a huge voice. She could easily be a jazz vocalist so her voice works well with the genre-bending songs of the album.
Ben Stancil’s production is great, too. The strings sound unearthly and other sounds enter with them like the wind. This entire album was recorded in a span of five July days in 2007. That attributes to the seamless, unified feeling of all the songs.
I encourage you to check out this CD. To hear them will be nothing but beneficial to your SOUL! Wherever you are!
