The new release from Nettle Honey (previous post here) just proves that the Pacific Northwest remains a fertile hotbed for young American oldtime bands. What is it about the scene up there that just keeps producing such sick music? Is it in the cold blue snowmelt rivers? The moist sea air blowing off Puget Sound? The dark mossy forest glades that smell like spruce? I dunno the answer, but you gotta love a group that lists its interests as square dancing, biking, foraging, and brewing. I’d hang with ‘em.
Unlike their previous studio release, which included about half self-penned material, This Shed is Bound for Glory consists of all trad material, most of which is fairly well-known in oldtime circles. Whatever they lack in originality they certainly make up in performance, however. They got a sweet, smooth sound this time as well. It was recorded in Port Townsend, WA with Neville Pearsall, who has worked with many other acoustic groups such as the Atlas Stringband, The Canote Brothers, and Blackbird Raum. This Shed is Bound for Glory is bound to earn the band its rightful place, right up there with artists like Foghorn Stringband, Dirk Powell, and Evie Ladin.
Nettle Honey is the band you want to have on stage at the big square dance down at the VFW Hall. Or rockin’ on the front porch at the end-of-summer harvest party at the local organic farm. Or sawing til dawn at the after-hours kitchen jam on a cold winter’s night. I got a fever, and the only thing that will cool it is a big dose of Nettle Honey!
Stream two tracks on FIDDLEFREAK.COM
[Photo by Kira Doley]
