Ghost Stories

“My name is Andrew Tozier, I’m a child of Litchfield, Maine,” begins the Civil War story-song “Ballad of the 20^th Maine,” a standout track from The Ghost of Paul Revere’s new EP Field Notes, Vol. 1. You don’t have to know Andrew Tozier was a real guy—was, in fact, a Medal of Honor winner and color-bearer for Joshua Chamberlain’s 20^th Maine regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg’s Little Round Top—to appreciate the historical weight of this song, which could even be heard as the exultant flip side of The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

As battle hymn, the song works. As a rousing tribute to Maine’s Civil War heritage and a celebration of espirit de corps, it more than passes muster. Before I get to the “but” here, I should confess that my own favorite war songs are mostly of the anti variety, which makes assessing this one on its own terms something of a challenge.  Musically, it’s as accomplished as anything else the Ghost has released—deftly played and sung. Lyrically, it’s a well-crafted piece of songwriting that is difficult to fault, and I recognize that my problem with it may amount to a failure in objectivity. Not that this is an any way a pro-war tune, or anywhere near as reactionary as “Ballad of the Green Berets.” I would only argue that by deflecting the horrors of 19th-century warfare in favor of such gung-ho sentiments as “Go straight to hell with your rebel yell/We are the boys of Maine,” the song fails to imagine fully the psychological and physical wounds of soldiers on both sides of the War Between the States.

Fortunately, that is where my ambivalence about this song collection ends.

For those not yet familiar with the Ghost’s “holler-folk” sound, Field Notes, Vol. 1 is not a bad place to become acquainted with it. A followup to the band’s first full-length album (Believe), this eight-track EP is comprised of four new songs including “Ballad,” an alternate take of the previously released “Frontier,” and live versions of two highlights from the previous album.  The gorgeous “Woodman’s Stead” and haunting “Ghostland,” recorded live with fellow Mainers Tall Heights and Boston’s The Fogcutters, respectively, showcase the band’s acoustic chops and Griffin Sherry’s experessive vocal range.  “I’m gonna tear down your walls,” Sherry sings on “Woodman’s Stead,” “and I won’t stop until I have you all.” Ostensibly, the words are directed at a distant lover, but they could just as well be addressed to that segment of the listening public that has yet to discover The Ghost of Paul Revere. Certainly, the band deserves a larger audience.

Elsewhere on Field Notes, the Ghost delivers a cover of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” that ripples and plunks with an organic quality unlike anything on the original recording. And the stripped-down instrumentation lends the unusual title an Old English/Scottish folk ballad connotation. If you didn’t know the tune, wouldn’t you guess that a song called “Baba O’Riley” might be a variation on “Barbara Allen?”

Among the new studio songs, Davis’s “Two Weeks” is a mellow appreciation of taking shelter and just chillin’ with one’s baby during an endless downpour. Similarly, the water images in the alternate take of “Frontier” awaken our minds to the toll time has taken all around us, while we weren’t paying attention:  

History in hand, all things erode

The prison, the monument, and the road…

But my own favorite track here may be Sherry’s sexy and mysterious “Annabelle,” which seems to describe an unlikely hook-up between a female musician and a male fan who worships her—a refreshing reversal of the typical groupie scenario.

Or is it?

Love me, girl, like you mean it, sugar

Like you know me well, I’m you’re Annabelle

Oh won’t you love me well, I’m you’re Annabelle…

Who is Annabelle? Is it the singer, or the object of his—or her—adoration? The song pretty much leaves this up to the listener, which makes the lyric all the more intriguing. Perhaps more than any other Ghost song, this traditional-sounding sketch smartly upends conventions and invites multiple interpretations.

Since I saw them play live at northern Maine’s Arootsakoostik Music Festival in 2012, the Ghost of Paul Revere has been a band I just can’t get enough of.

Let’s hope Field Notes, Vol. 2 is not far away.

The Ghost of Paul Revere is:

Max Davis – Banjo, Vocals

Griffin Sherry – Guitar, Vocals

Sean McCarthy – Bass, Vocals

Matt Young – Harmonica