Acoustic Syndicate is living proof that you can’t make
\nassumptions based on liner notes. On the surface, it’s easy to
\npigeonhole this band; they’re on Sugar Hill Records, they have a
\nlead banjo player, must be newgrass or bluegrass, right? Wrongo,
\nbuddy. Acoustic Syndicate is a mixed-breed bastard of a band,
\nlikely to cut back and forth without warning from roots music to
\npop grooves that put you in mind of the best of Dave Matthews or
\nBlues Traveler.
\nTerra Firma<\/i>, their newest release, is a tight and tasty bit
\nof genuine musical novelty, a band of real rural musicians who
\nbetween recording suggestions and tour dates put up canned goods
\nand hold family hoedowns (three of the four band members are
\ncousins). Add to this bucolic intermixture some real talent, and
\nthis is a band and a CD to cherish.<\/p>\n
The musicianship is impeccable. The first and strongest note is
\nthat of lead vocalist Steve “Big Daddy” McMurry, whose soaring,
\npowerful vocals put one in mind of a gospel-tinged Gordon
\nLightfoot. Weave into that some of the best harmonies I’ve heard in
\na very long time and what you have is nothing short of magic. Of
\ncourse, once you get past that, there’s another delight to discover
\nin the banjo of Bryon McMurry. The band’s official bio says it
\nbest; Bryon plays banjo like a guitar player, and evokes sounds
\nthat some traditional musicians would be hard-pressed to
\nback-engineer, much less reproduce. The bass and percussion are
\nsolid and well-mixed; there’s no complaints to be had at all in the
\nalbum’s sound.<\/p>\n
There’s only one hurdle left, the songs\u2026 and they’re pure
\ngold. The arching, aching harmonies of “The Ballad of Marie St
\nLaurette,” the tongue-in-cheek social commentary of “Vanity,” the
\nbright, intense “Commentary,” the brooding “One Way”\u2026twelve
\ntracks and twelve hits. There are no misses here, no weak spots;
\nTerra Firma<\/i> is magnificent. Add in some surprises like the
\nsoprano saxophone on “Fleeting Moments,” and the package is
\ncomplete.<\/p>\n
This is a strong contender to show up on this year’s Top Ten
\nlist. Don’t miss it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":26365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6844],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37596","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-acoustic-syndicate","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37596"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37596"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}