"White Swan"
"Glaze and company have done a wonderful job of charming
us in the past but now it seems like her recent vintage live set was to clear
the palette before the next stage was set. A bluegrass crew that could easily
stand toe to toe with Union Station, this crew has elected to widen the lens
and take newgrass into the wide open mixing in Celtic, folk, roots, Americana
and a full range of indigenous sounds that blend into a wonderful down home,
home grown stew. Boldly powering their way down their own new cut road, if you
haven't had the chance to enjoy the Glaze sound yet, this is the place to jump
in to be totally blown away. This is the perfect record for anyone that's ever
wondered what the big deal about roots/Americana is to find out what's
what." Chris Spector for Midwest Record
Folkworks
"I've said it before, 'new is easy different is hard' -
many artists achieve the former, some the latter, few manage both. Well here's
one that falls into the 'achieved both' category. Susie Glaze & The
Hilonesome Band have with 'White Swan' blended unadulterated Americana folk
from a mix of influences - poetic narrative, a soupcon of bluegrass, a touch of
mountain-muse and pure invention to create a folk-fusion of that's both steeped
in tradition and fresh as the sunrise...'White Swan' blends the inspiration of
tradition with the charisma of contemporary - and does it faultlessly."
Tim Carroll, FolkWords (www.folkwords.com - UK)
"Susie Glaze & the Hilonesome Band continue to hone and
refine their brand of rootsy Americana on their very appealing new album, White
Swan. Alison Krauss and Union Station remain the most obvious reference point
for this troupe which comprises Glaze on lead vocals, guitars and mountain
dulcimer; Rob Carlson on guitar; Steve Rankin on mandolin and bouzouki; Mark
Indicator on fiddle; and Fred Sanders on bass. But with White Swan, the band
have broadened their bluegrass sound to encompass folky Celtic elements, and
the results stand up well alongside the best of AKUS.
The playing throughout is supple and evocative and the
choice of material is stellar, combining original (mostly penned by Carlson),
traditional material and well-chosen covers. The Irish tune “Si Bheag, Si Mhor”
ushers in a fine opening take on James Taylor’s “Mill Worker”; Glaze channels
Joan Baez for a gripping “Fair Ellender”; Rankin takes a low-key lead on a
cover of Steve Earle’s “Me and the Eagle”; and a spare, evocative reading of
“The Soldier” by Jean Ritchie (about whom Glaze composed the acclaimed theatre
show “Singing the Moon Up: The Voice of Jean Ritchie”) brings the album to an
elegant end. The best tracks, however, are two stunning songs from the pen of
Ernest Troost: the murder ballad “Evangeline”—sung from the perspective of the
now-remorseful culprit—and the exceptional “Harlan County Boys” which
economically traces a family history from the early 1900s to the present day.
Glaze inhabits these songs with absolute conviction and subtle dramatic flair,
making them the highlights of an altogether beguiling record."
“The net has been cast wide,” says Susie Glaze of Susie Glaze
& The Hilonesome Band, referring to the range of influences on their latest
collaboration, “White Swan.” The West Coast quintet’s eleven-track project
reflects a love for bluegrass, folk and Celtic music, with five originals
written by various configurations of the band, plus well-picked covers by the
likes of masters, such as Steve Earle (“Me And The Eagle”) and James Taylor
(“Mill Worker”).
These artists have a performance chemistry that works, with
tight arrangements of fiddle, mandolin, guitar and upright bass, and Glaze’s
authentic Appalachian voice – by way of Southern California – is icing on their
musical confection. The Ernest Troost song, “Evangeline,” allows her an
opportunity to show more ache and tenderness in her confident holler style, and
she sings in downright shades of Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention, Fotheringay)
on the dulcimer-and-fiddle traditional English/Irish folk ballad “Fair
Ellender.”
Glaze has a hand in penning “The Dark Eileen,” with its flowery
recitation start, and her softer-side delivery glides over the Emerald
Isle-inspired hills and valleys of its melody. The title track is where the
band lives up to its high-lonesome moniker, and Jean Ritchie’s “The Soldier”
closes out the set with a haunting Irish drone. SGTHB give listeners a fresh
take on tradition."
"If Susie Glaze were a newscaster, this crazy world would be a lot easier to take. On grisly murder ballads and carefree romps alike, the Tennesse native sings smooth and sweet, her voice like buttermilk pie. Having appeared on Broadway, Glaze has a knack for theatrics, and that serves her well on "Fair Ellender", "Evangeline" and "The Dark Eileen", the three of this album's darker narrative tunes. Relief comes in the form of "April Fools", a bubbly Appalachian bossa nova love song with giddiness to spare. Wherever Glaze goes, her band is right there with her, providig impeccable acoustic instrumentation and sometimes handling lead vocals. The presentation is as seamless as the songs are engaging."
M Magazine for Musicians
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"White Swan," Susie Glaze's fifth release, is truly
her most eclectic and collaborative album in over ten years of her
critically-acclaimed career as a bluegrass/folk recording artist. With this CD her Hilonesome Band has veered
into the realms of new Celtic-inspired folk songs that harken back to the
ballad form from the pen of lead guitarist Rob Carlson, as well as
re-interpreted classic cover songs from such diverse sources as James Taylor,
Steve Earle and Jean Ritchie. Also
featured are two songs from Los Angeles singer-songwriter and Kerrville New
Folk Winner Ernest Troost. Arrangements and new interpretations of songs you
think you knew are here for re-discovery from this gifted acoustic quintet in a
lush and orchestral folk setting.
The innovation of this formerly-bluegrass band is taking them
to a distinctly folk-driven Americana music, the sounds that came to America
with the first immigrants: Appalachia,
old-English balladry, Irish barn-burner fiddle music (the outro of "White
Swan" was penned in the studio) and tender stories of family and legacy
("Harlan County Boys").
One great album bonus is the inclusion of a previously-recorded
live onstage sound track of the classic Childe ballad, "Fair
Ellender," arranged by Jean Ritchie, with Susie accompanied by Ritchie
sons Peter and Jon Pickow and famed East coast fiddler, Kenny Kosek. At this concert, the Hilonesome Band will
re-interpret "Fair Ellender" in their own way with bouzouki, guitar,
fiddle and bowed bass.
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