The Dunwells At Folk Alliance
Utterly astounding! They’re playing Monday night at Hotel Cafe. GO!
With too many bands and too little time I’m relying on recommendations. And the problem is you can’t get into the hot rooms. Which are literally hotel rooms, which creak and cramp if you try to inject twenty people inside.
But I did get to see Malcolm Holcombe, who seems like he was beamed down from outer space. And to hear the Bluhms harmonizing while backed by the Wood Brothers was positively staggering. But I didn’t make it in to see Sam Baker. And Mary Gauthier never showed up in the room she was supposed to. And when I got back to the Swallow Hill space to see the Dunwells…
They were stacked up in the aisles.
Now this is folk music. It’s supposed to be niche. But wasn’t Mumford & Sons one of the biggest acts of the year? What was it, the acoustic instruments, the real voices, the honesty, the integrity, the vibe?
WELL THE DUNWELLS ARE SELLING THE SAME THING!
But it’s different. Just a bit rockier. A bit less folk and a bit more British Invasion.
I was sitting inches away and my jaw dropped. FIVE PART HARMONIES?
They sang about love, they sang about hope, and I’m electrified just thinking about it.
What I love about the new model is all bets are off. If you’ve got the goods, you can go, that rocket ship to stardom is available to EVERYONE!
Don’t ask me why the greatest groups come from the U.K., why they’re so rehearsed, why they’re so polished, why they seem less concerned with fads and more concerned with music. Just check these lads out.
The album just came out in the U.S. It’s coming out in the U.K. in March.
I haven’t heard a note of music until tonight. I just pulled up the album on Spotify, my favorite track from tonight, the one I had to ask the singer the name of, it’s entitled "Elizabeth".
And it’s good on wax. But live, the boys are less concerned with getting it right, there’s an extra dose of emotion, you’ll be closed IMMEDIATELY!
