Kate Rusby - Sleepless
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Free Music Notes for Sleepless
Free Music Review: I've started with this one...
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this album the day before chrismas after I heard Kate Rusby live on Mountain Stage (folk/traditional/bluegrass/old-time music in Charleston WV broadcast Sundays.) It was that kind of first hearing you might be familiar with, whre you are sitting listening to hte radio all day and then suddenly you look up because you really hear one word, one sung note, all of a sudden. It's somebody singing. It sounds like an older woman (I at first imagined her looking like Bonnie Rait.) It's fantastic, sort of a whole higher level of good, like Lauren Hill or Jesse Norman; distinctive. She's great onstage with her accompanyists (afte she gives an introduction to her first set, her guitarist says to the audience: " You should see your faces! Can you all understand a word she just said?" "also her explanation about her change of Willy in Fairest of All Yarrow to Billy.) This is no lettdown of an album. I heard her singing its songs on the radio that day, and they were truly something else. Like Ellington said, if it sounds good it is good.Free Music Review: It's Your Town....Goodnight
Hit: 5 Stars
Anyone who has even the slighest interest in traditional folk music, either from Britain, Ireland, or from the U.S., is doing themselves a disservice by ignoring this CD. Someone mentioned a comparison to June Tabor, which is a good starting point, except June has experimented with folk/rock and cabaret jazz genres, whereas Ms. Rusby's feet are firmly planted on traditional soil. Her gorgeously burnished voice hides her relative youth; her work is truly a stunning accomplishment. While the pronounciation in her thick native Yorkshire accent can be a bit idiosyncratic, there is no hiding the heartbreak and melancholy that she brings to the traditional songs, and particularly to her well chosen cover of Iris Dement's "Our Town." See if you can listen to that song with a dry eye. Ah, but there is some much more to bathe yourself in as her voice permeates your head and heart.
Free Music Review: Kate Rusby's "Sleepless" -- Leaves Me Breathless
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been a "folkie" since wayback, before the beginning. As a kid, I used to fall asleep listening to the radio with the volume turned low, to tunes by the Kinston Trio. I've always like traditional music, and always been especially touched by Celtic music. Kate Rusby's "Sleepless" hits those marks dead center, with nearly every tune on the CD. But let's get real -- this is not a rockin' jigs and reels Celtic CD. Much of the music is slow, and all of it done in Kate's own style. I invite you to compare her version of "The Unquiet Grave" with Karan Casey's on her CD "Songlines." Both are great, but Kate's occasionally tremelo voice vibrates my soul. If you like a good lullaby -- try "The Sleepless Sailor." And for poetic imagery, listen closely to "Sweet Bride." In fact, I am -- as I write this review.
Free Music Review: I love this album!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is my first experience with the voice of Kate Rusby. Repeated listenings confirmed for me that there is something new to hear each time. That is the mark of a good album. Because I enjoyed this album so much, I got most of her other CDs as well as her concert DVD. I will only comment on one song, "Wild Goose," which is my favorite. In fact I loved it so much I went hunting for sources and found out (as I suspected) that it is a sea shanty (a "halyard song" to be precise), sometimes known as "Ranzo" or "Ranzo Ray." Those words appear in the chorus, as another reviewer mentioned. Of course Kate does her own thing with it, and the results give me a lump in the throat. It's a wonderful thing to know how a song can live many lives, from long-ago sailors singing as they work the sails and ropes, to my living room in 2004, and still have a powerful meaning. Thanks, Kate.Free Music Review: Better than "Hourglass"
Hit: 5 Stars
Kate Rusby is a new voice to me, but her music is familiar. I have to admit I was swayed by reviews on this site that said her first cd was better than this one. I disagree. Though the first is totally above average--"A Rose in April" and "I am Stretched on Your Grave" total standouts--I feel the material on this cd is stronger. "Sho Heen" is haunting, "The Sleepless Sailor" a sing-along favorite, "Cowsong" begins soft and gets your toe tapping, makes you want to "fall down in the green grass," like the lyrics. But make no mistake, this is a very mellow cd, for those cold winter nights, by firelight and candlelight. Or a lazy Sunday morning, sunlight streaming through the curtains. P.S. If you like Kate, you'll like Connie Dover (begin with "Wishing Well").