A Passing Glimpse

A Passing Glimpse is the third in a trilogy of albums by British Columbia’s log cabin-dwelling, banjo-crafting, old-time music duet, Jason and Pharis Romero. The couple have been making many beautiful things together since meeting at a fiddle jam in Ontario five years ago, including hand-carved and assembled, sonically splendorous banjos played by the likes of Ricky Skaggs and Dirk Powell.

The 15 tracks on Glimpse are mostly based on the southern American songbook. ‘Where is the Gambling Man?’ is a straight up showcase for fingerstyle guitar adapted from a Leadbelly classic, ‘Out on the Western Plains’, originally recorded by Alan Lomax. ‘Engine 143’ is the oft-told train wreck tale, one of the earliest recordings of which was made by the Carter Family 1929, as chronicled in Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. In the Romeros’ version, the tragic, agonising demise of engineer George Alley is made all the more heartrending by the crystalline eloquence of Pharis’ voice. ‘Lay Down in Sorrow’, a Pharis original and the album’s standout track, with its waltz¬like pace and harmony vocals in minor thirds, is a classic downhome spiritual. Pared down to the essentials – a lovely duo’s voices and acoustic instruments – A Passing Glimpse is simple, beautiful, artisanal old-time music, made in small batches by loving hands.