Anticipation

Born out of a tour around Trans-Pecos (west Texas), this first album of instrumental duets by guitarists Knowler and Winter weave together their individual roots into intricate – and sometimes surprising – musical conversations. With Knowler’s background in bluegrass and Winter’s in experimentalism, this album presents a sensitive mixture of traditional folk and cross-genre approaches that won’t alienate a folk audience.

Opening track ‘Strawberry Milk’, with its sunny refrain framed by complex riffs and harmonically nuanced runs that spill out from it, sets the tone of the dialogue. ‘Sippin’ Amaretto’, by contrast, is a striking mid-point of the album with a freer improvisational approach reminiscent of Derek Bailey. On first listen, the shift in harmonic and rhythmic language challenged my expectations, but the light-hearted humour within the improvisation makes for engaging repeated listening. The duo then move back to tightly woven rhythmic work, driving under flowing scalic patterns in a captivating rendition of Michael Chapman’s ‘Caddo Lake’. Full of folk, bluegrass, and playful improvisations, this record feels cleverly spontaneous and captures a musical intricacy in a way only possible with two musicians that not only know how to play, but also how to listen.