Cowboy Sutra

In Cowboy Sutra, Hal Cannon, a specialist in early Utah folk music and a founding member of 3hattrio, mines the rich history of cowboy music, particularly the earliest days before the twangy Western guitar relegated melodic wordplay to a minor role. Cannon’s voice – low in register, softly articulate – lends itself to the meditative, plaintive nature of the album’s nine songs. While a harmonium provides the instrumental foundation, banjo, mandola, guitar, synthesizer, concertina, harmonica and other instruments including bass clarinet (Deborah Robins), piano (Greg Istock) and guitar (Jon Neufeld) subtly expand the sonic field. Devon Léger plays the title instrument on ‘Hurdy Gurdy Girl’, a darkly powerful lament over ‘a fair lady done wrong’ as she’s being carried to the grave by six merry female pallbearers. ‘Left Texas’ etches in stark relief the hard leadership required to herd cattle across hundreds of miles of rough open territory. Based on a real-life cowboy and formerly enslaved man whose soothing singing voice serves him well during night herding, ‘Old Charlie’ moves slowly and mysteriously, like clouds in a moonlit sky, as guitar, harmonium and Cannon’s voice eddy and swirl in raga-like fashion. Cowboy Sutra casts a neglected historical art form in a wondrously appealing new light.