Rock Island Grange

Firmly rooted in the traditional old-time vein, this ninth recording by the Portland, Oregon-based Foghorn Stringband features sparkling acoustic instrumentals coupled with high lonesome vocal tracks captured in an environment supremely accommodating to the band's strengths. In December 2016, Caleb Klauder (on mandolin, fiddle, vocals), Reeb Willms (guitar, vocals), Stephen ‘Sammy’ Lind (fiddle, banjo, vocals) and Nadine Landry (bass, vocals) were on tour in the Pacific north-west. Among the concert stops was Grange Hall, a historic building on Orcas Island off the coast of Washington. Inspired by the hall's superlative acoustics, Klauder enlisted local musician Bruce Harvie, whose bootleg tape archive chronicles the rich performance history of the venue, to record a mix of old and new songs from the Foghorn Stringband catalogue. Standout tracks include the classic ballad ‘Pretty Fair Maid Out in the Garden’, distinguished by Willms' starkly plaintive lyrical vocals and a delicately rendered mandolin solo by Lind; a fresh interpretation of the Carter Family's Appalachian lament ‘Lonesome Homesick Blues’; and a heartfelt rendition of the late bluegrass singer Hazel Dickens' seldom-heard ‘Only the Lonely’ – with the latter two tracks highlighting the Stringband's mesmerising harmony vocalising.