The Same But Different

Songlines readers may know Dan Walsh as one half of harmonica-banjo duo Walsh & Pound [featured as a Making Waves in #76 and their debut album was reviewed in #77]. That partnership recently came to an end and The Same But Different is banjo player Walsh’s first project since. The album, on which he leads a band of up to six-instrumentalists, presents a mixed range of musical styles with the banjo as the one linking theme. It’s an approach that asks a lot of the instrument, and it’s testament to Walsh’s skills that it all pretty much hangs together. Principally composed by Walsh, the record shows his influences from British folk to bluegrass and jazz. The folky numbers work well, with Rachel Newton’s harp expanding the sound-world of the ensemble of banjo, violin, mandolin, bass and percussion. The title-track, a ballad dedicated to his hometown of Stafford, features Walsh’s singing at his best, his high, clear voice accompanied by soulful banjo figures. Elsewhere, he experiments with traditional English tune ‘When a Man’s in Love, adding a slow, dub-style bass-line and percussion that gives the old tune bounce.

The Same But Different is bookended by two solo tracks on which Walsh plays a selection of jigs and reels, the music that inspired him to take up his instrument, and these banjo work-outs are the album’s best moments. Walsh has a breathtaking technique and a lovely clean delivery.