thought Gregory Page was going to be soul. I always judge a book by its cover, and with a name like that, I pictured a black hipster in boots and a polo neck. (Not entirely daft — he did tour with Jason Mraz recently.) But on record, Page sounds like a lad from the Appalachians who picked up a guitar at three and knows 26,002 traditional songs by heart. More surprising than him not being a black hipster is the fact that he’s not Appalachian either — he’s from London. His parents didn’t sit on a porch sipping moonshine; they were Irish and Armenian, both singers.
Page has the kind of voice you could listen to until the coal miners come home, and his lyrics are smart, story-driven, and full of heart.
The jolly, fiddle-led “Right Now Tomorrow” kicks things off — a rootsy pop-folk tune about getting off your backside and doing something: “Cause when you’re dead / You are dead for a long time / Get up from your chair / And take the stage.” The acoustic track that follows, “Green Lights and Blue Skies” carries a similar message — every day a new beginning, and all that.
The mood shifts with “A Place in the Choir”, featuring Jason Mraz on vocals. It’s a retro American folk-dance-meets-children’s-song, complete with tin whistle and lyrics like: “The dogs and the cats they take up the middle / While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles / The donkey brays and the pony neighs.”
Other tracks range from light and frothy to plaintive and deeply emotive, often sounding like they were recorded 70 years ago by a man in overalls.
The only complaint? It’s too short. I had to dig out my Appalachian folk festival compilation (which I actually bought in Appalachia) just to keep the mood going.
JMC
