BARD EDRINGTON V & THE BLACKBIRDS – Tired & Branded (own label)

Tired & BrandedBard Edrington V lives in a part of the USA where, musically, “something appears to be happening”. It was apparent on his previous album, Two Days In Terlingua, https://folking.com/bard-edrington-v-two-days-in-terlingua-own-label/ and he’s built on it with Tired & Branded, due for release on September 15th.

There are twelve tracks – Edrington’s easy vocal is supported by an energetic band sound comprising percussion, guitar both acoustic and electric, banjo, bass, violin and viola.

The production work of Bill Palmer makes this a very listenable album. The genre is country/americana but you don’t have to be into country music to like the stuff that Bard Edrington V is doing.

The album opens with a honky-tonk feel on ‘Sometimes I Do It Wrong’. It builds on the second track, ‘Vertigo’, on which drums and bass give an unusual drive before the fiddle comes in and dances a tune in gaps between Edrington’s vocals.

The third track is the one that really lets you know Edrington is moving his music into new and interesting areas. ‘Dance Across the Desert Like Rain’ is gentle, magical, a perfectly formed arrangement for a song which opens

“Watch her dance across the desert like rain
She holds mysteries you can’t explain…
She’ll come to you in a dream…
No need to know her name….”

Suitably hooked, the album takes you from adoration in the deserts of New Mexico to love in Dent in the Yorkshire Dales, (written during his 2023 tour of the UK); there’s a reminder of Spanish influence on ‘Torcido’ (Spanish for crooked)  which touches on the death of a bull elk in the Colorado valley of Torcido, a slow chorus to have you singing along; ‘Spring In New Mexico’ is a fine country song, the verses giving vignettes of life and the weather at that time of year; ‘Dancing To Your Song’ is upbeat, singalong and written in Holland on their last tour. The songs, then, are internationally influenced, create vivid images in their lyrics – and yet remain as American as can be.

Edrington has composed all the songs, except for ‘Down River’, written and sung by bassist Sarah Ferrell, a steady and powerful arrangement to match lines like “I’m a stronger woman than you’ll ever be a man” as she moves down river and on with life.

Of the remaining tracks, ‘489’ bounces along as a train song should, ‘Ember In The Fire’ closes the album on a smooth note, and the title song, ‘Tired And Branded’ tells of a young man and his father going to the wilderness – an old-time country experience matched by an old-time country arrangement.

I noted above that “you don’t have to be into country music to like the stuff that Bard Edrington V is doing” and Tired & Branded is anchored in American music traditions, broadened by his travels and his approach to life, nicely arranged and a rather impressive album.

On his last tour to the UK, Edrington played at least one (I only went to one) splendid concert and he’s coming over again in October with eight gigs from Scotland to the South Coast, details on the website. Should be fun.

Mike Wistow

 Website: https://www.bardedrington.com

‘489’ – live:

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