CHEYENNE BROWN & TORY DUGAN – Road Soda (Bird Creek Records BCR003)

Road SodaCheyenne and Tory are both from Alaska where Tory still lives, Cheyenne having moved to Scotland some years ago. Tory plays fiddle and keyboards and owns a studio from which he works by internet; Cheyenne plays harp and gets about a bit more and Road Soda is packed with traditional music from all over the world.

The record opens with a pretty little Finnish tune called ‘Eva’s Polka’ and moves on to ‘Tongadale Reel’, a tune written about a pub in Portree. By the end of this you’re getting the feeling that all is not as straightforward as it might at first appear. Drummer Vinnie Palazzotto and bass-player Joe Eunice are beginning to make their presence apparent and Tory certainly isn’t playing a piano continuo. There are some serious electronics involved and Tory’s fiddle playing has a definite swing style verging on jazz. I swear there’s an electric guitar on one track, too, but no-one owns up to it so it’s probably Joe’s bass.

We’re all familiar with what can be done with folk music by imaginative players but Cheyenne and Tory do seem to have a style all their own. On one hand, ‘Mary’s Dream’, is a very traditional harp piece underpinned with fiddle – except for the percussion and delicate bass line which take it off somewhere else. On the other, Fred Morrison’s ‘Lochaber Badger’ is a heavy fiddle piece with the engine room at full power and Cheyenne’s harp singing over the top.

Road Soda is not an album to get precious about. There are some fine tunes and great playing from both Cheyenne and Tory: delicacy sometimes from her and power sometimes from him and it’s a record that’s gone almost before you know it.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ websites: http://cheyenneharp.com/

Cheyenne plays bluegrass standards at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival:

‘Here Comes The Wind’ from Tory’s latest solo album:

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