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English Dance & Song

Stirrings

fRoots

Maverick

Living Tradition

Mardles

Sing Out

Shreds and Patches
 

Mike Harding's Review Sept 2009
Sara Grey has a new CD just out called 'Sandy Boys'. It is the pure drop - great music played and sung with shovelfuls of soul - old timey songs, African-American folk rhymes and Appalachian ballads and tunes. Terrific stuff, every track a gem.

I've been a fan of Sara's since I first heard her in folk clubs in the early seventies, she's a lovely singer and a great banjo picker. She's joined on the album by a heap of fine musicians and singers including her son Kieron Means on guitar and Ben Paley on fiddle.

An added bonus for me was hearing Mike Whellans on mouth harp. An amazingly talented bloke from Scotland, Mike isn't known half as well as he should be which is a crying shame, because he's a simply amazing musician.

The CD has a lot of classic tracks on it such as 'East Virginia Blues' and 'Young Hunting', but also features some superb tunes and a brilliant version of one of my favourite songs ever, 'Goodnight-Loving Trail', written by Utah Phillips. It tells the story of an old cook on a cattle drive on the trail named after Goodnight and Loving who first drove the cattle road through. It has the immortal lines, "It's a wonder the wind don't tear off your skin. Get in there and blow out the light."

A wonderful song from a great man, a union man, poet, storyteller and singer, sadly no longer with us. Sara sings this as a fine tribute to him.

I listen to a lot of CDs for my show and it's never a chore when albums as good as 'Sandy Boys' come along - good stuff.

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FolkWorld Issue 40 11/2009 - Hanover, Germany
http://www.folkworld.eu/40/e/cds4.html#coun

 I personally find Sara Grey much more interesting. This American musician has a deep passion for old time banjo music and that can be heard on this album. Together with five fine musicians, she impresses with some great country/blues. Great start with Sandy Boys in which she shows her fabulous banjo techniques. Nice also is the ballad that follows, Goodnight Loving Trail, in which her instrument is more subtle. Great harmony vocals in songs like East Virginia Blues which has a seldom heard pureness. That she is a great storyteller shows in the ballad The Cruel Lowland Maid. This shows her love for British traditional music as well. With Sandy Boys, Grey recorded a beautiful album rooted deeply in old traditions, but without any doubt suitable for this century.
Eelco Schilder

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R2 (Rock 'n' Reel)
I discovered Sara Grey pretty late, with her outstanding contribution to Fellside's 'Song Links 2’ set of Anglo-American songs but, right from that brief introduction, her commanding way with a traditional song made an indelible impact. Hers is a full, passionate but sprightly voice that is equally at home on a vibrant spiritual like 'Sheep, Sheep Don't You Know The Road', the brooding 'Young Hunting' or a tastily blues-inflected 'Black Is the Color'.
Many of the songs here have, like those on the Song Links set, crossed the Atlantic more than once – a cross-cultural heritage that, as the sleeve notes explain, makes them all the more fascinating. Whether a cappella or accompanying herself on the 5-string banjo with top-class support from Kieron Means on guitar and the tremendous Ben Paley on fiddle (not to mention Mike Whellans blowing a mean harp on ‘Goodnight-Loving Trail’, Grey continues to prove herself one of the finest exponents of American old-time music.
Oz Hardwick

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English Dance & Song
http://eds.efdss.org

Although there are many singers who sing songs to us, there are few singers through whom the songs reach out to touch us. Sara Grey, an American who has made the British Isles her home for the last 38 years, is one of the latter.
Her love of old-time banjo music and songs began after hearing this music during her youth in North Carolina, and carried over into her study of folklore and collecting and performing music from the various areas in which she has lived. Along the way, Sara has become not only a very fine banjo player in the old-time style, but also a singer whose distinctive, emotionally charged voice reveals a deep understanding of traditional music and whose understated approach allows the songs she sings to shine.
On Sandy Boys, her latest release on Paul Adams’ Fellside label, Sara is joined by her son (and regular accompanist) Kieron Means on guitar and Ben Paley on fiddle. Their contributions are an integral part of the solid foundation over which Sara crafts her songs. The CD contains fifteen tracks, all of which are absolute beauties. In among the traditional songs, the choice of which reflects in several cases her interest in song migration across the Atlantic, Sara has woven three contemporary tracks, although you would be forgiven for not noticing the anachronism, so well chosen and performed are they.
For me the standout track, which features Mike Whellans on harmonica, is Sara’s interpretation of one of these contemporary songs, the late Utah Phillips’ ‘Goodnight-Loving Trail’, a song that contemplates the approach of age through the eyes of a cowboy reflecting on the inevitability, when he becomes too old to ride, of ending up as a camp cook on the eponymous cattle trail, which ran from Texas, through New Mexico and north through Colorado.
If you know her music, Sandy Boys is another CD that you’ll want to own, and if you don’t, then you’ll find this CD a great place to get to know Sara.
Robbie Thomas

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Stirrings
I’ve been a fan of Sara Grey’s music ever since I first heard her perform with Ellie Ellis at the now derelict Norfolk Arms at Rivelin, sometime in the early 1980s. Although Sara likes to claim that her music ignores the vagaries of fashion, it’s nonetheless evolved a lot since those days. Having decided after Ellie’s departure to concentrate on the traditional music she’s most at home with, there’s been a further development since Sara began working with her son Kieron Means: where her 1990s releases reflected her growing interest in Irish song, her recent CDs are more strongly American. The arrival of Ben Paley as regular fiddle accompanist has coincided with a further subtle relocation, southwards towards Appalachia.
It’s the rasp of Paley’s bow that kicks of the title track, a Virginia fiddle tune with verses to which Means adds richly-textured harmonies, and this lively opener sets the tone. The detailed credits in the booklet source predominantly Southern states - North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia and Arkansas, with the odd foray into Western cowboy country. There’s just one Northern representative, the unusual broadside ballad The Cruel Lowland Maid from Maine, and a couple of contemporary songs – Si Khan’s stark Civil Rights era testimony Walkin’ Down The Road, and a reappraisal of the fondly-remembered Goodnight Loving Trial from Utah Phillips.
The excellence of Paley’s playing compliments the songs well, and imparts real sparkle to fiddle tunes like Fine Times At Our House and Train On The Island. Kieron Means – whose presence has given Sara’s career a real charge of electricity these last few years – is not only the perfect harmony foil for her voice, but a really inventive guitarist who during the proceedings supplies open-tuned chordings, authentic blues picking, driving boogie beat and a convincing impression of slap bass. Confidence in her accompanists has brought out the best in Sara: her banjo drives along as cleanly as ever, and her singing has surely never been better: the delightfully sparse Old Paint and the unaccompanied The Jealous Brothers (a Bruton Town descendent) are big vocal performances. And, as a lover of the more sinister Child Ballads, I just have to mention the deliciously dark version of Young Hunting.
Although this is an intense recording with little of the whimsy that Sara’s sometimes shown a taste for, it’s well-varied and entertaining as well as substantial. A fine piece of work – I don’t think she’s made a better album.
Brian Peters

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fRoots
Any new record from the unforgettable Sara is cause for celebration, and Sandy Boys is even more so for it also involves the abundantly sensitive fiddle playing of Ben Paley and (like its 2005 predecessor) the exceptional musicianship of Sara's son Kieron Means. This particular performing partnership of mother and son is something realty special, and the intimate quality of Paul Adams' recording brings out the intense closeness of that relationship, not just in its 'home kitchen' feel. The key achievement of both performances and recording is that while it's all superbly intimate, it's not in any way exclusive or excluding to the listener. And Sara herself is on especially compelling vocal form on this occasion too.
Sara's pre-eminence as practitioner of the old-time style (whether singing or trailing the banjo) is assured, and this new disc furnishes us with a further 15 prime examples of her artistry, many of which will be new even to hardened devotees of old-time. Naturally, Sara's core repertoire remains songs and ballads which originated in the British Isles and relocated in the USA, and her enterprise in seeking out fresh sources ensures constant interest for both performer and listener. So this disc contains a liberal helping of expertly managed ballads in interesting or unusual variants (including the broadside The Cruel Low/and Maid and a particularly driven, sinister modal Young Hunting). Here we also encounter a beautifully-paced treatment of Old Paint, a tender rendition of Utah Phillips' Goodnight-Loving Trail, and a hauntingly spare voices-and-fiddle rendition of Joe New-berry's Resurrection Day. Another major revelation is the unexpectedly bluesy version of the Scottish 'parlour ballad' Black Is The Colour, which turns out to have been sourced by Sara from North Carolina singer Deli Norton. The menu is completed by further delicious discoveries like the Georgia Sea Islands call-and-response song Sheep, Sheep Don't You Know The Road, while the disc closes with the June Apple-Shady Grove conglomeration Train On The Island fading on down the track into the distance.
Earlier, the three musicians give gentle relaxed rip on the disc's lone instrumental track, the all-too-aptly titled Fine Times At Our House. Fine times indeed, for this kind of playing and singing just brings a lump to the throat every time. Sandy Boys is simply a gorgeous and treasurable release: a veritable oasis, a haven for the weary soul.
David Kidman

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Maverick
Paying tribute to artists and songs which may have escaped many people's radar, this fine album is a must for all bluegrass and folk followers.
Consisting of fifteen tracks and sung by an exquisitely fine singer, Sara here has released a beautiful album. I admit to having not heard these songs before due to their original authors not being in the public eye, but I will certainly investigate further due to the awesome way in which Sara (along with Ben Paley and her son Kieron Means) sing, strum and pick their way through this quite glorious album.
Perhaps the best of the lot has to be Goodnight-Loving Trail. Possessing much history about it, it is dealt with rather delightfully by Sara. The backing harmonies are most delightful as well as the harp playing, which is just too good to be believed. The banjo playing on Old Paint, provided by Sara demonstrates valid evidence that she does have the voice of a genius but also picking to be envied. It has an Oriental sound about it which just delights the soul with every note. Not being the most energetic of songs proves to be this tune's advantage, and a quite stonking sound is created right before your very ears. Although the story of The Cruel Lowland Maid is a gruesome one, you find yourself drawn into this world due to Sara's perseverance of trying to convince you that the lyrics she sings are worth hearing. The accompaniment simply allows Sara to sing-this track in her own unique way, and what a style it is. With the voice of a troubadour and impeccable playing by all involved, this album is a must for anyone who adores quality and brilliant music.
Russell Hill

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Living Tradition
 Along with backing musicians Keiron Means (guitar), Ben Paley (fiddle), Mike Whellans (mouth harp); Sara Grey lives up to her long-held standards of excellence with this superbly chosen group of traditional songs.
Sara also includes some modern beauties, one each by Bruce Phillips, and Si Kahn, and one by North Carolina singer Joe Newberry. Phillips' 'Goodnight Loving Trail' can rarely have had such a beautiful reading as this, sung simply by Sara and Kieron in a manner that brings out the inherent poignancy of the words. I played this three times on the trot after the first hearing. It's the best version of this song I've ever heard. Newberry's 'Resurrection Day' could pass for a traditional gospel song anytime. Sara and Kieron sing this with such fervour, and Paley's fiddle backing is just right. Si Kahn's 'Walkin' Down the Road' with Linda Adams and Betty MacDonald joining in the choruses would make the writer rejoice!
The traditional songs here are a fine bunch gathered from a wide range of sources such as Cas Wallin, Dell Norton, and Sheila Kay Adams, great voices from North Carolina, and the late Helen Schneyer and Tom Gibney of Washington DC, and Princeton NJ, leading singers both. The Cas Wallins version of 'East Virginia Blues' is a standout, as is 'The Cruel Lowland Maid'. 'Old Paint', stands out too, along with 'Black is the Color'. As usual Sara's 'never a note too many' banjo style underlines the words without interference, while her singing is as fluent and expressive as I've ever heard it.
I've long held the opinion that Sara Grey is a model for any would-be singer in the revival to aspire to. And I know what I'm talking about. This CD proves it.
Roy Harris

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Mardles
This is her best CD yet. Here we have 15 tracks of songs and tunes from the USA sung and played by Sara joined by her son Kieron Means on guitar and Ben Paley on fiddle with the mouth harp of Mike Whellans. The CD starts with an upbeat song Sandy Boys which uses a traditional fiddle tune from Virginia and has had a set of words put to it by Sara. The Goodnight-Loving Trail, written by Utah Phillips is a gentle and poignant song about growing old. I have always thought that family members' voices blend in a particularly harmonious way and this certainly applies to Sara and Kieron. Just listen to the unaccompanied East Virginia Blues from Cas Wallins or Resurrection Day, where two voices are joined by a lone fiddle accompaniment. My favourite song is Old Paint, a song collected by Alan Lomax. Sara sings it solo accompanied only by banjo. It has such a complex rhythm that seems to vary with each verse. I could listen to it all day - it is mesmerising.
I could end up listing every song on the CD - each has something wonderful to offer, but why not go out and buy the CD? There are Child ballads, broadsides,fiddle & banjo tunes and songs written by such as Si Kahn. There is something for all here. Sara Grey appears regularly at festivals and folk clubs in the UK - we bought this CD at the Milkmaid when she and Kieron appeared a few weeks ago. If you were not there you missed a brilliant night!
This CD comes with Sara's wonderfully erudite and informative sleeve notes which give many an anecdote about the sources or collectors of the songs. Highly recommended.
Mary Humphreys

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Sing Out
Sara Grey is the archetype for traditional singers, with a vast repertoire and a deep understanding of the songs she sings. American born and raised, and having lived all over the U.S., she transplanted herself first to England, and now Scotland, which explains this release on the England-based Fellside label. Living on both sides of the pond has introduced her to folk songs from the American West to the far tip of Scotland and all points in between. Thus, the songs on this CD range far and wide, from "Old Paint" to "Young Hunting" (Child 68), collected in northeast Scotland. To her mix of 15 songs, she adds two of the best by contemporary songwriters in the folk tradition - "Goodnight-Loving Trail" by the late Utah Phillips and "Walkin' Down the Road" by Si Kahn.
Grey makes the effort to go as far back in the tradition as possible to learn a song. To this end, she has sought out the originators and early collectors for many of the recordings on this CD. For example, "Old Paint" goes back to a version collected in 1942 via the oral tradition. Grey shares some well-known ballads on this recording - "The Jealous Brothers" (a cousin of "Clerk Saunders") and "Rake and Rambling Boy" - and lyric songs, such as "Black Is the Color," as well as play party songs from the Appalachians and African American songs. She performs every one with spirit and a style appropriate to that song, so each selection sounds distinct. Because she has chosen such a variety of songs, ably accompanying herself on the banjo where appropriate, the album remains interesting and entertaining from start to finish. Kieron Means, Grey's son, on guitar and vocals, and Ben Paley on fiddle and chorus vocals, admirably spice up the recording; Mike Whellans occasionally contributes mouth harp. Grey gives the gift of traditional music as an entertainment as well as a scholarly pursuit.
Rich Warren

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Shreds and Patches
A long time favourite with folk club, concert and festival audiences this latest offering from singer and banjo player Sara easily illustrates why. From the opening title tack to the closing Train on the Island (15) , the whole is a delight. A mixture of old timey tunes, hymnals, minstrel tunes and little known variants of big ballads it really offers something for everyone. Ably supported by son Kieron, (guitar, vocals) and Ben Paley (son of legendary musician Tom) the standard of musicianship and singing is exemplary. Fine Times at Our House (8) is sheer instrumental fireworks, whilst Sheep, Sheep Don't You Know the Road (4) shows the assembled company as no slouch at the old acapella The Jealous brothers ( 10) and Young Hunting (14) are versions of Child 69 and 68, albeit in slightly pared down versions. Stand out track however, must be a wonderful high lonesome version of Utah Phillips' Goodnight Loving Trail (2): which tells the story of the "old woman'' of the cattle drive; the cook Retired from active cattle drive service due to failing sight and aching limbs (I know how he feels!), his life grows increasingly solitary and introspective Some wonderful harmonica from guest Mike Wheelans (I'd forgotten what a great player he is) adds to the whole melancholy air. Just one slight complaint here, though For years, I'd thought what a great name the Goodnight Loving Trail was ... al1 those cowboys riding off from their wives and sweethearts bidding Goodnight to all that Loving ... no wonder the songs are so poignant. Imagine my surprise then, dear reader, to discover such a notion is arrant nonsense. Charles Goodnight Esq. and Mr. Oliver Loving founded the said trail, running from Texas to Colorado, in the Nineteenth Century and it was named for them. But this album's such a delight, I'll forgive Sara for shattering my illusions.
Baz Parkes

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