"Love and Other Tragedies" benefits from great vocals, a shared spotlight, and top-shelf production and accompaniment

CD Review by Ceci Gilson

(Note:  Red Molly is appearing at Jonathan's Restaurant in Ogunquit, ME on October 12, 2008!)

The three women of Red Molly (http://www.redmolly.com/)came together, so the story goes, around a campfire at the 2004 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival where they were performing with other concerns. Their natural affinity and easy harmonies quickly convinced them to give it a go as a vocal trio. Laurie MacAllister (banjo, guitar), Abbie Gardner (Dobro, guitar) and Carolann Solebello (guitar, bass, mandolin) have put out a solid piece of contemporary Americana that seems to hit a chord with all who hear it.

Lucky us. After four years of steady touring, Love and Other Tragedies is their first full-length studio effort. It has been residing in the Radio & Records Americana Chart’s top 15 all summer.  Ben Wisch produced the disc, and he has worked with Marc Cohn, David Wilcox, Kathy Mattea, Patty Larkin, and Richard Shindell to name just a few.

The disc hit the streets in April and has been in heavy rotation on the national Folk DJ chart (http://nwfolk.com/topfolk/), hitting the #1 spot in June, edging out Crooked Still, Eliza Gilkyson and Emmylou Harris. Five of the disc’s 13 tracks are getting heavy airplay. Red Molly’s live shows and stage presence are winning raves  - their August appearance at the venerated Philadelphia Folk Festival earned them the moniker of “new-school hotties.”

The recipe for success?  Well blended harmonies, the ability to mix it up and trade off roles as well as repertoire, and first rate production and acoustic musical accompaniment. Red Molly hold their own on a variety of stringed instruments. They are joined in the studio by some of the northeast’s best boundary-bending hot shots; Duke Levine (mandola, electric guitar, lap steel), Jake Armerding (fiddle) and Mike Weatherly (bass).

The disc starts off strong with a driving harmony-laden version of Gillian Welch’s “Wichita.” Track 2 delivers on the promise with Laurie MacAllister’s original “Beaumont Rest Stop” a sultry porch burner if ever there was one. Gardner’s Dobro takes its place here as a wonderfully important part of the Red Molly sound. The interplay of Levine on mandola and Gardner’s Dobro are a pleasure throughout the disc.

Carolann Solobello, the mostly contralto of the group, steps up to sing lead on her original “Summertime” which also happens to be the most played track on the disc. Her rich straight-ahead vocal is the least affected of the group and carries the sopranos through a happily sentimental summer romp.

Wayfaring Stranger. A definite misstep here in including the song that has become “Kumbaya” redux in folk circles. Don’t care if I never hear this song again. Overdone, overplayed, nothing new to be found anywhere in these phrases.

Sadly, while one is still feeling surly about having had to sit through five minutes and 42 seconds of the moody (how can it be otherwise?) Wayfaring Stranger, along comes the war widow’s lament “This Farm Needs a Man.” Two words, girls: “Renee Zellweger….” Put a hoe in that boy’s hands “who misses his daddy” so bad and get to work. If a man had written this song, he’d have been run out of town on a rail long ago.

This reviewer's surliness aside, this is a great disc. Each woman is a strong musician, solid songwriter, and excellent harmonizer. They choose great covers from the contemporary songbook and the arrangements are (mostly) fresh and wonderful. (They absolutely knock Patty Griffin’s “Long Ride Home” out of the park on 2005’s Never Been to Vegas.)

There is a certain magic created – and sent forth – from three great performers having fun, sharing a stage, and blending those beautiful harmonies. Lucky us. I borrow from Renee Zellweger again – “You had me at hello.”

 

"Love and Other Tragedies" is available at CD Baby .