The new album from guitarists Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles is called Keys. The Drag City release, out as of yesterday, is a low-key pleasure, the guitar-work on it sublime. It's a modest record, and while its charms are modest, they are also real and genuine ones.
"Honey Time" is an old-fashioned ramble, while "Late for Your Own Funeral Again" is what my grandparents would have called "mountain music", and a nice showcase for both players. It's a fun cut, and one which is echoed by the equally bright "I See God" later on the record. Elsewhere, the drone-y "Dry Rations I" and "Dry Rations II" are moodier still. These two blend folk forms with a sort of minimalist approach for great effect. It helps that these guitarists are more interested in mood, emotion, and resonance, than flashy technique.
If the lively parts of Keys owe some debts to bluegrass, the longer stretches of deeper tones are cousins to the British folk tradition that gave birth to Fairport Convention and Richard Thompson. As guitarists, Bowles and MacKay don't seem to be trying too hard to be like Thompson, but in not trying, they succeed enormously. This is a simple record and one without a missed note, or errant mood pursued.
Keys is out today via Drag City.
More details on Nathan Bowles via the official website.
More details on Bill MacKay via the official website.
[Photo: Drag City]