The Be Good Tanyas

Folk/bluegrass

Samantha Parton's first love was punk rock; Frazey Ford used to be in a trip-hop group. But as two-thirds of The Be Good Tanyas, they might as well be mountain women sitting on the porch with fiddles in hand and banjos on their knees. Only a bit of electric guitar, shy drums and a verse cribbed from Syd Barrett give them away. Drawing from country, bluegrass, blues and all that jazz, Blue Horse (Nettwerk) is more downcast than down home; imagine how a Dorothea Lange photo might sound. Parton and Ford (along with multi-instrumentalist Trish Klein) capture the intimacy of sisters singing for their own enjoyment and all the imperfections that come with that. Their R's and L's are a little watery, voices stray out of harmony and originals pale beside traditional songs. Their shuffling "The Littlest Birds" is a charmer, but "The Coo Coo Bird" and "Rain and Snow" -- both in the public domain -- are feverish, resolved and darkly sensual. The one contemporary cover, fellow Vancouverite Geoff Berner's "Light Enough to Travel," gives Blue Horse its one lively moment, but the 1920s gospel that the trio tackles on the road should sweeten their act.

Thu., April 18, 8 p.m., $12, with Peter Mulvey, The Point, 880 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr, 610-527-0988, www.atthepoint.com.

÷M.J. Fine

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April 18, 2002
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