Underneath the Stars

by Kate Rusby

Overview

Few folk singers bring traditional song alive in the way Kate Rusby does. Her casual, intimate manner -- and the fact that she often adds her own tunes to the old words -- has a marvelous contemporary edge. There's not an ounce of affectation in her, which comes across more and more in each successive album. She's equally good on humorous pieces like "Goodman," sad songs like "Cruel," and those in between like "Let Me Be," where the chorus of "la la las" transforms it into a lovely pop song. Her performances are relaxed and unhurried, bringing out the melodic essence of each piece, and the arrangements for an acoustic band (all of whom are sensitive and sympathetic to the material) nothing less than spectacular in their simplicity. And when she takes on the sly con story of "The Blind Harper," recorded in a definitive version by the great Nic Jones, she really shows how skillful she is. The whistle part transforms everything, and the rhythmic sense is unerring. But while Rusby is best known as an interpreter of traditional songs, she's becoming a better and better writer, too. The second half of the disc comprises (all but one of) her originals -- a daring move, putting them together, rather than interspersing them. However, it works -- she's reached the level where the joints between her songs and the traditional tunes are seamless. "Young James" could easily be a couple of centuries old, and the same is true of "Polly." The stories she tells are timeless, and she finds the heart of truth and emotion that lie at the center of them. Excellent as all of this is, the centerpiece remains the title cut, which is firmly fixed at the end of the disc, a song of leaving that's gently touching, filled out by a brass band -- a gentle nod to Rusby's south Yorkshire roots. She defined what she did well on her first solo album. Since then she's been refining it, and herself, until this unquestionably stands as her best, and each new record becomes an event. ~ Chris Nickson

Product Details

Release Date:	01/13/2004
Label:	COMPASS RECORDS
UPC:	0766397437026

Tracks

1. The Good Man
2. The Daughter of Megan
3. Let Me Be
4. Cruel
5. The Blind Harper
6. The White Cockade
7. Young James
8. Falling
9. Bring Me a Boat
10. Polly
11. Sweet William's Ghost
12. Underneath the Stars

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kate Rusby   Primary Artist,Guitar
John McCusker   Banjo,Viola,Fiddle,Cittern,Ukulele,Mandolin,Whistle (Human)
Paul Burch   Guitar
Andy Cutting   Accordion (Diatonic)
Andy Seward   Banjo,Double Bass
James MacKintosh   Bells,Percussion
Eddi Reader   Vocals,Guest Artist
Francis MacDonald   Drums (Snare)
Richard Marshall   Cornet
Neil Yates   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Michael McGoldrick   Flute,Whistle (Human)
Olov Johansson   Nyckelharpa
Ewen Vernal   Double Bass
Ian Carr   Guitar,Mandolin
Jim Fletcher   E Flat Horn,French Horn
Simon Fowler   Vocals,Guest Artist

Technical Credits

Joe Rusby   Engineer
John McCusker   Mixing,Arranger,Producer,Brass Arrangement
Traditional   Composer
Andy Seward   Engineer
Kurt Cobain   Composer
Krist Novoselic   Composer
Dave Grohl   Composer
Nic Jones   Composer
Kate Rusby   Arranger,Composer
P.F. Sloan   Composer
Brian Ledgard   Digital Artwork