HIGHWAY DANCING : The Yearlings
CD Released 2007
“Take me where the sun is shining,
take me down the Highway Dancing.”
With the release of their third full-length recording
including eleven new songs, South Australian duo
The Yearlings (Robyn Chalklen and Chris Parkinson)
have created an album of outstanding beauty. It
breathes.
Highway Dancing is a departure from The Yearlings’
stripped back, acoustic approach to recording.
Using their weaving guitars and seductive harmonies
as a base, this album has the backing of a band
– giving full favour to The Yearlings’
music.
Robyn’s voice demands attention whithout
shaking your bones. Smooth, breathy and fragile,
you listen to each syllable pass you by as you
lean in, turn it up and immerse yourself in a
story told by a fine songwriter devoid of pretence.
Her beautiful, ethereal and mysterious songs are
the perfect counterpoint to Chris’s earthy
compositions, while his “hang-on-every-note”
guitar playing remains as honest and compelling
as ever.
Recorded in Brooklyn, New York over four days
during the American winter of February 2008, the
album was produced by David Spelman (founding
director of the New York Guitar Festival and Adelaide
Guitar Festival), who saw The Yearlings playing
a gig in Adelaide and felt he just had to work
with them.
Inspired, David herded the musicians together
at Excello studios - three members of New York
roots band “Ollabelle”: Tony Leone (drums),
Byron Isaacs (bass), Glenn Patscha (keyboards)
plus multi–instrumentalist Larry Campbell
(pedal steel, dobro, mandolin, fiddle). Larry
has worked as a sideman for Bob Dylan, Emmylou
Harris and Willie Nelson among others and recently
won a Grammy award for producing Levon Helm’s
latest record Dirt Farmer.
Highway Dancing was recorded by Mick Wordley
who has worked with many artists including Jeff
Lang and Chris Whitley. He owns and operates Mixmasters
Records in Adelaide and flew over to be a part
of it all.
“This band would have to be one of the world’s
great bands, a bunch of committed musicians, with
an attitude of humanity and helpfulness to the
new kids in town, no pretention or arrogance,
just plain … ‘Lets sail this boat together’”.
Mick Wordley
All songs were arranged and captured in four
days live, on-the-fly, as it happened. Recorded
onto 2-inch tape, this old-school style has left
the record breathing a life often trampled by
modern technology.
“It’s a blues record,” says Chris.
“Not in the musical sense but thematically.
Love, loss, longing, addiction, redemption, -
it’s all in there. It’s all our journey.”
Highway Dancing is a triumph and superb achievement
for The Yearlings, their strongest work to date
tastefully supported by world-class musicians.
This is one cool record.
"Utterly charming and horribly irresistible."
Tom Jellet, Weekend Australian **** Wind Already
Blown album review
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Andy Baylor
|
Andy Baylor
|
Brunswick Blues Shooters
|
Clint Dylan O'Gradey
|
Clint Dylan O'Gradey
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Collard Greens & Gravy
|
Collard Greens & Gravy
|
Collard Greens & Gravy
|
Collard Greens & Gravy
|
|
|
|
|
|
