The latest recorded offering from Trees Leave, The Gospel of Hurt, has a refreshing sound featuring bright string sounds sprinkled with some impressive fiddle lines. I like it, I really do.
The term Americana is tossed around to describe all sorts of music lately, but Trees Leave really seems to be playing the music of America with a little bluegrass, a little rock and a little country in the mix.
Groups like Old Crow Medicine Show have seen tremendous success in recent years drawing from the old-time bluegrass tradition, but mixing it with more of a rock ’n’ roll vibe. Trees Leave leans even further to the pop/rock end, incorporating a full drum kit and some electric guitars at times, but still paying tribute to the unplugged natural sounds of bluegrass as well.
The music’s very easy to listen to, but occasionally the vocalist has a tendency to oversing. There’s no need for an over-the-top “American Idol” vocal style (not that he takes it that far); in music that has such a natural, beautiful quality, there should be no trying too hard with the vocal; just relax and let it happen.
During the more up-tempo material, there’s perhaps not enough time to think, and this works better than the slower tunes; at least I find the quicker sections more appealing. Also, when some layers of vocal harmonies are added, that can really smooth things out and provide some body.
To the songwriters’ credit, many of the tunes follow a nice binary form, and when a part is getting old, the piece switches gears to offer a great contrast. Just when “What I Want” is starting to drag on and get a little repetitive, it switches from a subdued beginning to a driving train beat on the snare and singing fiddle line for the closing.
And though the beginning section of “Covered with Vines” may be somewhat drawn out as well and contain a few too many “woh ohs,” it likewise goes to a second part that changes things up and picks up the pace well.
Overall, The Gospel of Hurt contains some really nice instrumentation and the seven tunes leave me interested to see where Cobi Ferguson and Wyatt Espalin will take their project. They’re currently keeping a pretty busy tour schedule spreading their gospel.
