Description

Widely regarded as the best traditional American ballad singer of his generation, Tim Eriksen has taken a break from his frontman duties for the long-established Massachusetts band Cordelia’s Dad to create this stark, powerful debut solo album

Tim’s self-titled, all-acoustic CD draws material and inspiration from the Anne and Frank Warner Collection of American folk songs, the early American hymnody of the Sacred Harp, and a host of other historical and personal resources. This collection of songs about love and death, joy, despair, redemption and, ultimately, hope confirms his prowess as a stunningly intense vocalist, versatile multi-instrumentalist (guitar, fiddle and banjo), and a true believer in the timeless spirit of American music.

Tim Eriksen is the latest step in Tim’s progression from punk-rocker to pan-musicologist. He cut his musical teeth as a guitarist for hardcore punk bands in the ’80s, and his group Cordelia’s Dad started as a furiously electric trio that attacked traditional material with a brutal, modern fervor. Over a six-record span (most recently 1998’s Appleseed release, Spine,) the band’s approach shifted from the “folk/noise” of their eponymous 1990 debut to a completely acoustic presentation that lost none of their energy, focus, impact, or international audience of skate-punks and folk fans.

Tim’s new CD strips away his group’s trademark harmonies and rhythmic ensemble drive for an unadorned, achingly deliberate solo journey through ten songs from various traditional sources and four original compositions that blend seamlessly with their older companions. Highlights include “Farewell to Old Bedford,” a frequent set-opener for Cordelia’s Dad; “Brown Girl,” learned from the Anne and Frank Warner song collection; “Lass of Glenshee,” described by Tim as “an old Scottish pop song”; and “Village Churchyard,” a vocal tour de force Tim learned from a recording by Appalachian singer and banjoist Roscoe Holcomb. The CD closes with Tim’s own “I Love Music,” a sentiment beautifully confirmed by all the songs that precede it here and all that will follow it in a fascinating and ever-expanding musical career.

tracklist

1. Farewell to Old Bedford
2. Boston
3. I Wish the Wars Were All Over
4. Lass of Glenshee
5. Moblile Serenade Polka/Shep Jones Hornpipe
6. Garden Hymn
7. Hicks’ Farewell
8. Dress It in Blue
9. Hope
10. Village Churchyard
11. Last Chance
12. Brown Girl
13. Leave Your Light On
14. I Love Music