Music » Recordings

Headwater mashes up folk

When they're not folking around, the guys in Headwater run a house-painting service, but they only have blue paint.

By John Lucas, February 26, 2009

Headwater

Lay You Down (Nowhere Town)

Okay, I admit it: the main reason I decided to review Headwater's album is because the cover has a really cool drawing on it, an X-ray–type image of a moose by Kate Zisman. Or maybe it's an elk—I'm not really up on my ungulates.

Anyhow, it wasn't a mistake to pick this disc up. Headwater is a folk act of prodigious talents, sometimes hewing close to old-timey string-band tropes (as on “Brown Stone Road”), occasionally veering into country (“Freight Train”), and even wandering into roots-rock territory (the Hammond B3–fortified “Death of Me”). It's obvious that whatever genre they choose, these guys can play the hell out of it, which means they'd probably do just as well at Bonnaroo as they would at the Mission Folk Music Festival. Catch them now, before the Deadheads find out about them.

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Comments

EastVanMusicFan
Tue, 2009-06-02 16:57
Really? Headwater mashes up folk? More like Headwater mashes up s--t.

When these wannabe Old Crow Medicine Shows aren't ripping off their peer indie musicians (ask local Vancouver country musicians Ridley Bent, Dustin Bental, Kent Mcallister) they are polluting the Alt.Country/Roots scene with their unimaginative style of faux-bluegrass and high school diary lyrics.

Too bad to see this here when there are so many more Vancouver bands who possess actual talent worthy of a good review.



 
Brit OCMS fan
Thu, 2009-09-24 05:54
EastVanMusicFan is, naturally, entitled to his/her opinion. I'm also a big OCMS fan, lucky enough to see them in Manchester last time around, and booked to see Headwater here in Yorkshire in November. Have to say that I can't see the basis for accusing Headwater of ripping off OCMS - they have such a different approach. While Willie and the lads use a lot of terrific traditional material as well as their own songs, Headwater write all of their own, don't they? Either way, Headwater don't promote themselves as a jug band, which they're clearly not, and both bands are very accomplished musicians. Can't see a problem with liking them both, and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing Headwater live. Maybe your'e just lucky enough to be spoiled for choice in your part of the world? For the rest of us, we're just glad to get the chance to see some really great indie bands occasionally here: Shearwater, Okkervil River and Richmond Fontaine in the last three weeks or so. Roll on Headwater!
 
 
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