What is it with Canada and roots-rock these days? The general consensus is that we're in a global recession, yet this writer can barely move for head-turning, country-influenced sounds flooding from the great northern continent just at the moment.
It seems British Columbia's HEADWATER are one of Canada's very best. This Vancouver quartet are based around the nucleus of singing/ song-writing duo Jonas Shandel (vocals, guitar, banjo) and Matt Bryant (vocals, mandolin, guitar) although their ultra-talented cohorts Patrick Metzger (upright bass) and Tim Tweedale (steel guitars) bring plenty to the table and when producer Marc L'Esperance gets behind the drums and Tyson Naylor makes like a young Garth Hudson on piano and organ we have one hell of a swingin' party getting starting.
Although Headwater look pretty youthful in their press shots, they've clearly worked this up the old-fashioned way, honing their craft everywhere from busking sessions on Vancouver's, er, mean streets through to festivals and theatre shows galore. Their diary is rarely empty and it's obvious why that's the case when you hear the embarrassment of riches making up their second album 'Lay You Down'.
It's one of those all-too rare records that truly does not put a foot wrong. Headwater excel at a variety of roots-related styles, proffering dead-on harmonies and superb musicianship which is riven with intuition throughout. They're more than capable of ramping up the drama, recalling the likes of Calexico of The Triffids on songs like the heavy and deceptively old-timey 'Death Of Me' and the stirring and atmospheric 'Only A Matter of Time' but they're equally adept at gentle, ballad-style excursions like 'Come & See Me' where guest Leah Abramson acts as a dignified vocal foil and the band's restrained playing is a joy for the ear to behold.
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Headwater know their stuff where more traditional styles are concerned too. 'Brown Stone Road' delves very impressively into bluegrass with Tim Tweedale's Clarence White-style picking especially notable. The one cover, Fred Eaglesmith's 'Freight Train' is a rollicking country-rock outing with great skittering drums from L'Esperance, mean mandolin from Bryant and memorable lyrical imagery such as “I wish I hadn't got a heart, you'd need a shovelful of coal just to get me started.”
Ultimately, though, it's the quality of Shandel and Bryant's songs that ensures this band really stands out. Sure, they push all the right roots-related buttons, but it's evocative outings like 'The Drifter”s poised and descriptive update of the wandering Hobo's life and the sadness and resignation of the wonderful, closing 'Follow You Around' that will win them a place in the discerning roots aficionado's heart.
'Lay You Down' is a tremendous record. It respects old-time folk styles, injects them with a youthful and modern vitality and intuitively knows what sounds absolutely right. Its' creators may not – as yet – have the credibility cache of some of their American neighbours, but they are more than good enough to take on the best of 'em. All things considered, I doubt this will the last you'll hear of this lot.
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