This finger-picking 60-something from Pennsylvania is out to teach whippersnappers a thing or two about song craft.
Here is the sound of just one man, an 1896 Washburn parlor guitar and a dozen original folk-blues songs.
The easy-going no frills spirit is underscored by the sleeve notes which boast that this production features no artificial pitch correction or overdubbing" and suggest that for best results the album should be set to 'random' or 'shuffle'.
It was recorded in a Bainbridge Island schoolhouse that was built in 1896 (giving a second reason for the album title).
On Spencer's blog he says that his salad days were in New York in the late 70s and early 80s when he played blues, jazz and ragtime. He actually gave up performing in 1989 to became a full time music writer for magazines like Rolling Stone and Sing Out.
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Since coming out of retirement in 2000 he has found a new lease of life; this is his seventh release since then.
You won't anything startlingly original here but it's a nice, mellow set of songs which gives a lie to the line from Turn To me where he sings "you get one chance to be young".
Peter Spencer's Website
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