By: Rick Landers
The ironclad heft of Furnace Mountain’s talent shows up shining on every track of their release, Shadow of Plenty. The quartet of masterful musician’s hail from Virginia and the group’s named after a mountain in the Piedmont area of the Shenandoah mountains, where iron ore was extracted and later formed into muskets, wagon wheels and more, all part of the Industrial Revolution.
And, Piedmont territory is known for its own style of music, traditional Piedmont blues, as well, Virginia is well-known as the American home of old-time and bluegrass music, not to take away from it’s Old World origins.
Furnace Mountain’s array of accomplished musicians includes: Aimee Curl (vocals/upright bass), Morgan Morrison (vocals/guitar/Bouzouki), David Van Deventer (a.k.a. Fiddlin’ Dave/vocals/ banjo/fiddle), Danny Knicely (guitar/mandolin). And each of them stands out when the spotlight shifts to focus on their individual strengths, and when blended Furnace Mountain offers a soul-drenched country style of music that can be serene, as well as shine when they wanna kick up the dust.
As if stepping into another time, the first song “By the Touch of Her Hand” gently pulls us in to Aimee Curl’s honest and touching vocal that flows with the group’s traditional Shenandoah roots. Soon, the strings are plucked and a lovely harmony from the other Furnace Mountaineers arrives to carry us down the album’s comforting stylish country road, an alluring path of punch and loveliness.
Adding pep to the step is “The Wager,” a little swing of a tune with the Aimee and Morgan singing as one with the swirl of Fiddlin’ Dave’s violin and some sweet mandolin giving the song some nice melodic bounce, nothing strident or urgent to this blend of voice and instruments, just an easy going storied melodic romp. And it’s a great lead into “Ramblin’ Jack” that digs in and kicks in a high-stepping, straight up bluegrass hoe down song.
This is where Shadow of Plenty lands for a while, clean cut bluegrass of the highest quality, fueled by skilled and punctuated technique, all moving along at speed. And “Inchworm Set” carries on in that same high fashion, taking us all on an instrumental spin, reminding us how much fun our Appalachian elders must have unleashed and enjoyed at the local back porches, dance halls, or some other waysides.
A waltzing “Sarah’s Place” where the two female musicians harmonize a tale settles things down a bit with a hint of gospel to flavor the tune, telling a rural tale, that runs a bit more like a mountain stream than a formal waltz, a style that shows up more plentiful later on.
Danny, Aimee, Morgan and Dave
Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, “Fiddlin’ Dave” kicks things up a notch on “Dreaming of Virginia,” while fiddling a sweet affectionate tribute to the Old Dominion, after which we get to the traditional slow paced style of a true waltz on the song, “Shadow of Plenty,” where the lyrics tell of a virtual cornucopia of farm vittles lovingly grown to feed family and friends.
At this point, Furnace Mountain seems to have filled our senses, gifting us with all the old styles that many would claim as Americana music, yet Aimee, Morgan, Dave, and Danny have done so without losing the distinctions between the makings or musical ingredients of that gathering.
Nearly all the songs harken back to the days when the local Leesburg covered bridge near Furnace Mountain brought traders, peddlers and musicians to Virginia’s Loudoun County to transact business and entertain workers and their families at the iron ore mountain digs.
Shadow of Plenty next offers another fine fueled instrumental, “Badgers and Wolves,” before the group showcases Aimee again on the “love at first sight” 1957 folk song, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” written by British protester folkie, Ewan MacColl, who’s father coincidently labored as an iron moulder.
The song’s been covered by many, including Gordon Lightfoot, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, and made a hit by Roberta Flack, when she lived in Virginia. Aimee and crew added a plaintiff version of MacColl’s song that he wrote for his wife, Peggy Seeger (folk singer/banjoist).
“The Last Song,” isn’t. Fiddlin’ Dave returns with this happy go lucky song that jets us back to the spunk of bluegrass, before the finale, “I’ll Wear the Green Willow,” an acappela farewell with Aimee and Morgan joining together in this haunting song of love lost, reminiscent of Othello’s Desdemona.
Shadow of Plenty is an exceptionally fine album that offers twelve well-crafted and beautifully performed songs and instrumentals, that both honor the traditions of old time music and the musical sensitivities of modern listeners. The music of Furnace Mountain lifts the spirits on their latest venture, as well as offers a few sad tunes that embrace the tender hearts of Americana music lovers and, especially, traditional roots music aficionados, alike.
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