Cornflower Blue Review in Rootstime
Rootstime (Eddie Janssens)Not only was Cornflower Blue the favorite color of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, it also is the name of a Canadian Americana/Folk Duo comprised of Trevor May and Theresa McInerney. Along with their backing band, they have now brought their second release on the market, which goes by the name “Run Down The Rails”. And sure enough, this record runs like a steaming locomotive going down shiny rails.
A horny guitar, a squirmy fiddle, and a huffing and puffing rhythm section are pleasantly pulling the title song up to speed. “Cold Lake (Silver Jets and Sunsets)” is taking us along North American landscapes in a jingly fashion, reminiscent of Jason and The Scorchers, the Flying Burrito Brothers or a somewhat more upbeat version of the Cowboy Junkies. The ghost of the latter is also haunting songs such as the wide open “Car in the Parking Lot” and the melodic “Morning in the Burning House”. Both songs include beautiful guitar solos. Singer Theresa McInerney sounds like a successful mixture of Margo Timmins and Nathalie Merchant. Her voice sounds brilliantly in harmony with May’s voice.
On some tracks, guitarist Trevor May is also taking over the lead vocals. One of them is the acoustic “Morning with the Young Man”, which is reminiscent of Billy Bragg, and later on again on the country rocking “Try it Again”. “Mr Air Traffic Controller”, sang by Theresa, rocks like a unsaddled crazy Canadian horse and “Fisherman’s Blues” is amazing; equally as good as the Waterboys original. This brought us to the conclusion that these artists from Ottawa, regardless of their honest modesty, have a lot to offer!
“We do not have the ambition to become big stars in the music world” says Theresa McInerney, “but we believe that our songs deserve a bigger audience than what we had so far”
“Run down the Rails” proves 8 songs and 35 minutes later that McInerney is more than right about this!
Original Review (In Dutch)