The Angel Band
Bless My Sole
Appleseed Recordings
visit the band's website
also available on amazon
Harmonies, at times strong, powerful, delicate, stunning, uplifting, beautiful, ethereal, earthy, combined with excellent songwriting and fantastic musicianship are what you are going to hear on this recording. The Angel Band are Kathleen Weber, Aly Paige, and founder Nancy Josephson on vocals; Marc Moss on mandolin, guitars, drums, organ, window screen, accordion, triangle, etc.; Bob Taylor bass; and Christie Lenee guitar; additional musicians for this recording (although some seem to always be in the Angel Band’s vicinity) are David Bromberg guitars, Nate Grower fiddle, Lloyd Maines, guitar, pedal steel, and African banjo; and Bukka Allen accordion. That is a heavy hitting lineup that knows its way around a song and can make it as delicate or as powerful as all get out right there; Nancy Josephson wrote all the lyrics except for “Don’t Let Me Down” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and she has an excellent way with her words. Her instrumental counterpart, Marc Moss wrote most of the music and also produced the disc with Nancy with Lloyd Maines co-producing it.
This is a band that has slowly been building a reputation for its fine shows that will uplift you when you are feeling down just with the beauty in their harmonies and the way they can switch from robust to delicate at the drop of a syllable, the way the musicianship stays right with the song and the quiet yet compelling solos within the song. It is a disc of rare beauty and fine balance and vocal power. Just listen to what they do with Aly singing the lead in “Hope Is On The Way,” then it is Kathleen taking the
lead on “Same Boat,” then Nancy takes the lead on “Didn’t See It Coming (when the levee broke)” (their beautiful homage to the devastation of Katrina). So they go, switching leads and genres as to whatever fits the songs, and all the while it is the stunning harmonies that remain no matter what else is going on. You know with David Bromberg and Lloyd Maines helping out the music is going to be superb, but give credit to this whole group, as it is one of the finest discs to cross this desk in the past few years in every possible way.
There is a touching song that I’m told is truth by Ms Josephson called “Boots of Guadalupe” lyrics by the self-same lady with music by her and Laurie Lewis and a kind of spangly bit of art work depicting boots graces the cover of the disc. Below is a picture of those beautifully crafted boots.
