Music Travel Monday

ANNOUNCEMENT from VERA MARIE:  Kerry Dexter’s blog, Music Road is a finalist in the 2012 Bloggies. You can go to the Bloggies page and vote for Kerry as the BEST Music blog on the Internet. Voting closes in mid February, so do not delay.

Destination: Romance

Music: Lover’s Well by Matt and Shannon Heaton Produced by Eats Records

By Kerry Dexter

February is the month of Valentine’s Day, hearts, and flowers. As Shakespeare said, though, the course of true love never did run smooth. That’s a side of things Matt and Shannon Heaton decided to look at as they were choosing songs for their album Lovers’ Well

It’s not that the two, who have been married for some time, don’t know about or believe in the hearts and flowers side of things, and indeed there are songs and tunes which honor that on the album. They thought, though, that a bit of depth and dimension  would  be added to the whole idea of love by mixing in music that talks of other aspects.

deep is the lovers’ well
higher than heaven
darker than hell
of courtship and marriage the poets do tell
sweet is the water from lovers’ well

(from the song Golden Glove)

So there is Lover’s Lament, with Matt taking lead vocal, Shannon on harmony and whistle, and percussion provided by the feet of dancer Nic Gareiss. The story, which has made its way from Ireland across to the Appalachians, is of a conversation between lovers who part and know not when, if ever, they will meet again.

The story told in  Golden Glove is of a different sort: a woman who is meant to marry one man falls for another, and makes a plan as to how to deal with this. The plans in Lily of the West take a more violent turn, with jealousy, murder, and leaving Ireland all involved. In The Bay of Biscay, Shannon sings a reflective lead vocal to tell the story of a woman who laments her lover’s long absence on a journey, and prepares to rejoice at his return — only to find he has returned as a ghost.

Turning to the happier side of things, there’s a set of  traditional jigs called  New Married Couple, with Matt on guitar and Shannon on flute. In a bit of an unexpected twist there’s a love song in Thai,  Lao Dueng Duen (also known as By the Light of the Full Moon), paired with the traditional jig The Stone Step. It’s a graceful pairing that Shannon chose to honor a time she had spent living in Thailand, and it really works well, with flute, guitar, and accordion backing Shannon’s voice on the song and flowing naturally into the rhythm of the jig. The other songs and tunes, both traditional and newly composed, are equally interesting. They total fourteen in all, fitting for Valentine’s Day

Matt and Shannon both sing lead, and add fine harmony to each other’s voices. Shannon plays whistles and flute, Matt plays guitar, bouzouki, and bodhran. They are  supported here by Keith Murphy on mandolin and piano, Nic Gareiss and Kieran Jordan on foot percussion,  and Dan Gurney on accordion.

The Heatons have several other recordings out, including one of my favorite albums for winter, Fine Winter’s Night.

Kerry Dexter, from Music Road,  is a regular contributor  to A Traveler’s Library, writing about music-inspired travel. We particularly appreciate this post, which she sent from Scotland where she was attending the biggest Celtic Festival of them all.