Missing from the latest Red Jasper albums was original frontman Davey Dodds, so when I heard that he had a new album coming out in 2017 I was intrigued, so asked him a few questions to get some background. When he sent me his response it was so good that I knew I just had to reprint it in its totality, so before we get into the review itself, just what had been happening with Davey?
When I stopped playing music in 1994, I didn’t suffer from withdrawal symptoms! I moved to a different planet and buried myself in an interesting, entertaining and absorbing life. I worked as a fly-fishing guide. It took me to some fabulous places. Wielding my fly rod in the pristine wilderness of Northern Manitoba was good for the soul. My need to be creative and innovative was satisfied – I wrote a book – I wrote articles – I gave fly-casting demonstrations at game fairs – I developed new techniques, fly fishing for pike and more recently sharks.
A couple of years ago, my wife Jeannie retired. We moved back to the far west where I had started my adult life and looked forward to a pleasant easy-going life style. Life had other ideas! A neighbour (who had no idea I was a former musician) dragooned me into going to an open mic night at a local pub. The people there were hospitable and very much part of the local community. I was surprised and delighted that a couple of bands recorded old songs of mine (The Unthanks – The Magpie and Mawkin – I Can Hew) Jeannie bought me a mandolin as a late birthday present last year. I could remember which way round it went and enjoyed learning how to play again. With Jeannie’s agreement, I sold it and put the pennies towards a better instrument that I could plug in to a PA.
I played at some local sessions and ended up getting a couple of low-key gigs. These led to some better gigs. Local musicians played with me and were so supportive. Getting my playing back to a decent standard had to happen before I had space in my head to write new songs. Since the muse has revisited me, I can’t shake her off! Life here in Darkest Kernow provides plenty of inspiration for songwriting.
Derek Aunger (a fellow fly-fishing guide) who runs Salty Dog Studio in Looe in Cornwall, invited me to record a couple of old songs and things spiralled from there. I wanted to work with a violin player and had a couple of attempts working with people. The first of these fizzled out because the people simply couldn’t commit the time. I knew that Martin Solomon would be the perfect musician to work with but had assumed that he would be too busy, too important and not really interested in collaborating with an old weirdo who hadn’t played a note for 22 years. I was wonderfully wrong! Playing with Martin has been hugely enjoyable and working with the Jaspers – Robin Harrison and David Clifford has been fabulous. I’m looking forward to playing live gigs to help promote the new album. Life is sparkling, and I’m getting younger by the day!
So, onto the album. The first thing to note is that Davey has finally given into his inner Folkie, and has released an album that concentrates on his vocals accompanied by mandolin. Martin Solomon is present on most of the songs, providing fiddle as well as Celtic harp, and while there is the occasional bodhran, only two songs feature actual drums. As with the Red Jasper albums, Davey’s also has some wonderful symmetry as not only does he perform an a cappela version of “The Magpie”, which originally appeared on ‘Sting In The Tale’ and the live ‘Action Replay’, but he also invited both D.C. and Robin Harrison to perform on “Merlin’s Isle of Gramarye”. In many ways, this was the most exciting song on the album for me, with Robin providing some glorious riffs and D.C. driving it from the back, as back again were the Jaspers playing together. But, both Davey and the boys have moved on from those days, it’s a long time indeed since ‘Anagramary’, so although I enjoyed it immensely it did seem somewhat out of sorts with the rest of the album and I am sure that it is quite deliberate that the next song is an instrumental with delicate haunting tin whistle and Celtic harp.
I have always enjoyed Davey’s vocals, and the album certainly doesn’t give the impression that he has been away from the scene for so long, nor that he had to get himself a mandolin, as he is in full control, and it really was only yesterday that he was treading the boards (I commented that he didn’t seem to have changed much, and the response was “I have a painting in the attic”). This is a truly beautiful album, and credit must be given to Derek Aunger who has worked with Davey to capture an incredible sound. The only real issue with it is that I have been playing it so much that it stopped me from listening to other material that I should have been getting on with!
As to the album title, if you didn’t know, ‘Kernow’ is the Cornish name for Cornwall, so it is a play on that and “cornucopia” (an abundant supply of good things). Even though I’m from Devon, I must admit it’s not just pasties and the A38 that are the only decent things coming out from Cornwall: I’ll add this album to that incredibly small list. I love it.
