Annabelle Chvostek
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Live from Folk Alley - Annabelle Chvostek Album Review
Album Review
Earlier this year, I reviewed the fabulous new album by alt-country vocal group, The Wailin' Jennys, of whom Annabelle Chvostek was once a member. Nowadays, the rootsy songwriter divides her time between guesting on fellow Canadian Bruce Cockburn's recent tour and polishing off her own studio and live music, with "Live From Folk Alley" being her inaugural live album.
And 'live', it certainly is. Whereas major-label releases cut-and-paste crowd-sound into the mix and remove the interactive moments between band and front-rows, Chvostek has opted to leave her short intros and warts-n-all delivery intact on this ideal introduction to the fiddler and guitarist's music. "Devil's Paintbrush Road" sets the tone as the albums' opener - it's a hoe-down that first appeared in 2006, a #1 on a US folk-radio station.
But Chvostek's strength is frailty and power, something which she exudes on the only cover versions on here, Peter Tosh's latent justice-seeking "Equal Rights" and Lou Reed's "Some Kinda Love". Elsewhere, her own songs hover between traditional folklore ("The Sioux") and contemporary country ("Wait For It") - you even get a singalong on "I Left My Brain" and a section midway through where the audience shout out requests. It's all very personable.
If you can find a copy of this disc - it doesn't appear to be on Amazon yet, so try her website here: www.annabelle.org - then you'll be investing in a live document worth every penny.
