CONTRABAND LOVE

THERE IS GOOD AND THEN THERE IS BLISS

On September 15, 2017, this new disc will be welcomed in the streets by those who know what this duo brings to the table for our aural pleasure. This band centered around this husband and wife pair is known for infusing new life into the blusey, gospelly, honky tonky well written music that is labeled as Americana. This disc is produced by Mr. Campbell and he wrote 7 of the 11 tracks, co-wrote one with William Bell, one is a traditional tune, and there is one by Carl Perkins, and one written by Roy Turk/Lou Handman. He is known for being the band leader for Bob Dylan for a good stretch of time and then filled in the same roll for Levon Helm for better than a decade, and what he has going on up in Woodstock. His Guitar (electric, acoustic, and Resonator), Mandolin, Bass, and Fiddle playing is not only good but he has the touch for the songs and he sings harmony as well. And Teresa Williams has a voice that might be called powerful, or earthy as if an Angel fell from the Heavens and instantly became The Queen of the Night. She has that born and raised in a passionate church voice that you don’t find in many, listen to what she does with If I Had My Way, wow. There is a sincerity in her voice that sells the song instantly, and this is a quality you don't learn but are born with.

They flesh out the sound with some of the musicians that played with Levon’s bands and hang around the Barn in Woodstock; Bill Payne on piano, Justin Guip on drums, Jesse Murphy, bass and tuba, Glenn Patscha on accordion and keyboards, Bryon Isaacs bass, and on Turn Around, Levon Helm mans the drums, one of the last things he recorded.

These two are musicians and that is what comes first with them, the music. The people they play with almost instantly become bands and sound as if they have been playing together for years. That is the type of reputation they have and inspire in others. They are the ones that instantly improve the quality of the musicians around them, so it is no wonder they are in demand and considered the cream of the crop. There is good, and there is great, and then there is this (you use the supreme adjective in your vocabulary).

by bob gottlieb