Monday 08 March 2010



The naked human voice

There’s a moment about half way through “The Gambler and His Bride” where someone who’s paying close attention to the song can travel back through time and space to the day last summer when Daniel Romano, Fred Squire and Julie Doiron were recording it in Squire’s garage.  Amidst the gentle plucking and raw harmonies you can hear the rumble of a motorcycle’s arrival (or a passing car), and it sounds like the musicians paid it nary any mind, content to finish what was started.  There’s  an impulse to say that the recordings they made that week out in New Brunswick are presented to listeners on Daniel, Fred & Julie “warts and all” but that would be misleading:  there’s no warts here at all.

Daniel, Fred & Julie‘s collection of folk music in the public domain, sung in three-part harmony and recorded live off the floor as quickly as possible is one of those records that reveals it beauty and charm in stages.  If you’re not familiar with the songs themselves (as I was), it’s a reminder of just how deep and rich the folk music tradition is, and question what other treasures may be buried deep in those songbooks.  For those used to studio production and trickery, the simple, minimalist recordings are a reminder of just how beautiful the naked human voice can be.  There’s no master plan behind Daniel, Fred & Julie; no ulterior motive or underlying subtext.  This is an artifact of a week where friends, musicians, lovers of music, sat down and shared their passions, shared their voices, and then shared their record with us.

They’re also embarking on a small tour of eastern Canada to share the record with us in a live setting.  Dates and locations are available on their Myspace site.  You’ve Changed records has Daniel, Fred & Julie available on LP and CD and  as a digital download, and loudly proclaims that in each format the record is “proudly Mono.”

MP3: Daniel, Fred & Julie “The Gambler and His Bride”
Myspace: Daniel, Fred & Julie





by J. Di Gioia | 2 Comments »

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under MP3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “The naked human voice”

Dave March 8th, 2010 at 11:37 am

that week out in “New Brunswick”