 After nearly five months of being available only as a digital release, the Pine Leaf Boys' new Grammy-nominated album "Homage au Passé" (Homage to the Past) is finally available to audiences! This album is complete with a beautiful booklet containing stories and all the words (French and English) to the songs!
Just in time for Mardi Gras '09, Homage au Passé, equiped with an arsenal of two new musicians (the slick, young vieille-manière Cajun fiddler Courtney Granger on fiddle and the funky stylings of Thomas David on bass), may very well be the best album ever released by the Pine Leaf Boys. See below for a few reviews and song samples.
"The Boys charge out of the gate with the festive toe-tapper, "Festival Acadiens Two Step," a lively tribute by Granger to one of Lafayette, Louisiana's most popular annual events. "Country Playboy Special" bops and stomps behind Drew Simon's hearty vocalizing and ebullient accordion solos, to which Granger adds his own spirited fiddling. Guitarist Jon Betrand cuts out on a trebly, stone-country guitar solo to further enliven "Country Playboy Special," then returns a couple of cuts later with another blazing solo on the foot-stomping, rockabilly-flavored barnburner, "J'Suis Gone Pour Me Saouler," a song built to rock the house to its foundation. A shambling, shuffling drinking song from the Balfa Brothers, "Parlez Nous a Boire," has enough of a loosey-goosey feel in its rough-cut harmonizing and woozy instrumental solos to convince you the principals themselves were well lubricated before tearing into it. At the album's close the band returns to its introspective mode for a sweet, sincere treatment of "I'll Always Take Care of You," one of many stellar contributions made to country music by Monroe, Louisiana's favorite son, Webb Pierce (whose English lyrics are translated to Cajun French here), with Bertrand and Granger enhancing the tear-stained mood with emotionally evocative fiddle and guitar solos, respectively." - the Bluegrass Special
Track titles
The first five are samples
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