BWW Review: RAY SMITH'S TROUT AND TOOLBOX at CD Review
by Barry Lenny Dec. 23, 2016
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Adelaide-based multi-instrumentalist, Ray Smith, has released his new CD, Trout and Toolbox, just in time for Christmas. Not only does he play a range of instruments, but he also embraces a number of genres, on this album displaying his love of folk music. All of the music was written by Smith except for the track Now, by Nic Jones. Trout is a brief acoustic guitar solo introduction, and Toolbox is the last number on this generous fourteen track CD.
Billy features Kerryn Schofield on wooden flute and Emma Woolcock on violin, with Smith on guitar and vocals, telling the tale of a boy who went to war, and Sense of Place is Smith on guitar and vocals again, and Schofield, this time on button accordion. On Migration, Smith adds concertina and Schofield returns to the flute in a poignant look at the lives of migrants.
The instrumental number, Village, changes the personnel, with Smith on guitar, Eliza Barnes, also on acoustic guitar, and Tamas Smith on semi-acoustic bass. This is a lively and intricate tune that shows off the skills of all three of these excellent musicians. The Weaver tells the life of a weaver, from child labour onwards, and ends with Schofield on cornet playing the familiar refrain, Going Home.
Not wanting to spoil it for those who will buy this CD, suffice to say that there are other equally fine songs, each with a strong story line and great arrangements, played by the aforementioned members of the Adelaide folk music scene in varying combinations, giving differing timbres to each number.
Recorded at Mixmaster Studios and produced by Smith and Mick Wordley, it is crisp and clean, with every note and nuance clearly audible. I have already played this excellent album a number of times and, I can guarantee, it will be played again many times in the future.
With Christmas just around the corner, this would make an ideal gift for anybody who loves good music and songs with meaning. You can listen to snippets of the songs and purchase the album for download or as a CD here.
by Barry Lenny Dec. 23, 2016
Tweet Share
Adelaide-based multi-instrumentalist, Ray Smith, has released his new CD, Trout and Toolbox, just in time for Christmas. Not only does he play a range of instruments, but he also embraces a number of genres, on this album displaying his love of folk music. All of the music was written by Smith except for the track Now, by Nic Jones. Trout is a brief acoustic guitar solo introduction, and Toolbox is the last number on this generous fourteen track CD.
Billy features Kerryn Schofield on wooden flute and Emma Woolcock on violin, with Smith on guitar and vocals, telling the tale of a boy who went to war, and Sense of Place is Smith on guitar and vocals again, and Schofield, this time on button accordion. On Migration, Smith adds concertina and Schofield returns to the flute in a poignant look at the lives of migrants.
The instrumental number, Village, changes the personnel, with Smith on guitar, Eliza Barnes, also on acoustic guitar, and Tamas Smith on semi-acoustic bass. This is a lively and intricate tune that shows off the skills of all three of these excellent musicians. The Weaver tells the life of a weaver, from child labour onwards, and ends with Schofield on cornet playing the familiar refrain, Going Home.
Not wanting to spoil it for those who will buy this CD, suffice to say that there are other equally fine songs, each with a strong story line and great arrangements, played by the aforementioned members of the Adelaide folk music scene in varying combinations, giving differing timbres to each number.
Recorded at Mixmaster Studios and produced by Smith and Mick Wordley, it is crisp and clean, with every note and nuance clearly audible. I have already played this excellent album a number of times and, I can guarantee, it will be played again many times in the future.
With Christmas just around the corner, this would make an ideal gift for anybody who loves good music and songs with meaning. You can listen to snippets of the songs and purchase the album for download or as a CD here.
"Ray Smith has the remarkable ability to write songs ancient and modern that place the listener in the picture with an acute sense of actually being a part of the story that unfolds."
Chris Finnen, Adelaide January 2016
Hombre!! ... Perfect post WOMAD listening - beautifully recorded - and great music - thanks !
Alain Valodze. Adelaide March 2017
Alain Valodze. Adelaide March 2017
TROUT AND TOOLBOX - Review by Michael Coghlan, The Clothesline March 2017
Some musicians seem able to move happily between different musical worlds. I first became aware of Adelaide based musician, Ray Smith, when he was playing in loud, experimental rock bands like the Sympathy Orchestra. Sometime later I heard him accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and was immediately struck by the depth and resonance of his voice. Those deep and resonant vocals are front and centre on Trout and Toolbox.
Trout and Toolbox is a collection of folk songs with very strong connections back to Ray’s native Cumbria in the north of England. All but one of the tunes are original and there are telling turns of melody that derive from the mournful, haunting sounds of the traditional music of his native land. And so too does much of the subject matter – closing mills, working as a weaver, and a song of praise to northern landscapes. It’s almost as if Ray is unveiling his past while he tries to reconcile his origins with the person who chose to migrate to Australia, and in that sense it’s quite a personal collection of songs.
Trout and Toolbox is book-ended with an unnamed instrumental piece that features some rich and melodic acoustic guitar tones that aptly signal what’s to come, and neatly wraps up the package after the final song.
Billy is a tale of war beautifully arranged for guitar, flute and violin. A Sense of Place is an endearing tale of a couple who have spent most of their life together and learnt to appreciate that a sense of place can be as simple as ‘the smile on your face’. There’s some lovely lyrical images here – ‘he will wash and she’ll carefully dry the plates’; ‘he always checks his tie’s straight in the mirror in the hallway.’ A curious feature of this album is the fact that Ray Smith’s vocals still sound like he’s living in Cumbria, and it’s quite pronounced on this song. It’s often hard to tell where people come from once they start singing, but not so in Ray’s case. It adds a layer of authenticity that appropriately gives greater weight to the idea of place. There’s a sting in the tail here as the final verse addresses Australia’s Stolen Generation being robbed of their sense of place – ‘a national disgrace’.
Using the metaphor of migrating birds, Migration focuses on the tension between staying and leaving. Punchy guitar underpins a melodic air that feels quite ancient. A mini jig/reel on accordion mid-song and again at the end briefly lightens the mood, but the prevailing feeling is one of a difficult reconciliation between the state of migration and the desire to stay home.
The Weaver Is much very rooted in the context of industrial England. Another strong vocal features curious phrases like ’watch your shuttle”. The cornet part by Kerryn Schofield lends an anthemic feel and in what feels like an intentional romanticising of the passing craft of weaving, breaks into a last post type coda to conclude what is quite a lovely song.
The Mill continues with a similar theme. “There’s no need to hurry now; soon we’ll be leaving the town.” There’s no more work because the mill is closing. It reminds me of Eric Bogle’s lament about the disappearing Australian farmer, and the emotion etched into this story is exquisitely wrought on violin by Emma Woolcock. The warmth and resonance of her playing is just delicious.
Tallahassee takes us to the other side of the Atlantic searching for a past lover. Curiously the narrator learns that his old Tallahassee flame no longer lives there and had also migrated to a land far away. This song feels and sounds quite different to the other songs on this CD and is steered along by fiddle that sounds more American than English, with acoustic bass from Tamas Smith.
Planxty Isaac is an instrumental track with acoustic guitars dancing in a bright and chirpy tune in a style similar to that of Canadian guitar virtuoso, Leo Kottke. Guitars here cross the oceans with influences from both sides of the Atlantic.
In Now, written by Nic Jones, the migrant pleads the case for the present moment in an attempt perhaps to convince himself that he made the right choice to leave all those years ago. “The now is here; so simple and clear; the past is gone.” Cornet provides an anthemic backdrop again, and the tone of the guitar picking is warm and resonant.
And then, and it feels like the whole album has been leading up to this point, the migrant returns home. To see ‘that broad fen again, feel the wind blowing cold from the glen; to hear the curlew call and the ocean roar’ and where ‘he’ll be home again once more’. Cue Cumbrian pipes! Home Again is another haunting and captivating melody with tentacles stretching back to Cumbria. There is a plaintive sadness here. Australia has been good for Ray Smith. But there’s clearly part of his soul that will always be in Cumbria. I hope he continues to bring that part of his musical soul back to our shores because it has a wistful depth and wisdom that reconciles past and present, and delivers perspectives in songs that are rich in melody, warm in feeling, and resonant with meaning.
Review by Michael Coghlan, The Clothesline
Some musicians seem able to move happily between different musical worlds. I first became aware of Adelaide based musician, Ray Smith, when he was playing in loud, experimental rock bands like the Sympathy Orchestra. Sometime later I heard him accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and was immediately struck by the depth and resonance of his voice. Those deep and resonant vocals are front and centre on Trout and Toolbox.
Trout and Toolbox is a collection of folk songs with very strong connections back to Ray’s native Cumbria in the north of England. All but one of the tunes are original and there are telling turns of melody that derive from the mournful, haunting sounds of the traditional music of his native land. And so too does much of the subject matter – closing mills, working as a weaver, and a song of praise to northern landscapes. It’s almost as if Ray is unveiling his past while he tries to reconcile his origins with the person who chose to migrate to Australia, and in that sense it’s quite a personal collection of songs.
Trout and Toolbox is book-ended with an unnamed instrumental piece that features some rich and melodic acoustic guitar tones that aptly signal what’s to come, and neatly wraps up the package after the final song.
Billy is a tale of war beautifully arranged for guitar, flute and violin. A Sense of Place is an endearing tale of a couple who have spent most of their life together and learnt to appreciate that a sense of place can be as simple as ‘the smile on your face’. There’s some lovely lyrical images here – ‘he will wash and she’ll carefully dry the plates’; ‘he always checks his tie’s straight in the mirror in the hallway.’ A curious feature of this album is the fact that Ray Smith’s vocals still sound like he’s living in Cumbria, and it’s quite pronounced on this song. It’s often hard to tell where people come from once they start singing, but not so in Ray’s case. It adds a layer of authenticity that appropriately gives greater weight to the idea of place. There’s a sting in the tail here as the final verse addresses Australia’s Stolen Generation being robbed of their sense of place – ‘a national disgrace’.
Using the metaphor of migrating birds, Migration focuses on the tension between staying and leaving. Punchy guitar underpins a melodic air that feels quite ancient. A mini jig/reel on accordion mid-song and again at the end briefly lightens the mood, but the prevailing feeling is one of a difficult reconciliation between the state of migration and the desire to stay home.
The Weaver Is much very rooted in the context of industrial England. Another strong vocal features curious phrases like ’watch your shuttle”. The cornet part by Kerryn Schofield lends an anthemic feel and in what feels like an intentional romanticising of the passing craft of weaving, breaks into a last post type coda to conclude what is quite a lovely song.
The Mill continues with a similar theme. “There’s no need to hurry now; soon we’ll be leaving the town.” There’s no more work because the mill is closing. It reminds me of Eric Bogle’s lament about the disappearing Australian farmer, and the emotion etched into this story is exquisitely wrought on violin by Emma Woolcock. The warmth and resonance of her playing is just delicious.
Tallahassee takes us to the other side of the Atlantic searching for a past lover. Curiously the narrator learns that his old Tallahassee flame no longer lives there and had also migrated to a land far away. This song feels and sounds quite different to the other songs on this CD and is steered along by fiddle that sounds more American than English, with acoustic bass from Tamas Smith.
Planxty Isaac is an instrumental track with acoustic guitars dancing in a bright and chirpy tune in a style similar to that of Canadian guitar virtuoso, Leo Kottke. Guitars here cross the oceans with influences from both sides of the Atlantic.
In Now, written by Nic Jones, the migrant pleads the case for the present moment in an attempt perhaps to convince himself that he made the right choice to leave all those years ago. “The now is here; so simple and clear; the past is gone.” Cornet provides an anthemic backdrop again, and the tone of the guitar picking is warm and resonant.
And then, and it feels like the whole album has been leading up to this point, the migrant returns home. To see ‘that broad fen again, feel the wind blowing cold from the glen; to hear the curlew call and the ocean roar’ and where ‘he’ll be home again once more’. Cue Cumbrian pipes! Home Again is another haunting and captivating melody with tentacles stretching back to Cumbria. There is a plaintive sadness here. Australia has been good for Ray Smith. But there’s clearly part of his soul that will always be in Cumbria. I hope he continues to bring that part of his musical soul back to our shores because it has a wistful depth and wisdom that reconciles past and present, and delivers perspectives in songs that are rich in melody, warm in feeling, and resonant with meaning.
Review by Michael Coghlan, The Clothesline
By the way, I'm long overdue to add my thanks and praise for Trout and Toolbox.
Songs immaculately written, beautifully sung, gracefully played.
Yer not bad for a Pom.
Plaudits also to your sidies, especially Kerryn. Great work.
Sean Mangan (singer/songwriter. Adelaide)
Songs immaculately written, beautifully sung, gracefully played.
Yer not bad for a Pom.
Plaudits also to your sidies, especially Kerryn. Great work.
Sean Mangan (singer/songwriter. Adelaide)
‘Trout and Toolbox’ by Ray Smith reviewed by Helen Adam
This quirkily named album was released in Australia by Adelaide based singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Ray Smith. A collection of original songs and tunes, it sits within the tradition of British folk song so firmly that at times I felt must have heard these songs before in smoky pubs and around mid day outdoor fires. Like Christy Moore, Ray Smith manages to blend the timeless with the particular and contemporary. Track 2, ‘Billy’ the first song on the album, has the feel of a early English ballad, though it is in fact a 20th century anti war song, but timeless in language and melody. By track 3 however, ‘Sense of Place’ the language roots you firmly in mid 20th century Cumbria, where Smith grew up.I loved the feel of mature and introspective melancholy that pervades much of the album, and which is given charm by the smooth mix of vocals and instruments, and excellent playing throughout.
Smith’s band on this album include Kerryn Schofield on wooden flute, button accordion and cornet, Tamas Smith on bass, Emma Woolcock on violin and ‘cello, and Eliza Barnes on guitar. The sonorous tones of the cornet on track 6, ‘The Weaver’ were an especial delight.
The only song not written by Smith, track 12 ‘Now’ written by Nic Jones, widens our focus and brings in a more spiritual and contemplative note to the collection, but personally I feel Smith’s songs together gently and persuasively express his personal philosophy, and work best by understatement.
Smith has also performed in rock and experimental bands, and some of this appears in strong driving rhythmic grooving, for example at the start of track 5. And its great to have some instrumental only tracks, our attention is captured and held by the lovely interplay of instruments on ‘Village’ or ‘Planxty Isaac’. They could both have been longer for my taste!
Overall what struck me listening to this record was the unique flavour of Cumbria, given focus by the artists’ distance from it. There is a real sense in which he is able to clearly see his home county and native music from across the world. Often in Britain we struggle to see English folk music as unique and special, and its subtle regional characteristics can become lost. Maybe distance lends clarity, and this collection has a sense of being both a valediction and love song to what is left behind.
Review by Helen Adam, The Eye Magazine, Wales.
This quirkily named album was released in Australia by Adelaide based singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Ray Smith. A collection of original songs and tunes, it sits within the tradition of British folk song so firmly that at times I felt must have heard these songs before in smoky pubs and around mid day outdoor fires. Like Christy Moore, Ray Smith manages to blend the timeless with the particular and contemporary. Track 2, ‘Billy’ the first song on the album, has the feel of a early English ballad, though it is in fact a 20th century anti war song, but timeless in language and melody. By track 3 however, ‘Sense of Place’ the language roots you firmly in mid 20th century Cumbria, where Smith grew up.I loved the feel of mature and introspective melancholy that pervades much of the album, and which is given charm by the smooth mix of vocals and instruments, and excellent playing throughout.
Smith’s band on this album include Kerryn Schofield on wooden flute, button accordion and cornet, Tamas Smith on bass, Emma Woolcock on violin and ‘cello, and Eliza Barnes on guitar. The sonorous tones of the cornet on track 6, ‘The Weaver’ were an especial delight.
The only song not written by Smith, track 12 ‘Now’ written by Nic Jones, widens our focus and brings in a more spiritual and contemplative note to the collection, but personally I feel Smith’s songs together gently and persuasively express his personal philosophy, and work best by understatement.
Smith has also performed in rock and experimental bands, and some of this appears in strong driving rhythmic grooving, for example at the start of track 5. And its great to have some instrumental only tracks, our attention is captured and held by the lovely interplay of instruments on ‘Village’ or ‘Planxty Isaac’. They could both have been longer for my taste!
Overall what struck me listening to this record was the unique flavour of Cumbria, given focus by the artists’ distance from it. There is a real sense in which he is able to clearly see his home county and native music from across the world. Often in Britain we struggle to see English folk music as unique and special, and its subtle regional characteristics can become lost. Maybe distance lends clarity, and this collection has a sense of being both a valediction and love song to what is left behind.
Review by Helen Adam, The Eye Magazine, Wales.