On their website, The Twilite Broadcasters accurately describe their sound as "early country music." Adam Tanner (ex-Crooked Jades) and Mark Jackson accompany their brother-style vocals on mandolin and guitar, as The Monroe Brothers, The Blue Sky Boys, and The Delmore Brothers did in the 1930s, with one important difference: Adam Tanner's Monroe-style bluegrass mandolin work.
If The Monroe Brothers had recorded a reunion album with Jerry Garcia and David Grisman on vocals, and Bill Monroe playing fully-realized bluegrass mandolin, it would sound like The Twilite Broadcasters' new CD, Trail of Time.
Monroe-style Mandolin and Old-time Fiddle
Tanner's Monroe-style mandolin gets a workout on the lesser-known Monroe instrumental, "Land of Lincoln." Jackson's backing is first-rate, his guitar sound is full, his rhythm rock-solid.
On The Carter Family's "Coal Miner's Blues," Tanner sounds like Bill Monroe pushing to shift the Monroe Brothers into overdrive. His playing is precise, his tone clean and sweet, but soaked in the blues, giving the arrangement a rockabilly feel.
With Hank Williams' "Weary Blues From Waiting," the duo eschews the high lonesome sound for a more worn-in old-time sound; accented once again by a bluesy Monroesque lick.
Tanner picks up the fiddle for two high-stepping instrumentals. Both Fiddlin' Arthur Smith's " Fiddler's Dream " and Tanner's own "North Buncombe Gallop" have the old-time feel deep in their bones. Jackson supplies the drive with superb rhythm playing.
Brother Duos With a Jam-band Sound
Being a 21st century outfit, The Twilite Broadcasters incorporate elements of modern-era roots music, as exemplified by the duet work of Garcia and Grisman, while still incorporating the distinctive Monroe mandolin style.
On some cuts, they depart from the Monroe feel for a more traditional country sound. The sentimental title cut, originally recorded by The Delmore Brothers, is so authentic that it could stand alongside any of the brother duets of the 1930s.
"I Can't Keep You In Love With Me" has the feel of The Louvin Brothers' original minus the high, lonesome sound. It benefits from a driving tempo and a more modern country-style mandolin break. A lesser-known Louvin Brothers tune, the plaintive " Lorene," gets its edge from astringent vocal harmonies.
The CD ends with "Valley of Peace," Charlie Monroe's idyllic picture of a home much like the one where he and his brother, Bill, learned to make music like this, in a tradition that The Twilite Broadcasters bring forward with skill and care.
Sources
- The Twilite Broadcasters. 2011. The Twilite Broadcasters. July 16, 2011.
Diane Amov - Bluegrass singer/songwriter and classically-trained flautist who has written on bluegrass and American roots music since 2005.
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