Tidalwave Road’s twelve-year journey to their debut release The Bonfire Sessions is well worth every mile. The Kentucky-based quartet practices bluegrass in a near-purist sense. The EP’s five songs are rife with time-tested instrumental passages, and familiar elements such as strong vocal harmonies, and find an exquisite balance between a bygone era and modern life. Banjo player Ben Parker authored four out of the five tracks included on this debut and has a relaxed facility with the genre that suggests he can continue to sustain the same songwriting virtues far into the future.
“I’ll See You There” is full of love, hard living, blood, and death. It has an appropriately melancholy melody given those characteristics. Tidalwave Road shows their experience by deftly traversing the line between focusing on the song’s story and utilizing the performance as a vehicle for showing their instrumental prowess. It is old-timey in tone without ever sounding like a musical museum relic. Producer Steve Wilson, bandleader of the critically acclaimed and popular Wilson Banjo Co., does an exemplary job of framing Tidalwave Road’s strengths for the audience.
“18” travels through similar territory regarding its subject matter. It isn’t as dark as the EP opener. The song’s characters lead the same desperate and abbreviated lives as those in the preceding tune. Each member of Tidalwave Road has an important role in their songs. However, the true center of the unit lies in the relationship between Ban Parker’s banjo playing, Carlie Parker’s mandolin, and Robert Sulfridge’s guitar. The vocals are as strong as ever.
“Time and Money” is arguably the most accessible cut. This is the tune you’d want to play to introduce novices to Tidalwave Road’s work. Casual listeners and longtime bluegrass devotees alike will enjoy this cut as it casts a wider thematic net with its subject matter; there aren’t many modern audience members who struggle to relate to this tune. They maintain the same level of instrumental excellence. It’s no small wonder that Tidalwave Road chose this song as the EP’s first single.
“My Tortured Heart” takes listeners back into the darker territory of the EP’s first cut. The bleak realities of the subject’s life and his hard-bitten attitude are classic fodder for bluegrass songwriting. Tidalwave Road never sounds like they’re imitating past acts. Instead, they filter songs such as “My Tortured Heart” through a distinct lyrical and instrumental consciousness that carves out its niche in tradition. “Open the Gates” ends the EP with a different take on the bluegrass tradition. Written from the point of view of an older man ready to meet his eternal fate, “Open the Gates” shows that Ben Parker’s songwriting is far from one-dimensional.
The Bonfire Sessions bodes well for the band’s pending second release. You get the feeling listening to these songs that Tidalwave Road has prepped many years for their eventual moment in the sun, and the EP’s five songs show they’re ready to capitalize on the opportunity. They have the talent and tools to stick around for years to come.
Troy Johnstone