A Review of the CD
"Bridge of Wings"
by Steve and Rosalind Barnes

This review is written by Kevin McCarthy, 11/98
"Kevin and Maxine’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews"
http://www.icogitate.com/~celticfolkmusic/index.html
mailto:celticfolkmusic@icogitate.com

Australians Steve and Rosalind Barnes have created an enjoyable collection of 11 songs and three instrumentals on their second CD, employing vivid imagery, solid craftsmanship, and aided immensely by cellist Peter Grayling on a number of cuts. Utilizing guitar, mandola, mandolin, mandocello, double bass, fretless electric bass, dobro, harmonica, uilleann pipes, washboard, wooden flute, and Grayling's aforementioned cello, the song styles range from soothing to uptempo and from folk to celtic. Rosalind Barnes' solid voice is at home with all the styles.

The opening cut, "The River Runs Deep," offers distinctive imagery, seemingly flying the listener directly over the land, rivers and oceans of Australia. Covering the concern about abusive water policies and the deleterious effects of the poisoning of this resource, this song is an eloquent statement about the damage occuring and the need to makes changes. Lee Buddle provides a nice touch on the wooden flute here.

Offering an analogy of a gum tree and wheat farmers intertwined to both the land and the weathering of bad times in "This Old Tree," the chorus goes:

"...This old tree was here before we came
It's seen the drought and the rain
And it will see us out again
But like this tree the ones who still remain
Draw their life from this land..."

"...Soil has turned to sand, salt has claimed the land
Now we understand
Your branches hold the lessons of the past..."

The celtic-sounding "The Insomnia Jig" is also another top tune. Rosalind Barnes' lilt and cadence, combined with Steve Barnes on the mandola, carry this song well into the territory occupied by Dervish and others.

"Grey Stone Walls," inspired by the old lunatic asylum in Fremantle, pays homage to pain and suffering endured by the "social misfits" incarcerated there, including unwed mothers as suggested by the liner notes. Exquisite in its imagery, it goes:

"...Haunted faces, tattered rags
Silent footfall on the flags
Ghost is walking in the night
Wasted face in the silver light
See the moonrise kiss the walls
Zephyr breeze in haunted halls
Hungry eyes in moonlit glow
Hear the singers down below
Grey stone walls..."

Track List:

• The River Runs Deep (4:14)
• This Old Tree (4:46)
• Woman of Africa (4:19)
• The Weaver and the Buffalo Boy (4:48)
• Only Yesterday (1:51)
• Sea Salt (2:27)
• The Imsomnia Jig (3:12)
• Over the Horizon (4:46)
• The More Things Change (4:41)
• Grey Stone Walls (4:02)
• The Mulga Waltz (2:37)
• Reason to Rhyme (3:15)
• The Red Engine (2:00)
• Present Company (2:51)

Copyright © 1998-2008 Kevin & Maxine’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews. All rights reserved.

Ownership, copyright and title of this folk music CD review belongs to me, Kevin McCarthy. Ownership, copyright and title are not transferable or assignable to you or other parties regardless of how or if you or other parties use, copy, save, backup, store, retrieve, transmit, display, publish, modify or share the CD review in whole or in part. Please read the "Terms, Conditions and Disclaimer" section on my web site for additional information about using, quoting, or reprinting this CD review.

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