Track Listing:
1. Steel And Stone (Black Water)
2. Braw Sailin' On The Sea
3. Patrick Spence
4. Beads And Feathers
5. Green Grows The Laurel
6. Honk Toot
7. Harvest Gypsies
8. Fause Fause
9. Poor Man's Son
10. Rodney's Glory
11. Navigator
12. Farewell To Fuineray
Black Water
Kris Drever
With such a large amount of talented youngsters working in the contemporary folk arena it could be scary stepping out into the limelight for the first time. Performers need a certain charisma, bags of talent and a strong work ethic to establish themselves on the scene. Not only can Kris tick all of these boxes he also has plenty of other enviable credentials.
Since leaving the Orkney's he's found work with John McCusker, Kate Rusby, Eddie Reader and Karine Polwart among others. He's also helped form the groups Fine Friday and Lau making him one of the most in demand players in Scotland today. So it looks like he's only had to reach for the phone and he's got a team of A-list musicians queuing up to chip in on Black Water.
Kris says he likes to seek out rarely covered songs and he has applied an open minded approach here. Besides giving some trad material a new twist there's an array of modern material.
The album hangs around his accomplished guitar playing and maturing vocal brogue, after which it's left to his guests to flesh out the songs adding shape and muscle. The main support here comes from McCusker, not only supplying a competent production sheen but also his formidable fiddle skills to what sounds like every track.
Steel and Stone leaves us in no doubt how he benefits from collaboration it's stirring harmonies having a lasting impression. Another triumph is the moody soundscape created on Fause Fause which is the perfect foil for his voice. It's only when he's left to his own devices on Green Grows The Laurel, that things go a little wayward leaning a little to close to saccharine.
Boo Hewerdine has dipped into his ample resources to write a deceptively simple song The Harvest Gypsies, that quietly explains some of the plight facing migrant workers through the years. Kris shows his masterly skills by handling the emotive tale with ease.
The album's storytelling is neatly balanced by a couple of lively instrumentals. Honk Toot builds on a classic stuttering guitar riff to become a wild dance whilst Rodney's Glory follows a more bittersweet path. Both deserve to be festival favourites.
There is a certain buzz around acoustic music at the moment and Kris Drever is well poised with a wealth of experience to follow his own individual path. His nominations in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2007 will surely bring him to a wider audience.
David Kushar