Rick DiDia and Aireene Espiritu Get A great review in AmericanaUK
Congratulation Rick and Aireene! A”Ten Ton Feather” gets a really great review. I’m proud to have been the mastering engineer on your CD. All the best.
AmericanaUK
For true lovers of Americana.
There’s an ongoing debate as to what Americana actually is. This website gives a definition, but whenever I’m asked to describe it, I struggle. And I’m supposed to be an “expert”; well I’m not, I’m merely someone who has the opportunity to provide a personal opinion on music in a public space.
But fear no more Americana fans. Simply go out and buy this album and you will get what Americana is about; all the answers are here. Upon the first couple of listens it doesn’t happen. Well it didn’t for me, but persevere and then it all becomes apparent.
‘The Ten Ton Feather’ gives us most of the Americana genre including folk, blues, country, bluegrass, gospel, rock’n’roll, stomps and hollers. Hell there’s even some old-timey in the mix too. I think that just about covers Americana; don’t you?
What is so good about this album is Didia and Espiritu can cover each of the constituent parts of each of the aforementioned genres and leave us wanting more. Too many albums these days tend to flog one or another genre to death, whilst purporting to cover the entire landscape on one album. Not so here.
Kicking off with the immensely likeable Appalachian bluegrass of ‘Wailing Sun’ and swiftly following it with the gentle contemporary folk of ‘Big River’, this duo set their variety of wares out on display. Effortlessly combining their vocals and expert guitar and ukulele playing, these two were simply made for each other.
Espiritu is a native of the Philippines and she’s got a voice that’s reminiscent of Vika or Linda Bull. DiDia has developed a unique lap-style playing method that drives the sound along, but he can also be laid back and thoughtful, particularly on the acoustic guitar in the final song ‘To The Ends Of Love’.
This CD contains 14 tracks and I could rave about all of them. But for the sake of brevity, some of the highlights include the tracks already mentioned, plus the melancholic ‘I Dream Of You’, the moody haunting ‘Shine’, the boogie blues of ‘Mississippi’, ‘Flying’ with its simple harmony’s plus ‘Suzanne’ which falls into the “thought provoking” camp, as do many of the other songs. ‘My Country’ brings in some gospel inspired acapella.
And if I was to re-write this review, I’d probably concentrate on highlighting the other five tracks, not to mention the wonderfully written lyrics. The album has an extremely well balanced running order that allows the songs to compliment each other whilst also providing the light and shade that all great albums have. As DiDia & Espiritu themselves state this album “Makes the old sound new, in an old sort of way.”
Select random on your CD player, and you have an instant Americana jukebox; all in one package. Albums like this don’t come along that often, so get yourself a copy. You’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t. And if for some reason you don’t like it, I will personally refund your money. Or refer you to the Americana doctor for help.