Review

Randal Bays and Dave Marshall, Dig With It
NewFolk [Foxglove FG0550; www.RandalBays.com]

My wife Claudia and I had the distinct good fortune to have been able to hear Randal and Dave play at the tiny Swingside Cafe in Seattle a few years back. It was a joy to hear such an artistic, heartfelt performance. Both Randal and I are fans of the Russian bow grip, now somewhat out of vogue, but used to great effect by the great classical violinist Jascha Heifetz and others in the early part of the last century. In capable hands, this grip allows for both great power and extreme subtlety. Both are much in evidence on Randal's latest CD project, Dig With It, available on the NewFolk label.

Randal first played trumpet, then classical guitar, but flipped when he heard Kevin Burke fiddling in a Portland, Oregon, pub on a rainy night way back in 1978. Some thirty years later, he has matured into one of the finest Irish fiddlers one could ever hope to hear. The aforementioned Russian grip gives him a passionate, centered sound. He has superb bow control, with none of the thin, wispy tone that sometimes plagues Irish fiddling.

Dig With It finds Randal dueting with the supremely supportive guitarist Dave Marshall, of Vancouver, British Columbia. Dave, working out of the DADGAD tuning, offers up backup that is never heavy-handed and always tasteful. Some of the tunes played here are drawn firm cylinder recordings made around 1905 by Chief Francis O'Neill, author of the famous O'Neill tune book. These recordings, long thought to be lost, were re-discovered in 2003 in a Milwaukee attic. Other tunes are pulled from a wide range of sources, including rare tapes and Randal's own hand-written session transcriptions. In addition, Randal contributed two original compositions to the CD and his son Willie composed one, on which he plays guitar.

Nice, clean recording and extensive, informative liner notes make this CD a really excellent package. Both Randal and Dave are strong and accurate players, never fussy or overly academic. Their sincerity and dedication to this rich tradition are obvious. Listen especially to the way the Irish slow air "The Bold Trainer, O," breathes.

In case you were wondering about the unusual title of this CD, "Dig With It" is a phrase that is part of a poem, entitled Digging, by Seamus Heaney. In it, a son speaks of his grandfather and father's prowess with the spade. The son's tool, however, is the pen. The poem concludes,

Between my finger and thumb
the squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.

Rest assured that Randal Bays and Dave Marshall are truly digging with it. I highly recommend this CD.
-Paul Anastasio