TAYLOR USED:
615

SONG CLIPS:
The Great Mississippi
28K | 56K | MP3

Full Speed Ahead
28K | 56K | MP3

The acoustic folk duo has been touring much of the southeastern U.S. and the festival circuit in their motorhome since they married in 1994. Danzig, the principal songwriter and lead vocalist, calls to mind Cat Stevens, and shows a lively, theatrical flair for vocal phrasing and nuance. Together with Wooley's vocal harmonies, the two create a richly enmeshed counterpoint to their acoustic rhythms.

Danzig and Woolley jokingly tag their style as "Dysfunctional Folk". Danzig has absorbed traditional British and American folk; country and blues; and the inventive arrangements of Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Simon and Garfunkel. But he says his melodic sensibility has been equally shaped by Lennon and McCartney. Wooley cites Janis Ian as a major influence, for her "eclectic mix of harmonies and themes." Free the Poet is Danzig's third recorded outing - his second with Woolley. The two transcend their folk influences to create a melodic and original style, deftly shifting rhythms and instrumental accents along the way to forge an eclectic sound: In "Yo-Yo", Woolley's bells brightly cap the beats; spoons, banjo, and banjolin add an old-timey touch to "Troubadour"; and throughout, Wooley's mandolin tremelo sweetly colors each track, from the baroque-folk hue of "Crowe's Feet" to the elegantly adorned groove in "You're Gonna Love Me".

Danzig's voice inhabits each tune with a presence that ranges from plangent to poignant. "The Great Mississippi" resonates with an anthemic folk grandeur reminiscent of John Denver; "Free the Poet"'s glows with a buoyant melody and a liberating message of living one's dreams; In "Beatlebob" - about an eccentric fan with a mop-top and ankle boots - Danzig wraps a vocal lilt around a smooth Calypso rhythm and sails into the sunset.