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Strung is a new musical possibility.
It brings together three names to conjure with in deep roots music these days - Doug Cox, Tony McManus and April Verch – and while the words “power trio” have not often been heard together in contemporary acoustic music, the times they still are a ‘changin’.
When ‘the best Celtic guitarist in the world’ * sits down to play with the only woman to win both the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle and Open Fiddle Championships and the da Vinci of the dobro pulls up a chair, “power trio” just might fit the bill…
Their personal roots run from Scotland to the Ottawa Valley out to the Canadian West. Connecting those three dots runs about 8,500 K**, and the journey spans generations and musical traditions from Europe, India and all over the US and the UK.
Collectively, their personal musical histories include making music with Long John Baldry, Martyn Bennett, Salil & Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Kevin Burke, Phil Cunningham, Liz Doherty, Amos Garrett, Andy Irvine, Seikou Keita, Dougie McLean, Natalie MacMaster, Catriona MacDonald, Bruce Molsky, Mark O’Connor, Dirk Powell, Kate Rusby*** on stage and in the studio.
Strung’s skill sets include playing, performing, recording, composing, producing, backing, teaching, parenting and road warrior. This alone might conjure the term “power trio” but this trio’s power does not come from proverbial stacks of amps at 11.
This trio’s power comes from listening… the kind of listening that comes with the territory when you are playing with some of the world’s finest musicians. In some musical circles, instrumentalists with this level of focus and technique, are known as “the musicians other musicians listen to”. Some European traditions use the term “virtuoso."
This is a new project, but it’s no “baby band”. These artists share more than 50 years of experience and choose their projects carefully. Strung is a trio you want to keep an ear out for, and one you want to be in the room with when they get deeper into the music…
* according to John Renbourne
** a little more than 5,000 miles, assuming you’re working with an unusually focussed and suitably motivated crow.
*** the list of names is much, much longer but traditional Canadian modesty requires that you visit the artists’ respective websites for this information.
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