Maybe it is a green thing? Something to do with saving the environment through criminally efficient recycling perhaps. Or just a terminal fear of taking any chances? Or maybe it is just the case of pandering to the polite festival audiences of the world by producing an album full of virtuoso performances and no actual songs? Welcome to “Overgrown Tales” by The Crooked Fiddle Band.
More thought seems to have gone into naming the songs – who can argue with “Countess Bathory’s Finishing school For Girls” or “Clockwork Bride” as titles? – than actually creating them. Sure, you get bits of folk music, some Americana and a bit of the old gypsy violin seasoning but so what? Nothing sticks in the mind after you have heard it - which is all the more surprising given the standard of playing – and all I can actually recall is how long these supposed songs seemed to drag on (and on and on) for.
“Overgrown Tales” is not so much an album as another victory for musical self-indulgence and I’m sure The Crooked Fiddle Band will do well on the roots festival circuit for that very reason.