Kacy & Clayton
with Township & Range
Tickets $5
http://bit.ly/1W7YHuN
In recent decades, too many folk songs have been burdened by oversung vocals and cluttered arrangements. Kacy and Clayton restore space to the art form by dealing in subtlety instead of tinsel. Their arrangements employ minimal ornamentation. Kacy’s completely unforced refreshing vocals are always in her own distinct and natural timbre. Clayton’s instrumental talents serve every song with modesty; he reserves his virtuosity for only those few transitions that require elaborate expression. The production values of their recordings are consistent and simple. Kacy and Clayton shun studio trickery and gimmicks, pursuing mixes that recall the natural warmth of 1970s british folk LPs. In fact, much of their repertoire could easily be mistaken for hidden gems of decades past. Their return to form is no mere retro affectation; it is a respectful bearing of the torch passed on from their deep and studied musical heritage.
Kacy and Clayton’s entire lives have been steeped in the rich catalogs of folk music masters. They are second cousins who grew up a short distance from each other in a ranching community in southern Saskatchewan. As children they were surrounded by rural musicality, absorbing the knowledge and skills of Kacy’s Grandfather (Clayton’s Great-Uncle) Carl Anderson. Landmark figures of their musical roots include Leadbelly, Shirley Collins, Alan Lomax, The Stanley Brothers, Charley Patton, Mississippi John Hurt, and Davey Graham. Kacy and Clayton’s ears are expertly discening, and their musicianship is practiced to a sophisticated level of proficiency. They are very young, but have already matured beyond the precociously talented stage by rapidly earning a reputation among their fellow musicians as fully expressed mature artists in the prime of their lives. In fact, the Deep Dark Woods – one of Canada’s most successful and accomplished roots bands – has eagerly recruited Clayton as a guitarist, and Ryan Boldt (DDW’s lead singer) has proudly taken on the task of producing Kacy and Clayton albums. Clayton’s musical partnership with Kacy remains a primary focus for his creative output.
