(2021) Dan Walsh - Live at the Floodgate  


Review:
Recorded in his hometown of Stafford prior to the first lockdown, Live at the Floodgate is Dan Walsh’s first live album. With a seemingly effortless clawhammer technique, he displays mastery and understanding of the banjo and its alleged limitations and an uncanny ability to expose its untapped possibilities. Kicking off with ‘On the Border’, a new set of tunes, Walsh demonstrates that speed is not the only tool at the hand of a jobbing banjo player. Starting as a slow and thoughtful melody, it builds into a deft canter that positively fizzes towards a brisker finale while always maintaining the tune. ‘Still a Town’ follows, a song he wrote about the sad decline of the high street in many of our towns. A further song follows, a reprise of his take on ‘The Suilin’, a traditional Irish song he first heard when he was four, a reminder that Irish music first drew him to the banjo. Originally on his 2017 album, ‘Verging on the Perpendicular’, it remains as fetching as ever. Returning to the instrumental, Walsh polishes off ‘Plan B’, a set from his Trio album with Ciaran Algar and Nic Zuppardi. While sounding bleaker and more spare without the added fiddle and mandolin, the percussive nature of his playing style is given a more overt presence. This warrants a changeover to guitar and a reprise of the Saw Doctors’ 1991 b-side, ‘At Least Pretend’, which he first covered in a band setting, back in 2012. Here, in jazzy blues format, it acts as a palate cleanser and a reminder of how his dextrous playing extends to the guitar. However, it’s straight back to breakneck banjo for ‘Late Night Drive’. Then, from the Appalachians, he transports us to the Himalayan foothills with ‘Whiplash Reel’, his banjo mimicking the sitar, playing a raga that has held audiences agog since 2015. And yes, you do recognise the next track – a Waterboys’ tune, ‘Calliope House’; here it segues in a tune of Walsh’s own, ‘Tuesday Night Session’. It’s by two vocal favourites, ‘Darkness Descends’ and ‘Only Way to Go’, the mood and styles remain on constant rotation, imprinting his vocal strengths again. Time for a new number with ‘Moonshine 68’, which sneaks what sounds like an extra few digits into a bluegrass stomp, as it dances all over the space available. Listen and wonder. He has been playing ‘Jack Crawford’ live for some time, this being the first appearance on record and a highlight of the album on which the spirit of his performance shines through. His sensitive song ‘The Song Always Stays’ has him back on guitar. Inspired by the experience of playing a gig to Scottish singer Glen Mason in a Surrey care home, it serves as a great reminder of how music can be transformative in its ability to evoke memories and bring comfort and reassurance. But, as ever, Walsh doesn’t let you ponder on his words too long, as he then brings out his astonishing cover of Paul Simon’s ‘You Can Call Me Al’, a stunning showstopper, replicating the whole song, slap bass as well, and all on his six-string guitar. Now, there is a sense of winding down as the show seems to be drawing to an end with the start of ‘Joxers Set’. However, it then accelerates up so rapidly through the gears of his banjo that it becomes a joyous blur of notes. Surely no one can play that fast? Is that it? But being, of course, a live album, there has to be an encore. Walsh wisely tries not to outdo himself, and it is Lester Flatt’s amiable ‘Sleep with One Eye Open’ that closes, with a call and response chorus that sends all home to bed, happy. Live records can sometimes be a filler, a stopgap between studio recordings. This is decidedly not so, standing both as a primer for anyone unfamiliar with Walsh and being the greatest hits for those already fans. The joy and pleasure Walsh exudes in this live performance is striking. Live at the Floodgate captures the magic and glow of Walsh at his very best.





Track Listing:
01. Over the Border (Live) (05:34)
02. Still a Town (Live) (03:56)
03. The Suilin (Live) (03:47)
04. Plan B (Live) (03:37)
05. At Least Pretend (Live) (04:22)
06. Late Night Drive (Live) (02:28 )
07. Whiplash Reel (Live) (05:08 )
08. Calliope House / Tuesday Night Session (Live) (03:06)
09. Darkness Descends (Live) (03:46)
10. Only Way to Go (Live) (02:59)
11. Moonshine 68 (Live) (02:31)
12. Jack Crawford (Live) (03:53)
13. The Song Always Stays (Live) (04:03)
14. You Can Call Me Al (Live) (04:12)
15. Joxers Set (Live) (07:11)
16. Sleep with One Eye Open (Live) (02:41)


Media Report:
Genre: acoustic, folk
Country: UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits