Over The Moon
Chinook Waltz (Borealis)
Cowboy country from Canada, Over The Moon are Alberta duo Suzanne Levesque and Craig Bignell, the title being their home studio and, augmented by assorted guest players, the music being a throwback to old school bluegrass and Western swing. Featuring fiddle and mandolin by Bruce Hoffman, it opens with the self-penned ‘Lonesome Bluebird’, a folksy bittersweet number about having dreams but never having the courage to stretch your wings.
It’s followed by the first of four covers, Denis Keldie on accordion and Levesque singing lead on Ian Tyson’s evergreen ‘Someday Soon’, Tyson’s late sideman Mel Wilson providing the impetus for the second, a stripped down, fingerpicked take on the Everly’s ‘Kentucky’, a number he’d always urged them to learn, with Bignell up front and Hoffman on dobro.
The third takes them back to the late 1930s giving a cowboy touch to Harry Roy’s big band swing number, ‘They Can’t Black Out The Moon’, a whimsical number about lovers making use of the moonlight during wartime blackout, a harmonising duet with embellishments from clarinet, accordion, upright bass and lap steel. Then, completing this clutch of covers, it shifts to Texicali flavours with Levesque on lead and bass for Buddy and Julie Miller ballad ‘I Can’t Get Over You’, Joshua Braca from Grammy winners The Texmaniacs providing the signature Tejano accordion alongside pedal steel, piano and nylon string guitar.
Returning to their own material, the gently jogging ‘John Ware’ relates the story of an Alberta legend, the Black Cowboy who, born a slave in Tennessee, was hired for a cattle drive to Alberta and ended up marrying a Calgary girl and staying, becoming renowned for his horsemanship and an influential figure in the ranching industry.
Bergin’s back in the saddle for another swing style number with the whimsical ‘I’m Not Cool’, the narrator bemoaning how nobody pays him any attention, but that heads start to turn when he takes up with a girl with the face of an angel and a smile to light the darkest night. The last of the covers begins the final stretch with Bergin singing lead on another from the Ian and Sylvia Tyson catalogue, albeit written by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell, Levesque playing arco bass, Aaron Young on baritone acoustic and again featuring mandolin and fiddle on a lovely interpretation of ‘Darcy Farrow’ (taken at a slower pace than the Matthews Southern Comfort version).
Sung by Levesque, ‘When She Rides’ tells of a cowboy’s daughter and celebrates the bond between girls and horses and the freedom of riding away your heartaches, a bond not broken when she leaves for college and he waits for her return. And, finally, bookended by crickets chirping, there’s the five minute title track duet, an evocation of night at their ranch in the foothills, the deer in the fields, the dog curled up, a campfire, the coyotes howling, the song of the birds and the peace and contentment they’ve found together.
It doesn’t push any envelopes or break down any walls, but it’s a perfectly delightful listen that should see Over The Moon enjoying a well-deserved place in the sun.
Mike Davies
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