By ROBIN CAUDELL
"Rough Edges," Beartracks' new CD, is the smoothest and best of the band's releases to date.
Fresh from Prince Edward Island's 5th-annual Laurie Blue Bluegrass Festival, Beartracks was the only band from the United States asked to headline.
"We're pretty excited and lucky to have been chosen to go," said Julie Hogan, Beartracks vocalist and bassist.
Friday, Hogan along with her brother, Tom Venne; cousin, Junior Barber; and new band member, fiddler and mandolinist Harry Ralph; will perform at the Peru Community Church Coffeehouse, part of the Peru Community Church Arts Council Concert Series.
SERENDIPITY
"People have been asking us when we're doing our next album," Hogan said. "Originally, we were going to do it back in March. I ended up breaking my collarbone in New York City. I tripped, flew into a granite wall and busted it. I was out of commission. We put it on hold."
Their waylaid plans proved serendipitous. They added Ralph to their lineup and recorded at the Lane Gibson Studio (formerly Chas Eller Studio) in Charlotte, Vt. The CD's title track, "Rough Edges," is an old Hylton Randall tune.
"We really like it a lot," Hogan said. "The words in the song speak about who we are. We're not really refined. We're not overly polished. We love the tune. It's fun, and Harry gets to play fiddle, and Junior gets to do some real good dobro licks."
Barber smokes on an old Montgomery Ward guitar that had been floating in Hogan and Venne's mother's damp basement.
"Junior turned it into a little monster of a guitar," Hogan said. "It's the coolest thing. It fits with the same theme. It's kind of rough. The guitar is on the cover of the album."
The instrument, a 1950s Kay guitar, was built in Chicago.
"It was well-constructed, and that made it a perfect candidate for a retrofit biscuit bridge with National (Steel) components," Barber said.
The guitar sounded so good, he didn't finish the neck and recycled the original fretboard.
"The name of the album really fit the guitar," he said. "I think rough edges kind of fits me, too. I have one or two I believe."
YODELING
Venne takes lead vocals on the second track, "Lovesick Blues."
"Junior plays a C6th guitar," Hogan said. "It's a different type of tuning, a real old country sound like Hank Williams used. People seem to like it a lot."
Hogan and Venne showcase their brother-and-sister harmonies on a cover of Jimmy Rodgers "Blue Yodel."
"Harry plays fiddle on that, too," Hogan said. "That's a really fun number. It's definitely a yodeling song."
Track 4 is the old bluegrass standard, "Howlin' At The Moon."
"That has some neat guitar licks," Hogan said. "It's a different kind of bluegrass song with high falsetto in it and a little howling at the end. That's me."
Barber asked Hogan to learn "How About You," an old bluegrass tune.
"It's a nice inspirational type of song with some harmonies in it," she said.
Track 6, "I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water," is a country classic.
"Tom inserts some of the names of our local areas in there," Hogan said. "Harry plays some mandolin. It's a upbeat tune that we really like a lot."
As per fan request, "Steel Guitar Rag" is on the album.
"Junior does a great job on that instrumental. When we go to festivals, people love to hear him play that."
"Everyone has done it," Barber said. "I took a shot at it. It's my take. It's kind of retro sounding."
TEARJERKER
Barber wrote "Lake Champlain" when Hogan and Venne couldn't come up with an original for Clinton Community College's quadricentennial celebration.
"It came real quick in one day or so," Barber said. "I had the theme for the song, and Julie coached me in making it a little longer. So, there it is."
"We worked it up and got a good crowd response," Hogan said. "I told him he wasn't getting paid any more money because he wrote a song."
These days, Barber spends less time on Lake Champlain's shores; he has moved to Palm Bay, Fla. In a matter of 30 days, he sold his house and found a place to live via the Internet.
"Let me be an inspiration for everyone afraid to do it: Do it," he said.
Floridian Barber is tan and fit.
"Junior looks better than all of us, jeezum crow," Hogan said. "He will be here in the summer. Harry is an addition to the band. You can't replace Junior. When Junior can't come out for smaller jobs, we can do a trio with Harry. He's versatile."
Hogan's father taught her "How Far is Heaven" when she was a little girl.
"It's about a little girl who loses her dad," she said. "It's a tearjerker."
"Mind Your Own Business" is advice Hogan gives her brother on a regular basis.
"It's another one with C6th tuning, a swing tune," she said.
"Long Black Limousine" is a new song Hogan learned.
"We try to put on things that our fans like. They are kind enough to come to our shows and buy our products from us. We try to please them as much as we can."
JUNE VENNE SINGS
She penned "A Grandmother's Love" for her mother-in-law, Betty Hogan.
"She's a really neat lady," Hogan said. "Very classy. It's about her life when she was little and now and the type of person she is. It's nice to love your mother-in-law."
Hogan and Venne trade off on a duet of "'Til A Tear Becomes A Rose."
The CD's final track, "New River Train," features June "Junebug" Venne, Hogan and Venne's mother, who was recorded by her son performing at the Peru Gazebo this past summer.
"It's a live recording, not touched up," Hogan said. "It came out pretty darn good."
"Rough Edges" is the band's most live-sounding recording, in Venne's estimation.
"We had all the tracks down over two days, which is pretty quick," he said. "We didn't do a lot of retakes. We just sat down and played."
The album is a rousing mix of straight-ahead bluegrass, old traditional county, a little swing and originals.
"It represents who we are," Venne said. "We can't fit into someone else's mold. We are what we are. Thankfully people like who we are. We keep getting jobs. I'm looking forward to debuting 'Rough Edges' in Peru."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressprepublican.com
