Back a hundred years ago & more, before the advent of
recorded music, parlor music was a popular pastime. As hard as it may be to believe today, at the
time thousands of regular people played musical instruments. They would gather in their parlors and sit
and play the popular songs of the day.
Some of these were traditional folks songs, others were pop songs
specifically written for that market.
Now in the 21st century, changes in recording and
performance technology have made created a small resurgence in the genre. How else can you consider the indie folk
releases from Iron & Wine, for example?
Once these songs couldn’t be performed for an audience, simply because
the audience could not have heard the performers. Now the smallest sounds can be transmitted to
the back of a venue.
Long Gone Out West
Blues is the second release simply under the names of Pharis & Jason
Romero. While their earlier recordings
as The Haints string band came more from an old time dance tradition, these
last two releases are firmly within the parlor tradition. By its nature this is intimate music. Its strengths are subtle ones – the interplay
between two instruments and two voices.
As the guitar and banjo intertwine, there is a corresponding meeting of
the two voices. They are apart, then in
unison, then changing again.
It’s a mistake to misjudge simplicity to mean the same as
simple. The difficulty, as well as much of
the beauty, comes from subtleties that can easily be overlooked in a fast paced
digital age. Sit down, have a glass of
tea, let the music embrace you.
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