Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand grew up playing contra dance music (a type of folk dance) with their mother in upstate New York. Their band Great Bear toured the country for 18 years, giving the brothers plenty of opportunity to hone their craft. At a music camp, the two met multi-instrumentalist Chris Miller of the cajun-country band The Revelers.
The VanNorstrand brothers and Miller have been making music together for a decade. While they have toured together under the name The Faux Paws, the trio have always been so involved in other projects that they have not recorded anything together until now with their self-titled debut. With elements of bluegrass, folk, jazz and more, this album isn’t easily described, but it is easy to enjoy.
The album begins with “Fourth Decade”. This song is a very traditional bluegrass instrumental featuring two banjos. As with most bluegrass songs, you can hear that these guys have some chops. There is some good picking throughout this song. And the fiddle player is pretty strong too. It gives you the feeling that you are about to hear a bluegrass album, which is at least partly true.
“She’s Not Looking for You” also has some definite bluegrass influence with the fiddle and the mandolin. However, this song also features some saxophone, which is not only unexpected, but also lends a soul aspect to the song.
“Southport” is an even better example of a song that blends bluegrass and soul. In fact, that’s not even a full explanation of the song. It begins with a rhythm (including clapping) that has an African feel. While the saxophone in “She’s Not Looking for You”, is more of an accent, it takes a much bigger role in this song – to the point that it is in equal measure with the acoustic guitar.
There is a distinct jazz component on this album as well. You can hear it in “The Road from Winchester”. While the fiddle sounds like it would fit right in a room crowded with dancers, the saxophone is mellow and jazzy. “Montauk” is another song in which the saxophone provides a jazz sound that somehow blends nicely with the pounding rhythm and the banjo in the melody. This is an unpredictable album. It is pretty firmly rooted in folk and jazz, but you never really know what’s coming next. It could be bluegrass. It could be hot jazz. Or some combination of the two. The unpredictability is what makes this album enjoyable. Well, that and the fact that these songs will have you looking for a dance partner.
