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Powered by Broadtime Tuneportals More Info:The sizzling USA recording debut from Canada’s hottest-playing and coolest-singing acoustic roots band! Reviews:The Bills are a five-piece group from British Columbia that some critics have been comparing to the Band on the strength of their songwriting and folk influenced music. But though both groups come from Canada, that’s where the similarities end, as you can readily hear on “Overture,” the opening track on the Bills’ first American release. This all-acoustic gang of multi-instrumentalists jumps between Eastern European Gypsy swing, St. Louis honky tonk ragtime, smoky cabaret jazz and Celtic folk with hints of Ireland and Quebec without breaking a sweat. It’s an impressive introduction to a band that obviously has chops to spare. Nothing else on the disc is quite as audacious as the opener, but their range and prowess is still mighty impressive. “Oeil Au Beurre Noir” is a jaunty Quebecois stomp driven by Adrian Dolan’s popping button accordion, “Bamfield’s John Vanden” is a rousing a cappella sea chantey that praises hard work and the beauty of a life at sea and “When The Bucket Runs Dry” is an instrumental that takes your mind on a three minute vacation with Marc Atkinson’s minimal banjo picking dancing around a carefree Caribbean rhythm. They also include an elegant arrangement of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust,” featuring Atkinson’s breezy mandolin and three swooning violins.
