THE WEIGHT OF LIGHT - July 17, 2007
www.myspace.com/hillbilly71
Silas House, contributing editor for NO DEPRESSION magazine, author of CLAY'S QUILT, etc.
"This is real mountain soul, the kind of hillbilly-infused music that captures the true dignity and spirit of an entire place and its people. The Ginsangers manage to simultaneously take the listener back in time while also putting their own fresh, contemporary spin on their songs. Connie Townsend's voice, Rose Bell's fiddle (not to mention her harmonies), and Dave Parker's fine handling of guitar, ... and more all combine into one of the best old-time bands out there today."
STRAIGHT FROM NEW ORLEANS - April 30, 2006
www.nolafugees.com
WILD GINSANG MUSIC
When WV musicians Connie Townsend and Dave Parker took the stage at Handsome Willy's, a strange thing happened. Amidst the rubble and the ruin of the CBD's dark heart, a kind of
old-timey magic took place. Townsend has a voice, like June Carter or Allison Kraus, that carries with it all the beauty, sadness, and strength an Appalachian life conveys. Backed by Dave Parker's guitar and dobro work, it was hard to separate Townsend's originals and the band's traditional covers, so seamlessly do their tunes fit into the Old Timey canon. Sitting out underneath the stars, you got taken away from all the mess and suddenly realized that dignity that comes from maintaining in the face of adversity, the pride that comes from remembering while others forget. In short, you get a taste of what it's like to be an Appalachian. And if you've never seen sunlight catch a drop of dew on the petals of a mountain laurel or waited out the long, grey winter at the end of a red dog road, Wild Ginsang Music is as close as you can get.
A West Virginia original.
Fresh New Music From Out Of These Hills
The Charleston Gazette
Thursday November 30, 2000
FOR THE GAZETTE
"These Hills"
Connie Townsend grew up in western West Virginia but now lives, according to her liner notes, "in the heart of the West Virginia mountains," and her rustic, plaintive, lovely folk art reflects the rugged beauty of her chosen habitat.
Townsend's voice is a refreshing change of pace from most contemporary female singers. She sings in the reserved, stately style of a young Maybelle Carter, conveying emotion and passion with dignity and restraint rather than trying to force it. The music, in turn, (acoustic guitars, an occasional blues harp) has a pleasing rough-around-the edges, old-timey feel.
Townsend's song selection suggests both a sense of history (the traditional Irish ballads "He Moved Through The Fair" and "Foggy Dew") and a keen eye for contemporary classics (the appropriately chosen Iris Dement title track, Nanci Griffith's "Little Love Affairs," Mike Morningstar's anthemic "Mountaineers Are Always Free"). Her writing shows a fine range, from the pensive confessional "Like A Fool Again" to the jaunty "Old Cat Blues."
State's Own Townsend To Perform Originals
The Charleston Gazette
State's own Townsend to perform originals
Thursday June 21, 2001
By Michael Shannon Friedman
FOR THE GAZETTE
"Gentle Graces"
The influences of Harris and Hartford are put to particularly fine use on Townsend's recording, "Gentle Graces." Throughout the record, her voice moves easily and forcefully between angelic, gospel-tinged high notes and twangy country inflections.
Like many Hartford recordings, "Gentle Graces" has a rustic, at times even old-time vibe. The album opens with "It's A Banjo Playin'," a delightful paeon to country life which features Townsend on "foot stomp" as well as vocals and guitar.
"Gentle Graces" includes some traditional songs ("Nothin' In Ramblin'," "Freight Train") and a gorgeous cover of Jesse Winchester's "Defying Gravity," but it centers on 10 original compositions written by Townsend along with her [husband] Dave Parker.
Townsend and Parker have a talent for revealing how personal relationships can draw strength from the rhythms of basic natural processes, as on the lovely and uplifting title track:
"We came into each other's lives/ like shadows mingling in the night/ now we're woven, tied together/ like the darkness and the light/ in this love we find sweet freedom/ moving like the river flows/ gently touching, lightly dancing/ ever growing as we grow" (from "Gentle Graces").
Though the songs on "Gentle Graces" are obviously the work of a seasoned artist, Townsend remains committed to learning more about her craft and herself.
Michael Shannon Friedman teaches English at WV State Community & Technical College and writes about music for No Depression and other publications. E-mail him at msf92165
