For over a decade he has been part of the San Diego acoustic scene as a solo performer, with his trio Plow, and as part of the Monroe Avenue String Band. The connection made by his guitar and mandolin skills and easy vocal presence is enhanced by his ability to write songs; these fit in seamlessly with the established bluegrass and old-time country blues songs he sings that are traditional or by other artists.

His new album is Pale Moonlight Blues, and Clarke serves up 15 tasty samples of the mountain music and songs about country girls, trains, heartbreak, and the open road that have made up the Americana lexicon for over a century. “Caroline” is a foot-stomping rave up, with fiddle, banjo, and sharp harmonies all joining in the dance. Another Clarke tune, “The 4th of July” is a slower country ballad with haunting pedal steel answers to his lines about desertion and loss after a lover departs. “High on a Mountain” features (gasp) drums and electric guitar, but no worries – the arrangement clicks and the song has a deadly catchy chorus and has a mountain music soul; it’s a standout track. More traditional, country-folk approaches mark “Midnight on the Stormy Deep” and “East Virginia Blues.” The stripped-down latter track in particular sounds like the style of the old Bob Dylan and Joan Baez folk classics, though her cover of it is softer and more wistful.

A who’s who of top local acoustic musicians are on hand to help out on the disc, including Jeff Berkley, Robin Henkel, Dennis Caplinger, Cathryn Beeks, John Mailander, Lindsay White, Doug Pettibone, and others including Plow members Joe Pomianek and Doug Walker. Berkley recorded it with just the right touch of restraint, to keep a taste of old-fashioned feel in the mix.

And on Sunday, Plow rolls on to Adams Avenue for the Roots Festival. We play at 11am at Dimillies, 2pm in the song swap at Lestats, and 4pm on the 34th Street stage. Details are here: http://www.adamsaveonline.com/RootsFestival/default.htm

And tonight, if you’re in the neighborhood, Plow will be picking tunes at the Kensington Cafe at 4141 Adams Avenue starting around 7:30.

For tickets, visit the Belly Up’s web site.

The quartet’s off-the-cuff, improvisational approach to material ranging from Jelly Roll Morton’s bawdy “Buddy Bolden’s Blues”, the Tin Pan Alley classic “My Window Faces the South” (I never thought anyone could top Commander Cody’s version, but the Dingbats come close) and their hauntingly distorted interpretation of the traditional Gospel hymn “Blood of the Lamb” to a quick tempoed, festive rendition of Charlie McCoy’s heralded instrumental “Jackson Stomp” and a Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys-like take on Wynonie Harris’ ”Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well?” will have you thinking variously of Dawg music, gypsy jazz, Mardi Gras, juke joints and whatever music Robert Crumb is up to lately.

Other covers of public domain material that hit that sweet spot encompass a properly pedaling, instrumental reading of “South” (with great solo spots by all four), an ultra-mellow reshaping of “I want to Die Easy”, rendered in black string-band style a la The Mississippi Sheiks, along with a happy-go-lucky recall of that old dance-hall favorite, the foolhardily flirting “Bogalusa Strut”. If you appreciate the atmospheric music that bands like the Hot Club of Cowtown or the aforementioned Commander used to come up with, you should check these guys out.
- GvonT, Sing Out Magazine, Winter 2011