Album Review
Gary Stewart – Year And A Day EP
Gary Stewart’s Year And A Day EP consists of four well crafted songs that build from a traditional folk base and add passionate vocals to produce an excellent modern sound.
Stewart’s day job is as bass player for the Leeds based band Ellen and the Escapades, but he has also released a solo album, 2010’s Boy Cries Wolf, and is gaining a fine reputation as a folk and traditional musician.
The EP begins with the tender ‘Thorns’ which demonstrates Stewart’s warm vocals well. The start of the track sees the Scot backed by an acoustic guitar but drums and bass are then added to give great depth to the song, which has a big ending.
Eve is a slower track with impassioned vocals over delicate guitar picking. It’s perhaps the most traditional of the songs on the EP and has the best vocal performance. Strings sit in the background, bringing colour to a song of great emotion.
Green is the stand out of the four tracks for me, its mix of Celtic rhythms and bluegrass guitar giving an uptempo country feel. Stewart’s delivery is perhaps not quite as ideally suited to the faster pace but he does a good job over the big instrumental background.
The closer Blue is another slower track, this time with a dark feel and a great bass line. It features some lovely vocal harmonies and is sung with great emotion and sincerity. There are bursts of energy throughout as the chorus soars and the overall effect is pleasing.
Year And A Day is a fine demonstration of the songwriting skills that Gary Stewart possesses. The four tracks are all different and all tell stories in a simple yet entertaining manner. Folk fans will love this one – and I’m sure that many who would never describe themselves as folkies will be impressed too.