The Duhks- by John Cutliffe

With so much wrong in music today the Duhks come along and make everything good again.

The first time I saw the Duhks play was at Magnoliafest in Florida and they just blew the crowd away with their fiery tunes and songs and the amazing diversity of musical styles. A year and quite a few shows later I saw them again at the same festival, this time with a packed out music hall, a much more assured and polished set and seemingly even more love for the music they were playing. It was clear that we were now in the company of a band on the brink of success.

Somewhere along the line Sugar Hill Records recognized this and took no time in signing the band to its increasingly successful label.
The great thing about the Duhks is their audience has such a huge range. At the live shows the front rows are packs with young teens who have found new pop like idols and with it a love for music they never thought they would listen to. Farther back the audience is older and while some may gawk at Jessee's spiky hair and tattooed arm they hear the music they love done in a new and exciting way.

The idea that a gang of musicians, all still in their early twenties could take some of the oldest music in the world from many different cultures, marry it to the modern music they love and make something worthwhile from it, leaves a few people I know slightly skeptical. The Duhks do it with a style and maturity lost on many bands.

The new CD reflects that ability to make the old sound new, to make different cultures connected and make music that breathes life again.

From the opening track, Death Came a Knockin' a song suggested by Jordan 's father, the band jump from genre to genre without missing a beat. The Mists of Down Below, (another song I suspect is about death) is also the one that is getting attention on CMT with the release of their first video. In fact the opening two songs along with True Religion later on the CD might just get them the dubious accolade of making death sexy.
Despite the seemingly gloomy subject matter there is plenty of fun on this CD with tunes that raise your heart rate and inspired covers of songs from Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows to Sting's Love is the Seventh Wave.

The playing by each of them is exceptional. Jordan is flawless on the guitar but it is his pipe and whistle playing that impressed me most on this CD. Scott holds everyone together while having a great deal of fun on a vast array of percussion. Tania's fiddle dances melodically throughout and she lends some lovely vocals to The Wagoner's Lad. Leonard has taken clawhammer banjo style and easily made it suit almost every style of music they touch. His singing too is gritty yet filled with life on Everybody Knows and Du Temps Que J'Etais Jeune. Fronting it all on lead vocals Jessee sings with passion especially on songs like True Religion, though her rendition of You and I which she sings with the song's writer, Paul Brady is the current favorite in my house.

The CD is produced by Gary Paczosa and Bela Fleck and is available now.

The video for The Mists of Down Below can be seen on CMT on Wide Open County or on the CMT website HERE

If you also happen to be going to Merlefest this year, do not miss the Duhks set. I predict they set this year's festival on fire.