FERRABY LIONHEART > Catch the Brass Ring

Updated:

June 30, 2009 10:34 am

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Upon your first glance, Ferraby Lionheart definitely fits the mold of the modern day, folk-singing troubadour. Traveling Guitar? Check. Poetic lyrics? Check. Rustic look? Check. No Car? Check. But is this another run-of-the-mill folkie? Absolutely not. The Los Angeles-via-Nashville singer/songwriter illustrates an expansive talent on Catch the Brass Ring, an impressive full length debut that charms with immediate hooks, deft orchestration, and goodhearted-though sometimes somber-tales. With “Un Ballo Della Luna,” a cheerful opener that conjures thoughts of “The Big Rock Candy Mountain,” Lionheart sets a pastoral tone. But as soon as the first chorus hits on the piano-pop of “Small Planet,” with lavish string arrangements harmonizing riveting, Rufus-flavored vocals, you get your initial glimpse of Lionheart’s aforementioned range. It’s a diversity best exemplified on songs like “Before We’re Dead,” which opens with marching New Orleans brass and then cruises into an interesting alt-country melody. Or “A Bell and Tumble,” on which vagabond train rhythms, nifty fingerpicking, and sundry production soundtrack Lionheart’s dance through the belly of whale. If only there was more space to describe such a refreshing debut.