First Listen: BB Bowness “Goodtime Revival”

First Listen is a feature where we sit back in a dark room, put our headphones on and push play while regurgitating our immediate feelings & emotions to a piece of work.

As the name suggests, Goodtime Revival has the spirited nature of gathering for spiritual renewal. A fervent and vibrant energy that injects the air around it with zeal and electricity. And good music has a way of doing that to us. Bowness’s “Goodtime” does just that and then some. 

With the energetic but light vibes of John Hartford’s “Aereo-Plain” mingling with the aura of a late night festival jam, Bowness steps into the spotlight and shines just as bright as the lights all around her. As a pioneer of the banjo in the current progressive bluegrass landscape, it’s hard to believe this is her debut solo album. But perhaps it’s the grit and tenacity she has shown through her profound body of collaborative work over the years that gives her the platform to truly leave it all out there on this album. I have seen BB perform in an exhaustive number of bands and iterations throughout the years, from filming her with Mile Twelve in a “boiler room” at Freshgrass…waaaaaay back when…to Passim’s stage and festivals with any number of other heavy hitters. She is always a study pillar and a buttress to the music she is engulfed in.

We waste no time getting right to it, with the rollicking ‘La Sciatica’. The tune has got punch and movement and drive. A classic in the making. I think the true test for an instrumental tune for me is when I am listening in my studio to a record and I feel immediately compelled go to the closest, grab a mandolin and chop along, trying my best to figure out the melody by ear. That is the such the case with the first tune off this record. I find myself instantaneously immersed in the sonic wave of the tune…and ready to hold on tight for the rest of the experience.

Through the album, BB walks a perfect line of balancing her own original compositions with tributes to heroes and contemporaries. Tim O’ Brien’s ‘Train on the Island’ taking the second slot on the record, Bowness’s voice a warm and inviting presence. Bringing a smile to my face and the chorus being joined by others to fill out the sound.

Another highlight being the Caleb Klauder penned ‘Can I Go Home With You?’ and followed on by the introspective and somewhat melancholic original tune “Nelson Creek”. Not quite somber, particularly when the bass kicks in and melodies are coupled up. An almost reminder, that in life and music, we aren’t alone and those we confide and lean most on are there with us on the ride. The tune builds in a beautiful way, shining light into the somewhat blue-gray hued beginning of the tune. A journey of hope and imparting some real heavily poignant feelings with it. Music that moves you.

For the album BB was joined by a stellar band of collaborators: Ethan Setiawan (mandolin), Avery Merritt (fiddle), Myles Sloniker (bass), and Alex Rubin (guitar), with special guest Darol Anger joining BB for a mesmerizing banjo/fiddle duet.

It’s perhaps that duet that hits the hardest. A take on a classic, Huckleberry Hornpipe by Byron Berline. The banjo and fiddle floating alongside one another, simple, stripped and allowing the dance of two instruments in play and curiosity to sway about in the air.

Get this record today…go. Now!