The press on 'Powderblue'

On: Miles of Music, May 2004

From the Netherlands, the cream of Americana has risen. It's not too surprising since some of the best tobacco comes from the Dutch and they use Virginian leaves. As Powderblue will not easily avoid the Gillian Welch/David Rawlings comparisons, we'll get that out of the way up front. Granted, they are a duo with an American folk music core, but songwriter/vocalist Marjolein van der Klauw leans less toward the stark, dry and sorrowful, and - along with multi-instrumentalist Jac Bico - more toward cosmopolitan class. Her delivery is both sultry and divine, with a voice that has Gillian undertones, Emmylou overtones and the lilting, playful innocence of Laura Cantrell. Look Me In The Eye mixes Harvest-era acoustic music with van der Klauw's seductive tones. The foot-tapped tempo of the acoustic duet Rosie is simple mountain blues with seamlessly blended harmonies. Bico's subtle and masterful use of the banjo, pedal steel and dobro infuse these songs with life and play well against his own bass and drum rhythms on the greater arrangements, like the perky opening track Upstairs, Downstairs. A truly memorable record, with all songs written by van der Klauw, except the Welch/Rawlings tribute to the songs of Johnny Cash, Dry Town, which serves as an appropriate album closer.

Miles of Music

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