Wondrous Traveler - Album Review in fRoots Magazine

Written by Steve Hunt / www.frootsmag.com

The Small Glories are a new collaboration between Canadian singer-songwriters Cara Luft - founding member of The Wailin' Jennys, and JD Edwards, whose JD Edwards Band mixes blues, rock and soul ingredients into a potent live stew. 
A self-professed "study in contrasts", Luft's folkie yin proves a perfect match for Edwards' rocker yang. Steeped in classic song structures, the pair deliver instantly appealing melodic Americana (the changes in Edwards' Old Garage evoke Georgia On My Mind) with tight vocal harmonies and first-rate playing - both by themselves (Luft's banjo and Edwards' harmonica proving a killer combination on Time Wanders On) and buy the small group of versatile musicians backing them.
Their arrangements tend to build from a sparse introduction (Had I Paid with banjo and handclaps, a piano on Greg McPherson's 1000 Stars, Luft's solo voice on the traditional gospel title-track). Fast Turning World (one of two songs co-written with English songwriter Bella Hardy) provides a particularly effective vehicle for the duo's empathetic acoustic guitars and cole harmonies, while Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key (from Billy Bragg & Wilco's Album of Woody Guthrie lyrics Mermaid Avenue) rocks-out in fine, thumping style. 
The Small Glories are currently touring Canada; hopefully European dates will follow soon. thesmallglories.com

Leave a comment

notes
0:00/???
  1. 1
    Your price

    No Friend of Mine

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$0.99 or more)

    Please pay at least C$0.99

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:31
  2. 2
    Your price

    Black Waterside

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$0.99 or more)

    Please pay at least C$0.99

    Out of stock
    0:00/4:26
  3. 3
    Your price

    True Story

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$0.99 or more)

    Please pay at least C$0.99

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:28
  4. 4
    Your price

    The Christian Life

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/2:42
  5. 5
    Your price

    Bring 'Em All In

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/4:40
  6. 6
    Home 3:20
    Your price

    Home

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:20
  7. 7
    Your price

    Holding On

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/4:02
  8. 8
    Your price

    Had I Paid

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:21
  9. 9
    Your price

    Wondrous Traveler

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/5:21
  10. 10
    Your price

    Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/4:41
  11. 11
    Your price

    Time Wanders On

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:08
  12. 12
    Your price

    Alberta

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/4:34
  13. 13
    Your price

    Oh My Love

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:20
  14. 14
    Your price

    Long Long Moon

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:03
  15. 15
    Your price

    Winnipeg

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/4:02
  16. 16
    Your price

    You Can't Be High

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:47
  17. 17
    Your price

    Secondhand

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/3:05
  18. 18
    Your price

    Don't Back Down

    Please choose a price: C$ CAD (C$1.00 or more)

    Please pay at least C$1.00

    Out of stock
    0:00/4:01
0:00/???