April Verch: Steal the Blue

Steal the Blue


April Verch is a musician from the Ottowa Valley in Ontario, Canada. She plays he fiddle, she step dances, and as this release puts in the spotlight, she sings. The strong fiddle playing that marked her earlier releases is here again. Canada and Ontario in particular draw musical influences from the interaction of cultures from Irish to Swedish to German to Scots to English to French to Cape Breton in the meting pots which were Ontario’s lumber camps -- remote camps where a mainstay of entertainment was fiddle playing and swapping tunes, tunes that people could dance to. All that flows into Verch’s playing and singing and to the rhythm and style she adds with her step dancing, as those who have seen Verch live will agree. Her set list on this recording is a well thought through selection of twelve songs. They include ideas chosen from some of the best writers of bluegrass, including Larry Cordle, Steve Gulley, and Tim Stafford, a piece from rising Nashville tune smith Sarah Siskind, and a song from Mark Simos, whose songs have been recorded by Alison Krauss and Aoife Clancy to name just two, There’s a song from faith based writer Ron Block, who is the guitarist with Alison Krauss + Union Station, and one from upcoming Americana star Hayes Carll, along with an April Verch original. Verch’s song,Independence, stands up well beside the works of these top level writers, an so does Verch’s work as a singer and fiddle player. She brings a bit of herself and her own understanding of the song along, adding to the writer’s intent rather than detracting from it. If you enjoy Alison Krauss, Claire Lynch, or Nanci Griffith, give Verch a listen.



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