Self-released

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Yorkshire-born folk singer, songwriter and masterful finger-style guitarist Jason McNiff continues to make very special albums that gleam and resonate in their own unique way. This latest release is a nod to some of the artists that have played an influential role in his own career and music. Every entrée sounds as if it’s been inhabiting the ether forever, and while much of that is due to the fact that apart from a couple of self-penned songs, the other eleven selections are covers, Jason makes each song sound like his own. That alone is worth repeating, because while any number of storied songwriters are represented here—Bob Dylan, Tom Russell, Bert Jansch, Townes Van Zandt, Mark Knopfler, among them—Jason never seems intimidated by the fact that he’s covering their classics. He has always drawn on a deceptively wide range of styles, even when he appeared to fit comfortably into the folk troubadour niche. It’s hard to be utterly timeless and refreshingly original, but Jason McNiff manages it with ease. The record’s instrumental and vocal palimpsests, splice, and edit seamlessly and paradoxically enhance Jason’s purist intent. It creates a lovely yet unassuming sound, one that requires those on the receiving end to lean in and listen in order to fully appreciate this enticing elocution. The music he makes sounds ageless, even on first listen. A perfect companion to hazy summer days as they turn into warm summer nights.

Jason is a guitar picker supreme. He makes no secret of the fact that he perfected his craft at the feet of Bert Jansch, so it seems quite appropriate that he should open with Jansch’s Running From Home. A gently melodic song that scampers along atop a jogging rhythm, Jason adds his own distinctive touch with deceptively intricate guitar work and heartfelt vocals that capture the uncertainty of being free. Like a cloudy day on a desert highway, My Proud Mountains is gloomy but beautiful. A tasteful twist on this mournful Townes Van Zandt ballad, Jason’s plaintive vocal affirms that impression all the more. He steps up the tempo just a notch with his rendition of Tom Russell’s Tonight We Ride. A powerful Western song, rather than trying to match Russell’s gutsy vocal, he opts for a more subdued approach, retelling this graphic yarn in his own inimitable way, without in any way losing sight of the song’s power. Flush with a breathless quality and some inspiring solitary picking, he transforms Tunnel of Love, an early Dire Straits’ song, into a classic of a vintage variety. As appropriate today as when first written more than 150 years ago, Stephen Foster’s Hard Times, is rendered with an air of inevitability that little has changed over the decades. Jason’s acoustic guitar work is simple, yet highly effective for this bluesy lament.

Another of Jason’s major influences is Bob Dylan, one of the most covered of all singer-songwriters of the 20^th century. For this album he has chosen Precious Angel and One Too Many Mornings. The latter is a ramshackle folk ballad that sounds like it could fall apart at any moment, while Jason’s acoustically intimate vocal makes a bold statement in Precious Angel with a sparse folk styling that builds with impassioned intensity. Also worth a good play is Jason’s rendition of the Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Comes, more of a bluesy number with electric guitar noodling behind his nuanced vocal. We move on smoothly to I Remember You, which features Jason’s songwriting handiwork. A cheery reflection with elements of Donovan and Doc Watson’s influence floating around, this track briefly took me back to the 1960s.

This album is a broad-brush celebration of existence and art; it’s also a testimony to a career spent crafting subtleties, how a project’s details can make all the difference. The mix of older music and modern composition in ways that are really stunningly rendered and slightly out of time, results in what can best be summed up simply as a gorgeous record.

www.jasonmcniff.com

June 2022