Black Prairie - Fortune (New CD)

Black Prairie is Jenny Conlee-Drizos (Accordian, Piano, lead and backing vocals), Chris Funk (Bauzouki, Mandolin, Dobro, Hammered Dulcimer, Autoharp, backing vocals), John Moen (Drums, Percussion, Shruti Box, lead and backing vocals, Jon Neufeld (Guitars, lead and backing vocals), Nate Query (Bass, Cello, backing vocals), and Annalisa Tornfelt (Violin, Strah Violin, NYCkelharpa, lead and backing vocals). By now, Black Prairie has clearly outgrown it's roots as a casual side project, solidifying into a primary, creative focus for it's members. Black Prairie's fourth full-length record FORTUNE is an unexpected departure - which is, strangely, exactly what everyone's come to expect from the band. This group of seasoned musicians from Portland, Oregon - each steeped in traditional American acoustic music - has become hellbent on taking one imaginative leap after another. In a way, FORTUNE is Black Prairie's most conventional record - thirteen, polished vocal tunes with (mostly) conventional pop song structures. On the other hand, there's a glaring eccentricity to FORTUNE that hits you right away: here is a band of accomplished acoustic musicians playing what are essentially rock songs, and sometimes with a pretty hard edge - it's a record, band members say, that's trying to channel not the spirit of Earl Scruggs or Jerry Douglas, but Led Zeppelin.