: Press/Reviews

DIY Top 12 Picks: June 2008

Hungrytown, the handle for husband-wife duo Ken Anderson and Rebecca Hall, purvey a down-home sound with flair. Cast with fiddles, mandolins, banjos, bluegrass and balladry, their self-titled debut dwells in rustic environs.

In fact, Hungrytown’s music offers such an aura of Americana—in titles and tunes—it could be easily mistaken for traditional transcripts. “Rose or the Briar,” “November Song,” the title track and a willowy cover of Gene Clark’s “With Tomorrow” boast a delicacy that’s engaging. Hall channels the graceful, reassuring presence of Judy Collins and Sandy Denny, while Anderson’s lithe arrangements provide spare but tasteful support. It’s an unassuming offering that could very well put this Hungrytown on the map.

On this self-titled debut release, the band's lauded songwriting strength is evident. The nine original tunes rest comfortably alongside two traditional folk songs and a cover of Gene Clark's "With Tomorrow." Folky balladry, upbeat country, bluegrass and even a bit of rock 'n' roll are all featured on the album. This ecleticism serves the band well and gives the production an engaging dynamic. Hall's vocals are wonderful, pitch-perfect and rich in emotion, perfectly paired with Anderson's harmonies. The vocal arrangements range from simple to lush. Hungrytown recalls a number of performances past and present--shades of Judee Sill, Emmylou Harris, Neko Case and The Byrds. Hungrytown is an accomplished and enjoyable folk record. It is both haunting and pleasant, delicate yet arresting. Hall and Anderson have cultivated a wonderful musical rapport that will endear them to many as they continue to tour and record.

Hungrytown is the Vermont-based duo of singer/guitarist Rebecca Hall and singer/multi-instrumentalist Ken Anderson, who on this debut CD present a country-flavored close-harmony sound that mixes in occasional touches of bright, mellow pop. Hall, who handles the lead vocals, has a warm and expressive alto voice that seems to come from somewhere between 1920s North Carolina and 1960s London. The duo's mostly original material blends smart modern lyrics with a traditional Americana feel, as in "Solid Ground," a close-harmony love song in waltz time, and the upbeat bluegrass gospel of "On the Other Side." Hall and Anderson are also adept at borrowing and updating themes from old ballads, as in "One Morning in May," a timeless lament for soldiers gone off to war.

Hungrytown is American folk music at its zenith . . . retro yet shiny and new, like a freshly minted copper penny. If you’ve been craving folk music of substance, head off to Hungrytown.

Hungrytown is easily the best album by Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson. First, it must be said that these two have found a way to be so retro that they make normal retro seem as recent as tomorrow. Ken Anderson's look, in publicity photos, is such that he could step onto an early 1960s television set and instantly fit in. Maybe he would be a comedy writer who doubles as on-air talent. Second, this is the duo's best production by far.

Hungrytown is strong from start to finish, a thing that cannot be truthfully said of many contemporary full-length albums. Third, Hall and Anderson are building on the great strength of their earlier work. Rebecca Hall has a creamy voice that would be perfectly at home in a 1960s soft-rock group, yet she applies a steady mellow tunefulness to a good variety of traditional songs and old-time-oriented originals which often feature moments of darkness and mystery. This duo's edge is buttered on both sides.

Hungrytown is an album that would be welcome on the stereo here anytime.

Hungrytown has a charmingly low-keyed sound. You may think you've heard it before, but if your experience is like mine, you'll have a hard time placing it precisely, which probably means Anderson and Hall are more distinctive than you might have thought on first hearing. If Hungrytown is readily identifiable as a folk outfit, it is not one that sounds like any you've encountered recently. Their writing is richly infused with traditional references and sensibilities. Though it isn't, "Weep Not for Me" could be an antique heart song A.P. Carter picked up on one of his innumerable song-collecting rambles, and it's not the only one. The writing is uniformly strong but always understated, the musicianship first-rate but never ostentatious.

Nothing flashy here as their arrangements illuminate the songs rather than hot shot. The result is a solidly wrought set reflecting the New England setting where the CD was recorded. Utterly charming and endearing work.

On Hungrytown, Hall’s knack for penning tracks that sound like they withstood the test of time and belong in public domain music records, really shines through. Everything about this hushed music screams, 'Listen!,' even if Hungrytown’s voices never go beyond a whisper.

Hungrytown is the husband and wife duo of singers and multi-instrumentalists Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson. Like the fantastic folk updaters of the late 1960s/early 1970s Pentangle and Fairport Convention, they create new but ancient-sounding deceptively simple masterpieces that include carefully chosen modern elements. Hall’s voice, as clear and beautifully suited to this plainspoken music as Joan Baez and Judy Collins were in the 1960s (and all decades since) or Karen Carpenter in the 1970s, is also a remarkable blend.

Hungrytown has a voice, a look and a songwriting sensibility that would fit seamlessly into A Prairie Home Companion, and that recalls old-Nashville sensibilities--those not-necessarily-spiritual spirituals that are at once comforting, cozy, and haunting.

Hungrytown is the husband-and-wife duo of Ken Anderson and Rebecca Hall, who tour the country in a converted bus that also serves as a mobile recording studio. So it's no wonder that a rural Everywhere is the setting for many of the songs on this album. These songs speak of Home and mean so many places....Rebecca and Ken's songs are well-composed and feel as if they could belong to an earlier generation. Thus, Hungrytown is a beautifully simple album; sparse production allows the instruments and clear, sweet voices to speak for themselves.

Honest-to-goodness, down-home folk songs with an authentic old-time flair. Cast with fiddles, mandolins, banjos, bluegrass, and balladry, [Hungrytown's] self-titled debut boasts a rustic back porch feel that evokes the sounds of traditional Americana....the couple sows organic authenticity at every opportunity.

!!! MAZZMUSIKA'S HATS OFF: ALL HITS, NO MISSES !!!

Folksinger Rebecca Hall and pop musician Ken Anderson have been married since 1994; they dress like their great-grandparents and walk through life as Hungrytown.

Ken produced the album and plays an impressive number of instruments; his wife does what she did so successfully on her two solo albums (Rebecca Hall Sings!, Sunday Afternoon): singing in an authentic old-time country style. And writing fantastic old-fashioned songs!

One of the best bluegrass bands of the moment, the Virginia Ramblers, play on this CD, and also Michael Merenda (banjo) and Ruth Ungar Merenda (fiddle) from folk group the Mammals.

The record is a tribute to the American art of writing folk songs and there’s not one weak moment. Rebecca’s songs are as good as traditionals and they seem to come out of the past, too. Nevertheless this is not for purists only. It’s a combination of the power of, let’s say, the Carter family and the skill of someone like Ian Tyson (remember Ian & Sylvia…); it all sounds very fresh, particularly Anderson's fine arrangements.

Pop and rock fans will detect some Neil Young and the Byrds here and there. This is a very wonderful record for lovers of acoustic folk and country songs with a classic athmosphere--you might call it timeless.

We've been told that this is a terrific review.

One of this year's top folk albums; simplicity and real heart and soul. Evokes the same spirit that Dave and Tracy had...love it.

So rare that there is a blend of the old and new and sounding so traditional. Would that Grammy went for people that don't have all that hype. My socks were blown off and now I truly will be walking sockless and barefoot.

Rebecca and Ken's harmonies are just gorgeous, the instrumentation perfectly complimentary and I love the old timey feel of the whole thing.

This pair makes some amazing music. Hall’s voice lilts from hallowed to twangy and back again. Anderson plays harmonica while plucking an electric bass that sounds more like a stand-up, and frequently offers backup harmonies that make the songs even more verdant. They’re impressively well-read in folk literature, to the point that Hall’s murder ballads and sing-alongs sound like they could have been handed down by a generation or three.

This accomplished duo's style is their own, with beautiful harmonies and wonderful arrangements expertly played. Rebecca's outstanding vocals are strongly supported by Ken's fine musicianship.

Rebecca Hall, who left Boston in 1990 to try her luck in Greenwich Village, felt inspired after listening to Harry Smith's "Anthology Of American Folk Music", to write songs herself. Her first album was originally a home-made demo, that she sold at gigs. She won't have dreamt back then, that she soon would count people like Roger McGuinn and Laura Cantrell among her fans! To attract the attention of a spoiled connoisseur like McGuinn with his Folk Den, an artist must have something substantial to offer and Rebecca has that something...
First off a crystal clear voice with a timbre reminiscent of Joan Baez at the time of the Bob Dylan-covers, a reference to English folk (Sandy Denny's atmosphere) is also in its place. Rebecca's songs are timeless, they could have been composed in this new century or at the beginning of the last century: two traditionals ("Rosemary Lane" with little bells and "The False Bride") mingle unperceived. The mostly melancholy themes are loneliness and lost love, as a result main characters take off into the wide world. "Going North" -with sounds of the ocean- intrigues me, it makes me think of Sonya Hunter's song with the same title, mixed with a touch of "You Can Sleep While I Drive".

The fine arrangements impress and won't go unnoticed! Every track is dressed up differently, the mandola stands out already in the opener, the cello brings warmth, the bass lays down the nice little accents and is played by Rebecca's husband Ken Anderson, we also hear oboe, violin, piano, percussion and of course guitars! So, are those lovers of folkmusic sitting observantly straight up in the meantime?

FIVE STARS *****
Rebecca Hall presents one of the most enjoyable vocal performances that we have ever heard here at Roots Music Report. Her style is smooth and warm and she presents the songs she wrote with such grace and style that her emotions seem to just pour from each track. Sunday Afternoon is no run of the mill release, this album is very compelling.

Rebecca Hall is a true rarity: a new folk classicist.

Rebecca Hall claims inspirations ranging from Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music to alt-country and Nick Drake. Her second album spotlights her superb songwriting craft and does honor to her varied influences.

New York neo-folk ballad singer and writer Rebecca Hall has been winning compliments from fellow musicians Laura Cantrell and even Roger McGuinn for her updated take on mid-to-late 1960s pop/folk sounds. Sunday Afternoon, her second album, recalls in style the acoustic guitar and string arrangements heard first on Judy Collins' In My Life, then on lusher turns from Leonard Cohen, and on Brit folk-rock productions from Joe Boyd.

Rebecca's songs are straightforward without being simplistic. They have depth and maturity without pretentiousness. They have an innocent quality that is without any of the usual moralistic posing. In her songwriting and in her performance of those songs, Rebecca maintains a perfect balance of art and artlessness.

Delicately brooding and filled with muted passion, Sunday Afternoon showcases an accomplished singer-songwriter and an impeccable arranger/producer doing what comes naturally. The result is a durable testament to the power of a good song.

There's always a tinge of uncertainty when a great traditional performer begins to develop on her own work. In the case of Rebecca Hall's Sunday Afternoon, that uncertainty vanishes in the bright perceptions of the opening "Come Around," to be replaced with a new doubt. It's hard to believe these are modern songs; it seems more plausible that they are traditional classics that have somehow never been heard before. . . . Few artists ever create songs that might reasonably survive beyond their own memory. Not a track on Sunday Afternoon couldn't survive on its own."

It is the story-telling that is the main attraction, as well as the delicate accompaniments and Rebecca's sweet, contemplative, lonesome tones. Sunday Afternoon would make a welcome addition to any record collection, but especially one with the likes of Nick Drake, Alex Chilton or early Byrds records in it; a special artist who deserves a lot more attention.

With but two exceptions, all of Sunday Afternoon is penned by Hall herself, though they all sound as though they’ve been fermenting in a lost Woody Guthrie notebook, or one mislaid by Davey Graham. . . . Hall understands folk, while her singular voice is surely on loan from an Archangel.

Sweet-voiced Rebecca Hall will drive you to swoon.

How refreshing it is to find an artist who still believes in the power and beauty of a well-written song, and who puts total focus into making that song as effective as possible. Rebecca Hall is that kind of an artist.

. . . I settled back to listen. Within twenty minutes, I had visited a Greenwich Village folk club in 1964, a Virginian mountain shack porch and a Tennessee speakeasy, transported by the purity and simplicity of Rebecca Hall's glorious and haunting traditional American sound.