VAN WALKER & THE FERRITERS – GREETINGS FROM NEWTOWN GEELONG (INDEPENDENT)
By Chris Lambie
That lyrical rascal Van Walker is at it again. Hot on the heels of standout solo release Ghosting and a Swedish Magazines ‘Best of…’, he channels his inner Celt with a stand-up bunch of fellow minstrels. The Ferriters are named after Irish folk hero Pearce Ferriter. With fiddler Greg Field, drummer Michael Barclay (Coloured Girls/Weddings Parties Anything), Dan Musil on dobro, Seamus Hoare (bass and harmonica), Maree Dertien (accordion) plus eminent guests galore, GFNG makes for a fine craic.
Like any good session at your local, there’s laughter, righteous outrage, doleful regret, a wink, a tear and a knowing grin shared as the selection rolls out. Steve Gibson penned ‘Drinking Too Much’ joins the batch of Walker originals, including ‘Heart of the Minstrel’ (co-written with Thomas Moore). For Bob Dylan’s ‘Paths of Victory’, the Bellarine bard adds a few words of his own.
From a brief spoken word intro, we’re jolted into a stomping reverie with ‘King of the Irish Rebels’. Many a song title speaks for itself, broaching subjects the songwriter is known to relate to. ‘Hungover Again’ is not drawn merely from the imagination. The poignant ‘Brother’ suggests evolving ups and downs of the relationships between collaborative siblings. Even if it were bereft of lyrics, the dark atmospheric blues of ‘Devil’s Hole Hotel’ gets under the skin. A welcoming pub where shadows sway just outside the door. The setting is Gippsland but the ghosts of Erin float over the waters. The players could be running on Fosters or Guinness, the orange and the green or the green and gold. From reeling to rocking, the tracks stroll a path from The Pogues to The Dubliners. Walker’s charming, crusty vocals seal the deal. Tis a beautiful thing.