Hunter, Paley and Stewart are all widely-acknowledged masters of their instruments but there isn’t a trace of the dry, sterile, academic virtuosity that afflicts the recordings of too many for whom it all comes very easily – rather a real sense that these chaps are using their ears as much as their fingers.
Paley has already been called “just about the best folk fiddler of his generation” in this esteemed organ, and he justifies that praise in abundance here. As the subtle alchemy of his playing transmutes the Appalachian One Year When Bacon Was Scarce into a Swedish polska you’ll be entranced until the very last note. When he then shifts into high gear for the following Hop Rabbit Hop, you’ll be dancing uncontrollably round the kitchen and grinning from ear to ear.