Playing Time – 35:09 -- After hearing The Dunton Sisters at the Bluegrass First Class Festival in Asheville, N.C., Ralph Stanley exclaimed, “Boy, I tell you, these girls can sing, can’t they?!” Their repertoire covers a multitude of songs from bluegrass to folk, country to swing, and Gospel to blues, material drawn from such diverse sources as the Bailes Brothers, Louvin Brothers, Andrea Zonn, Larry Rice, Jimmy Work, Louisa Branscomb, Eric Bibb, Jerry Cohen, Roger Rasnare and others.
The Dunton Sisters are guitarist Jen and mandolinist Bev, along with their mother Gae on string bass. While the liner notes indicate that Gae adds a third harmony to several of the songs, individual song credits show that all of the songs on this project are sung as duets. I guess that she adds a third part here and there on live shows. Some of the songs, “Endless Highway” and “If You Only Knew” for example, could have been enhanced with a third vocal part in the mix. Jen primarily sings the lead, but their vocal arrangements of “My Baby Came Back” and “He’ll Set Your Field on Fire” have Bev on lead. The rest of the band includes Michael Savatgy (banjo) and Bryan Thurber (fiddle). Guest artists include David Keenan (guitar, 5 tracks), Tom Moran (mandolin, 4 tracks), Matt Weiner (bass, 2 tracks), Paul Elliott (fiddle, 1 track), Orville Johnson (dobro, 1 track) and John Miller (guitar, 1 track). The Northwest is proud to have such good acoustic musicians in our neck of the woods.
The Dunton family is well steeped in tradition. Granddaddy Dunton performed in a gospel quartet and brought both his love for family and music to Washington state. Jen and Bev’s father was a singer, pianist, and guitarist. Their bass-playing mother is also a pianist, violinist and church choir director. According to Jen, “They sang duets together until they got snowed under with eight children. Music in our family goes back in every vein as far as we can remember...Vaudeville, live pianist for silent movies, opera, even the current jazz scene.”
The family clearly has eclectic musical interests, and that may explain their varied repertoire. Besides their blended harmony, their song selection is a definite strength. A respect for the roots of the music sets the stage with “I Want to be Loved.” Excellent not-so-often heard songs for their stylings are Andrea Zonn’s “Oh Darling,” Louisa Branscomb’s swingy “You’ve Got Me Smiling” and Freddie Hart’s “Blue.” One never tires of Jimmy Work’s “Making Believe,” a song that has been recorded by the likes of Kitty Wells, Wanda Jackson, EmmyLou Harris, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. When someone once told the songwriter that the song might get worn out, he responded, “they are just polishing it.” That’s exactly what The Duntons do with a number like Janice and Bud Merritt’s “The Reckoning Time.” Originally recorded live by the Merritts, the Duntons now give it a beautiful gloss and shine that the song deserves. Although not familiar with songwriter Jerry Cohen, he pens some nice pieces with “Pick the Stars” and “Come Back.”
Carrying on their family tradition, “Singing in my Heart” is a very pleasant showcase for these two talented sister songbirds. Their brief flute duet interlude on the title cut/album closer shows even another dimension of their musical abilities. Eric Bibb’s love song states, “You are the song, singing in my heart, a melody in harmonies, familiar from the start.” Love of family, love of home, love of God, love of music, and love of song. These are the things that Jen and Bev Dunton sing about, and these two women have a bright musical future ahead of them. They should consider producing their next album in Nashville. Who knows where it could lead them! They have the potential to go as far as their desires and aspirations take them. (Joe Ross, staff writer for Bluegrass Now, Roseburg, Oregon)
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