The Donkeys, from Ivan Rosenberg and Billy Cardine, may not be the only dobro CD to open with a banjo duet, but it’s the first one I’ve found to do so.

OK… so it’s not really a dobro CD, but both Rosenberg and Cardine are known primarily for their work as resophonic guitarists, and my expectations suggested that slide work would be the focus. In truth, what the pair really dedicate this new collaboration project to is melodies, and new ways of incorporating reso guitars into interpreting them.

The pairing is both stylistically and geographically interesting, as Rosenberg is a California-based musician whose compositions have been used in a number of television and movie soundtracks, and Cardine lives in North Carolina and performs with The Biscuit Burners, an eclectic string band who describe themselves as playing “fiery mountain music.”

The music, most of which is written by the dobro duo themselves, is performed primarily with members of the resophonic family of guitars, with several tunes featuring twin dobros. Both Cardine and Rosenberg are fine banjoists as well, and they add a few tastes of the old five throughout, with Billy playing 3 finger style, and Ivan clawhammer.

Two tracks are vocal features, with Mary Lucey and Sharon Whitworth doing the honors. The Donkeys even offers a few using the dobro and banjo stating and reworking the melody together, a pairing that has always appealed very strongly to me. Dan Bletz also guests on guitar, and Darrell Muller on bass.

The interesting title of this CD comes from the fact that three of the tunes, The Creptid Donkey, The Donkeys Of Harmison Crevice and Farewell Little Donkey, pay musical homage to the beloved Equus asinus.
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"The Donkeys" is a first-time recorded collaboration between two friends who communicate via their shared mastery of resonator guitar and clawhammer banjo. Ivan Rosenberg, one of the charter members of Chris Stuart & Backcountry, and Billy Cardine, of the Biscuit Burners, have put together a nicely understated collection of ten tracks, mostly original instrumentals interspersed with a handful of vocal covers sung by Mary Lucey, David Keenan, and Shannon Whitworth.


The overall spirit of the music is atmospheric and playfully daring, with an especially fascinating experiment on Cardine's "Chatuvondoo" on which the composer plays a chaturangui, a 22-string slide instrument from the country of India. Intertwining with Rosenberg's banjo and the guitar of Jon Stickley, it makes for a fascinating foray through these players' musical landscapes. The bulk of the numbers here, though, range from fiddle tune form ("Farewell Little Donkey" and "The Donkeys Of Harmison Crevice") to the light jazz of "Far In The Wind," and the twisting tempo shifts of "The Creptid Donkey." One can only presume that donkeys don't care for light jazz.


Anyway, the vocal tracks, including a gentle rendition of "No Ash Will Burn" in 4/4 time by Lucey, give Rosenberg and Cardine a chance to lay down a nice supportive framework, while "Gone And Done It" is a loose and lively swing tune sung and written by Keenan. The overall effect of "The Donkeys" is to take the listener on a wideranging journey guided by two simpatico pickers who flourish both within and beyond the traditions in which their instruments are most commonly found.
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Rosenberg, who has had several nice dobro albums out previously, is joined here by Billy Cardine, another dobro picker: in addition to their main instruments, they both also play clawhammer banjo and some of the best of the 10 tunes on this album feature combinations of those two. While there are touches of Bluegrass here, this is basically a collection of mostly original tunes that lean to a moody, more experimental acoustic sound, with touches of jazz, old-time and even oriental motifs... A nicely produced album with some quite interesting moments.
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