Stevie O’Connor’s ‘Fair Them Hills’ – Out Today!
‘Fair Them Hills‘ is a song for those coming of age. The claxon of a banjo ignites a frenzy of instrumentation all served up by Stevie with a step change from his previously released sound. It’s clear Stevie is taking you to the hills – you are wildly running with him and you’re not looking back. Based on his hometown, he fires up the banjo like that of the infamous three finger rolls which take you to a mythical creek, and to a sound of the mountains. He howls through this record like a banshee possessed with respect for tradition, but don’t think for a minute he isn’t innovating the genre. The sonic respect he has for the masters is clear but he is carving a slice of country grass not heard before. There is grit in those vocals, it’s obvious Stevie has things to say. He has range, drive and there’s a sense he is about to explode.
Stevie expressed “I wanted to roar, I wanted to take you somewhere… I wanted to take you back to the days of my youth. More importantly I had to pay homage to the banjo”
The UK has a picking machine on these shores – let’s triumph that, boy he can pick!
