Cathy Barton, Dave Para, Bob Dyer
“Rebel in the Woods”
by Andrew Limanni
It is with great joy that I call to everyone's attention the latest CD
release of that most delightful and talented duo of Missouri folk
musicians, Cathy Barton and Dave Para, who with their friend, Bob Dyer
have created yet another richly textured and flawlessly performed work
that resonates as well with a sense of history and deep folk
scholarship, while still remaining lots of fun to listen to. Kind of a
neat trick to do all of that at the same time, but Cathy and Dave have
managed to do it over and over again, whether in recordings of hammered
dulcimer music, Christmas folk tunes or Civil War material, as in their
latest Rebel In the Woods, which is part II of a set, the first having
been the 1993 Johnny Whistletrigger.
This is pretty serious Civil War stuff, and a sense of the story of what
happened in Western Missouri during that time of terrible Guerrilla war
is helpful, although not necessary due to the extremely extensive notes
on each song given in a beautiful and photo-filled 40 page book that
comes with the CD.
Some of my favorites were the rollicking Atchison's Buccaneers and The
Death General Lyon. Kelly's Irish Brigade is a genuinely funny song
about recruiting Irish for the Confederate side - something not usually
thought of in conjunction with Civil War history. The song Daniel Martin
contains lots of history and sings of almost every battle fought in
Missouri. There is an extremely chilling Anderson's Warning, taking the
viewpoint of one of the most dangerous guerrillas of the war, written by
none other than the gentle Cathy Barton! There's even a song about Jesse
James.
All in all, lots of history, lots of spirit and fun and entertainment by
some of our region's best cultural historians. The engineering on this
recording is excellent and extremely professional throughout - you will
enjoy it immensely .
FolkFire, May/June 1996
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