Spins: the Duhks, Crooked Still

Seems like every time I turn around I find another cool CD by a young string band making some kind of merger of trad tunes and rock. Nickel Creek (a band I've covered over the years for both NPR and Acoustic Guitar)...the Mammals (whose last CD I reviewed here a few months back)...

And now comes Migrations, from the high-energy Canadian band the Duhks, with strong threads of gospel, plus a seductive CD called Shaken by a Low Sound, from Crooked Still, with nice softspoken vocals from Aoife O'Donovan and fabulous cello playing by Rushad Eggleston (also heard in Darol Anger's Republic of Strings).



It's great to hear both rock energy infused into traditional tunes, and also rock tunes played by musicians with a real feel for tradition.