eMusic Review 0
At first glance, this three-disc, 80-track collection seems dauntingly sprawling and somewhat unfocused, covering seven decades of recordings that range from in-the-field folklore projects to radio-studio one-offs to major-label releases. Compiler and eMusic contributor Mike McGonigal admits as much up-front: In his liner notes, he explains that his initial concept of chronologically succeeding similar landmark collections curated by the likes of John Fahey and Chris Strachwitz "basically dissolved in front of me" when he found himself feeling limited by such imposed parameters. Instead, he threw the door wide open; whatever the resulting smorgasbord may lack in thematic cohesion is overridden by the sheer joy of discovery.
Part of the discovery is realizing that the passion which pervades Fire in My Bones transcends considerations of genre or peculiarity. If the territory seems esoteric, what becomes apparent when digging into this material is just how broadly appealing so much of it actually is. True enough, for example, that the chorus of harmonicas on "Better Get Ready," a 1948 recording by Elder Roma Wilson & Family, is historically significant — Mike Seeger apparently called it "the single most important selection by multi-harp players in existence" — but it's also simply an irresistible three minutes… read more »
