Butte/Anaconda songwriter Sean Eamon says his style is folk and blues, and that he writes modern songs mixed to the old sound of country. It’s a different, and authentic sound; his craggy baritone voice is coupled with a dance-hall melange of instruments.
Musicians from Livingston to Missoula provide accordion, steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, cello, fiddles, ocarina (!), horns, and percussion (sans a drumset), making for an infectious brew. Snappy melodies abound, although not all the lyrics are giddy. This makes for good contrast in songwriting.
Eamon was born in Butte – perhaps that’s why there are plenty of drinkin’ references in his songs. The uptempo “Fairy Tales and Broken Cigarettes” bounces along with a peppy beat; “When I Drink” has a bluesy feel.
“The Hand of God” is a sweet waltz, a hymn with a lovely recurring accordion riff. “Ponderosa Pine” is a pretty country tune with a bounding stride, Eamon pounding it out on the rhythm guitar.
Accordions are nearly always associated with polka music, but that’s not true in this case. The band plays with a lush sound in many styles. However, “Farmer John” throws a wrench into the mainly danceable atmosphere: it’s a strange and riveting tale about murder that’s especially suited to Eamon’s emotional delivery. He calls it “a piece of creative writing about the nature of sin,” and it sticks with you.
“My Honey,” comes next, as if to banish the foul ambience of the last tune. This romantic number finds Eamon gushing over his sweetie with a good two-stepper. Combine dance music with deeper material, as Eamon does here, and you’ve got something.
Catch Eamon and his band The Walkaways, The Murray Bar in Livingston.
Visit seaneamon.com.
– Mariss McTucker