Judith Gennett wrote this review.
Jed Marum of Dallas, Texas, really does look like a Texas boy on the cover of The Soul Of A Wanderer. He’s not wearing cowboy clothes, but he IS wearing the shorts appropriate for living in a hotspot of global warming! Marum is originally from New England, but in the words of Lyle Lovett, “Texas wants you anyway.”
Like many of the artists we review, Marum has released a potpourri of folk album containing what just have to be many of his favorite songs. Described as “a collection of American, Irish, and Scottish stories,” most are covers, some are Celtic, most are American. Others he has written himself. You can hear the folk in the Celtic and the Celtic in the folk, resulting in a consistent style.
One of the nicest of the songs is a cover of Bill Staines’s “My Sweet Wyoming Home,” sung in a voice different from, but as mellow as, Staines. Marum has also borrowed from Bob Wills and Andy M. Stewart. One of the nicest of the originals is “Desolation Island,” though sometimes it is a little hard to understand Marum’s “Newfoundland accent!” This is an authentic-sounding nautical tale of the encounter of a convict ship with a hostile Dutch vessel in the Antarctic. Another “traditional” song is “Drill Ye Tarriers”; like many of us, Marum has been singing this since he was a child. “The Lakes Of Ponchartrain” is sung neatly, with cello, whistle, and guitar backing reminiscent of a harp. “Garden Where the Praties Grow,” handed down through the family from Galway, is sung in perky a capella. The title track, “Soul Of A Wanderer,” is a love song, abstract but well-written.
The Soul Of A Wanderer is crisply produced by Canadian Paul Mills, with acoustic accompaniment. Marum sings well, and the CD will prove a pleasant, pretty album for devotees of heritage, quiet music, and that special dash of Texas Celtic! Celtophiles will note Brian McNeill playing fiddle on two tracks.
(Boston Road, 2002)
