The sunny Laurel Canyon vibe is what first drew me to Minor Gold’s Way to the Sun, then the sharp songwriting, lovely vocal harmonies, and emotional resonance of the songs pulled me in for a long stay.
I was surprised to learn that neither member of the duo of Dan Parsons and Tracy McNeil is from sunny SoCal or even the United States. Parsons hales from Australia and McNeil is Canadian. Their music is pure early ’70s folk rock and country rock, with both playing acoustic guitars and Parsons adding some electric guitar and a touch or two of Fender Rhodes electric piano. Producer Dan Horne contributes copious amounts of pedal steel (and plays a countrified bass guitar as well) and Austin Beede drums.
These days I’m pretty hard to please when it comes to Americana music, so I’m listening closely to this one to figure out what pulled me in and kept me listening. They’ve got all the right elements. I mentioned their vocal harmonies, which at times recall Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch, and at others make me think of Teddy Thompson backing Jenni Muldaur. The layered guitars, washes of pedal steel and gentle rhythms recall but don’t merely mimic those early ’70s acts like CSN, Cass Elliot, Nesmith, Ronstadt, America … But the songwriting is purely contemporary, except it doesn’t fall into clichés as so many these days do.
The title song “Way To The Sun” is a perfect opening track and single, drawing you in with tension from the tight vocal harmonies, deep rhythmic groove, and insistent acoustic strums and release from the soaring anthemic chorus. The even sunnier “Hair Hang Down” evokes “Ventura Highway” with its “doo-doo-doo” chorus. “Pretty Peggy” is a jaunty love song with Horne’s pedal steel echoing off some faraway canyon wall.
For my money, the darker tinged “Moonlight Silver Highway” is the payoff, slightly swampy and ominous, a pure duet vocal performance throughout with an insistent chorus.
And the penultimate track “Lighter Shade Of Blue” leans into Minor Gold’s folkier roots. It’s got a tune that you’ll swear you’ve heard before, just the two of them on one acoustic and one electric guitar lightly fingerpicked (with weepy pedal steel on the instrumental breaks) and sad but hopeful lyrics worthy of an Anna Tivel album.
There’s even more, but I won’t spoil it for you. You should check Way to the Sun out for yourself. It’s perfect summer laid-back music.
(Minor Gold, 2025)
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