Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail (from the album Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail Play All My Friends

Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail (from the album Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail Play All My Friends

Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail (from the album Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail Play All My Friends available on Yep Roc Records) (by Bryant Liggett)
It’s been done, and it hasn’t been done. Aoife O’Donovan’s latest finds the Grammy winner revisiting her record Play All My Friends (March 2024), reinterpreting the songs in a more stripped-down and Folk Roots Bluegrass arrangements with her friends (and a former bandmate) from the band Hawktail. It’s a great re-working of fresh songs made even fresher, another nod to O’Donovan’s tribute to the 19th Amendment (the right to vote – editor).
Brittany Haas’s fiddle is flat out lovely, a meandering instrument that is a perfect bed for O’Donovan’s soft vocals on the opener in “War Measure”, Those soft vocals continue on the gentle “Daughters” where she sings of women ‘strong and indestructible’. “Crisis” has a rallying vibe, “All My Friends” has a slight Gospel textures, and “America, Come” is a patriotic nod that has an air of change and progress; the whole song has a clear message of hope.
Despite its brevity, it’s a solid listen and a great reworking as Aoife O’Donovan & Hawktail Play All My Friends. Write a record, record it, then rework it with a different band; same message, new and different package but what a message and a nod to an important time in history.
Listen and buy the music of Aoife O’Donovan and Hawktail from AMAZON
 
For more information head on over to the Aoife O’Donovan and Hawktail website