Spirits
Banjo Dan is Dan Lindner of Vermont. In his 50 plus years he has recorded 17 studio albums and worked on a number of other projects, including six solo releases of which this is his seventh and last effort. Lindner has decided to close his career with one more collection of his mostly original compositions and adaptations.
On this project Dan plays banjo, autoharp, tiple, 12-string guitar, ukulele, and balalaika. He is joined by brother Eric “Willy” Lindner on mandolin, octave mandolin, mandola, and guitar. Other supporters include Carrie Cook on bass and harp, Jim Pitman on steel and resonator guitar, David Gusakov plays fiddle, violins and viola, Jon Glik adds fiddle, Bob Amos adds guitar. Michael Close plays cello, and Wade Evans adds sitar. And he is helped on backing vocals by Jaye Lindner, Peter Riley, Nate Gusakov, Sarah Amos, Shannon Lindner, Nancy Mosher, and Sam Blagden.
The themes of these songs cover an interesting variety of sources including the Bible, Tchaikovsky, Buddha, Hawaii, witches, bees, and wooly worms. “Pandora” is the Bible story of the downfall of mankind, “Tell The Bees,” about a nineteenth century tradition of telling bees of family events, “Swan Lake” is taken from the Tchaikovsky opera, “Siddhartha” is taken from the Herman Hesse book, “Pungo” is the tale of a local witch, “Hawaiian Medley” include the legends of Pele, and “Wooly Bear” tells of using caterpillars to predict the weather.
There is also “Resignation” where Sara Carter leaves A.P., and “Rebecca’s Lament,” the story of a local Vermont woman. Linder and his group have produced a very nice collections of tunes and they stay pretty close to traditional stylings. Alas, this may be the last we hear from this talented gentleman.
