Serious Sam Barrett
The Seeds Of Love
(YaDig?)

A high-spirited banjo fuels “Valentine’s Day,” the first song on Serious Sam Barrett’s latest, The Seeds Of Love. This hard-touring, folk/country singer from Yorkshire has written a dozen songs here, playing both his 12-string guitar and banjo to present his unique take on some traditional sounding little ditties.

“Every Night Has An Ending” sees Sam getting very serious with an acapella love song; it’s the first of these he manages and it showcases a rather strong vocal, to be sure. “Bonny May” and “Three Ravens” are both fueled by some slipping subtle banjo playing, maybe some of the best Barrett manages here, while “The Recruited Collier” features some equally impressive guitar plucking. This last is another in a long line of plaintive calls; a very serious song indeed.

“Blow Away The Morning Dew” is pretty much country-fed guitar picking, on this upbeat little ditty to nearly end The Seeds Of Love. “Was On An April Morning” is the song that does indeed end these twelve, presenting another moment where Barrett sings unaccompanied. As he does through this record, but definitely on this last song, he certainly has the pipes to pull off singing songs without instrumentation.

Claiming that this album was influenced by the book published by the English Folk Music and Dance Society, called “The Seeds of Love,” one can hear where Barrett took what he read and made it all his own on this wonderful dozen.