Low Lily
Album: Low Lily
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 6
Website: http://www.lowlily.com

To put it simply, Low Lily used to be known as Annalivia, whose pleasing mini-album The Same Way Down quietly impressed me back in the spring of 2013. I'd guess the reason for the name alteration is the slight change in lineup: Liz Simmons and Flynn Cohen remain, but fiddle duties (formerly the province of Emerald Rae and Mariel Vandersteel) are now performed by Lissa Schneckenburger, so the band is to all intents and purposes now a trio.

Once again, however, Corey Di Mario underpins the unit on double bass, and this time there's some selective trombone embellishment on a couple of tracks from guest musician Fred Simmons. If anything, the overall feel of Low Lily is gentler and even more relaxed than that which characterised Annalivia, although there's no lack of internal power to the band's engine, as the disc's two instrumentals prove (especially, but not exclusively, Flynn's composition Northern Spy). There's a delicate and understated virtuosity that complements both the tightness and lyricality of the playing, a quality born of instrumentalists who don't need to declaim their musicianship from a pedestal in order to command listeners' attention.

Even so, maybe the disc finale Cherokee Shuffle/Lucky medley, takes its time to build, and in the end doesn't quite raise the roof. But overall I think my favourite cut here is Lissa's original song The Girl's Not Mine, which I was convinced I'd heard before.

Liz's Adventurer charms with its lovely harmonies, but the EP's opening canter through the traditional House Carpenter is also worthy of mention in what's become a rather competitive field of late. Low Lily provide the acoustic Americana scene with another reliable act who compellingly yet unassumingly mix contemporary folk and bluegrass sensibilities with a respectful knowledge of those traditions that's leavened with a sensitive use of their keen musicianship.

David Kidman