Redbeard

Redbeard

(Feralette)

Record Review by Amber Henson

Redbeard is the downbeat folk project of Sam Greenleaf Miller, with Jae Sherman on guitar.  I want to gather up my closest friends, drive to a camp, build up a fire and listen to Redbeard's self-titled album while looking up at the smoke-screened stars.  Sam Miller’s vocals are smooth and haunting, and, well, I don’t mean to be crass, but before I looked at the band members, I made the mistake of thinking that I was hearing a girl’s low voice.

The music moves pretty slowly most of the time, occasionally giving the listener twangy uptempo in minor tones.  There are some tracks that one could call bluegrass.  And the way Miller sings the songs, he’s just so resigned to the fates that have befallen him.  “I didn’t feel anger or loss of control,” he says in the second track, “Athena.”  “Each morning at the rise of the sun, I’m a caged wild beast who yearns to run,” is how “Loaded Gun” begins.  Everything he says to so matter-of-fact, but you can tell that behind this understanding is a world of hurt.  “You’re in my heart, if not by my side.”

With a relaxing mix of acoustic and electric guitar, and Miller’s surprising but beautiful voice, Redbeard’s album is one for simple times and deep thoughts.