http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story...e-good-family/
Good old country from The Good Family
THE GOOD FAMILY ALBUM
Dale Bolivar
On 2013-05-16,at 10:50 AM Rockingham, Graham (GRockingham@thespec.com)
Coal Black Hills by The Good Family
The Sadies and The Good Brothers combine on record as The Good Family
ByGraham Rockingham
When you get to the end of the new Good Family Album — and you will because it is, indeed, a very good album — you'll find the giggling voices of two small children and the patient voice of an older man, presumably their dad.
"Say goodbye to everybody," says the father's voice. "Goodbye," respond the giggling little voices. "Thank you for listening."
The track is buried at the back of a spirited bluegrass instrumental (Instantmental Breakdown) that features two generations of the best pickers in the land — brothers Dallas and Travis Good of The Sadies on guitar and mandolin, and Larry and Bruce Good, of The Good Brothers, on banjo and Dobro guitar. D'Arcy Good, niece of Larry and Bruce and cousin to Dallas and Travis, is playing fiddle.
As you may have figured by now the two generations of Goods — eight-time Juno winning Good Brothers and the critically acclaimed alt-rock band The Sadies — have joined together to produce a 10-track album, called The Good Family Album. All of the songs are fresh, most written expressly for the record.
The aforementioned bluegrass breakdown was recorded last year, but the children's voices tacked on to it were recorded almost 40 years ago. The dad's voice is Bruce Good. The giggling kids' voices belong to Travis and Dallas.
"That was about 1975, maybe," laughs Travis Good in an interview from his home near Peterborough. "I was probably six and Dallas was about two. I don't remember the exact details. I was partying a lot back then."
Margaret Good is Bruce's wife, mother to Travis and Dallas. Margaret doesn't appear on the Instantmental Breakdown but she does take the lead vocals on three other tracks on The Good Family Album — Paradise written for her by Blue Rodeo's Greg Keeler, Secrets which she cowrote with Keeler, and Same Old Song, a track she wrote in 1978 with the accompaniment of Gordon Lightfoot guitarist Terry Clements but never released on record. (It's hard not to name drop when discussing The Good Family Album).
Margaret, who lives with Bruce in the family home in Newmarket, loves the kiddie recording session like only a mother could.
"Aren't they cute?" she says on the phone from Newmarket. "Dallas was two and Travis was seven. They grew up with music everywhere, so they loved to go in front of the microphone and record."
Cute? This isn't a word that most fans would use to describe the two frontmen of The Sadies. For the past 15 years, The Sadies have been exploring the dark, psychedelic side of country music. Tall, lean and grim, maybe. Cute? Nope.
Dallas found the old recording while rummaging through boxes of reel-to-reel tapes in the basement of his parents' house. Dallas not only found the kiddie tape, he also came upon a long-lost demo of his mother singing Same Old Song (the one with Terry Clements accompanying Margaret on guitar).
It was a no-brainer putting Same Old Song on the Good Family album. The tough part was trying to keep Clements' guitar line. He was a close family friend, who died two years ago at the age of 63.
"It was the first song I ever wrote," recalls Margaret. "I had been singing back up vocals for two seasons on (the CTV TV show) Grand Old Country with Ronnie Prophet. We were over at Terry's place and I sang this song for him. He said 'let's put it down as a demo.'
"So I did but we never really finished it. So we put it away and I forgot about it. When we were looking for material, Dallas suggested pulling it out and using it. I never dreamed they'd keep Terry's part, but they did a little magic in the studio so you could keep that special lick."
The real surprise about the Good Family Album is that it took so many years to happen.
"That's what happens when you've got two bands combining into one," explains Bruce Good. "Especially when you've got two bands that are still working regularly."
The Good Family — The Good Brothers and The Sadies playing as one band with Margaret and D'Arcy Good — is only doing a limited number of southern Ontario shows, including a special night at The Casbah in Hamilton on Saturday, June 1, headlining the club's two-day Brews N Bands Beerfest, which combines live music with beer-tasting sessions from 20 Ontario craft breweries.
Advance tickets available at Casbah, Dr. Disc (905-523-1010), Naroma Pizza Bar (905-525-6699) & online at casbahlounge.ca/UPCOMING_SHOWS.html
grockingham@thespec.com
905-526-3331 | @RockatTheSpec