While Mike Compton and Joe Newberry have each made individual contributions to the traditional acoustic landscape, the music they make together provides a thrilling combination of old time, early country, and blues flavors. Their latest offering, Home In My Heart, their first for Engelhardt Music Group, captures this special blend with eleven tracks from varied musical sources.
The opening track, Careless Love, brings this recording to a haunting start. Newberry’s lead vocal and clawhammer banjo work, combined with Compton’s playing on the mandola, gives this tried and true piece just the right captivating edge. One can’t help but be drawn in immediately.
Sweet Shadows, written by Newberry and John Lowell, is a beautiful, sentimental piece about the passage of time, and how one can see themselves within the photographs of family members from years before.
New Five Cents is one of a few instrumentals on this project that demonstrate just how well Compton & Newberry play off of each other. Newberry provides subtle backing on the banjo that doesn’t overshadow Compton’s statement of the tune’s melody.
Benny Martin’s Silvertone Blues is a whimsical song about the mail order guitars that many musicians learned to play on. This piece allows Compton to shine both vocally and instrumentally, as its blues arrangement is right at home for him.
Cherry River Line is a haunting, sad lament about a laboring man who’s heartbroken over the departure of the one he truly loves. Newberry once again brings an exceptional performance vocally, conveying the story in a gripping, compelling manner.
The title track, Home In My Heart, written by Compton and Newberry, is a positive uplifting song about finding home not within a physical place, but within an internal space. It’s an excellent contrast to the aforementioned track, as well as The Vacant Chair, which tells the tale of a man coming to grips with the loss of his significant other.
Home In My Heart is a strong example of the wonderful collaborative spirit that Compton & Newberry have with each other. Whether it be a traditional tune or an original piece, Mike and Joe perform these eleven tracks in an enchanting and mesmerizing fashion.
