(Independent)

Potent and bittersweet, just like white rum.

Aussie bluegrass-meisters Round Mountain Girls are a collective of 40-something blokes who love a drink and a good ol’ fiddle ‘n’ banjo hoe-down. Hailing from NSW’s north coast, the RMG distil the “aged and spirited” bluegrass formula on their debut CD White Rum. The band boasts three lead singers and storytellers in Brad Hails, Chris Eaton and Chris Brooker; their songs tell of drowned sorrows and hardships, growing up in the country and mysteries of old. The singers’ ragged harmonies, Eaton’s rolling banjo, Brooker’s chiming mandolin and Rabbit Robinson’s ‘lightning’ fiddle anchor RMG’s full-pelt bluegrass, occasionally providing lush Celtic tones. Brad Hails blows some earth-rattling didgeridoo and haunting tin whistle on WC Fever and Red Berries, giving the songs a distinct outback feel; the Zorba-tinged Greek Tragedy lopes and swirls and Drowsy Maggie is a terrific reworking of an old murder ballad. Eaton’s Why It Hurts, a gentle acoustic ballad dedicated to the former’s mother, concludes and steals the album – potent and bittersweet, just like white rum.

DENIS SEMCHENKO

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