Alison Ferrier: What She Knows

I first saw Alison Ferrier doing sound for Jeff Lang, years ago at Port Fairy. Hearing her playing her own music later was extremely welcome. Her voice is beautiful – strong, clear and with a superb range. This also well matched by her musicianship.
Equally impressive are the musicians who played on the album: Jeff Lang (Ferrier’s husband) on guitars (electric, slide and 12-string); Ben Franz (The Waifs) on electric bass and pedal steel; Jason Bunn on viola; and Danny McKenna (Mia Dyson, Jeff Lang) and Ash Davies (Lisa Miller, Matt Walker) on drums.
This new CD has a collection of wonderfully lyrical pieces. I’m deliberately avoiding tags like country, blues or folk. You could probably point to these influences in the pieces, but neither the pieces, nor the CD fit into these categories. She has drawn on all of these and produced a distinctive sound of her own.
Five stars, and as Mollie used to say, “do yourself a favour.” The CD is available digitally or on an actual CD. I’d pick ‘Do You Remember the Day’ as a standout. Alison will launch the album on Sunday 25 February at The Workers Club in Fitzroy, with special guests Harry Jakamarra and Alysia Manceau.
5 stars
Independent
Reviewed by John “Dr John” Lamp