Twilight Hotel
"Highway Prayer"
by Johanna J. Bodde
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TWILIGHT HOTEL
"Highway Prayer" (CoraZong Records) The folded-out digipack shows us the picture of
Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury, standing up to the elbows in the middle of a wide
field full of coleseed. Only a couple of electrical towers in sight, as they
call Winnipeg home, this must be the prairie region of Manitoba... They are
blond and young (24 and 29), they're a couple, they got engaged on Valentine's
Day 2008. Yet they look more like each other than my brother and I do! They
first met in 2002 at the Trout River Music Festival in Ontario. Both were there
supporting other artists, and although they chatted, it wasn't until a
post-festival jam session around a campfire under the stars, that they began
really getting to know each other. "It was definitely a romantic meeting",
Brandy remembers. They played cover songs for each other, and soon some of their
own songs, and not before long a new romantic and musical partnership of the
classically trained folksinger and the rock&roller was born.
By then Brandy had already released a solo-album,
"Live At 280" and Dave would soon follow with "No Vacancy" (2003). Together they
made "Brandy Zdan & Dave Quanbury" in 2004, one of the featured songs was
titled "Twilight Hotel", so it isn't such a wild guess that their group name
originated there. "Bethune" was released in 2006 and now the prolific couple
made "Highway Prayer" and says: "We feel like this is actually who we are".
The CD was recorded in Nashville with Canadian
blues artist and producer Colin Linden at the helm. Dave claims, they knew they
wanted to capture a certain magic. "We wanted something that was based around
what Brandy and I do. We had worked really hard on setting up specific
arrangements for songs, and we road tested them for a very long time, so we felt
like we were in the middle and Colin put instruments around us to emphasize what
we were doing." "Highway Prayer" features a number of guest musicians including
the late Richard Bell (Janis Joplin, The Band), Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits) plays
drums on one song, veteran Bryan Owings (Shelby Lynne, Buddy Miller, Delbert
McClinton) on two others and bassist Dave Roe has played with Johnny
Cash.
And now the music... Opener "Viva La Vinyl" brings
a rockabilly & fifties feel with an upright bass and two electric guitars.
Dave sings the leadvocal and Brandy joins in. They are both avid vinyl lovers
themselves! Some tracks feature the crackling vinyl sound starting in or we hear
some talking for a natural studio feeling. The leadvocals on the various, very
long (four and five minutes plus) tracks are equally devided among the duo. "No
Place For A Woman" is a song about miners, bluesy, Richard Bell playing the
organ and we can enjoy Brandy's trained voice to the fullest. Sugarsweet country
duet "Impatient Love" was undoubtedly inspired by the famous couples from
Nashville's golden years and the duo accompanies themselves on acoustic guitars
here. Titletrack "Highway Prayer" is most definitely the highlight of the album,
Brandy sounds here like Carla Torgerson (The Walkabouts) at her best, it's
atmospheric and a little spacey, the interplay between Richard's organ and
Dave's electric guitar is top-notch musicianship! "The pedal steel drips from
the car stereo / The bass fills out the spaces in my tired soul / Jesus are you
coming, don't you think it's time". There we are at the subject of the song,
I-35 running straight through the heartland from Duluth, Minnesota to Laredo,
Texas is the 'road to salvation' according to some Christians: "Billboard
preachers talking roadside redemption". The song "Slumber Queen" sounds like
it's born somewhere on the Californian coast, close to the Mexican border, great
'surf' guitar! Brandy recites and speak-sings the verses on
countryblues-inspired "Iowalta Morningside", a microphone-effect is used, the
result is a one-of-a-kind song, ending in Brandy's vocal show-off!
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 Brandy plays accordion too! "The Ballad Of Salvador
And Isabelle" is my other favorite on this CD. There are never too many songs
about the hardworking Mexican immigrants. Dave sings leadvocals here and goes
from the general opinion "what he stole was an American job" to the conclusion
about "the jobs that no real American wants for their own". It's not as good
as the early Robert Earl Keen ("Mariano"!) but it comes close and the tragic
story ends with a ray of hope: at least the baby was born in America! More
accordion, Brandy singing here, on "Shadow Of A Man", this could be described as
gypsy folk. A Calexico-sound enters on "The Critic" and that guitar riff at the
beginning, coming back several times, is stunning... Mostly because it sounds
exactly like one of Terry Lee Hale's favorite riffs!! This must be a freak
coincidence, as I can't imagine they ever heard Terry Lee play. "If It Won't
Kill You" has a very interesting arrangement too, piano, gorgeous dobro (the
master Colin Linden himself!) in some kind of catchy bluesy swing, with a
forties touch. As the jilted lover in "Sometimes I Get A Little Lonely" Brandy
explores the sultry, jazzy side of the blues. The cool drumming here is done by
Bryan Owings, the piano solo (Richard Bell of course) is definitely worth
mentioning and it proves again what a killer voice Brandy has! Heartbreaking
confessional "Sand In Your Eyes" is the perfect duet, where the couple is only
accompanied by various guitars. An untitled bonus-track (it shows a little
picture of the flame from the CD-cover) turns out to be an instrumental by
Richard Bell on piano and mellotron with Colin Linden on dobro. This might be a
spontaneous improvisation, done by two very talented musicians. During his
concert at the Take Root Festival 2006 Colin was talking about his best friend
being in the hospital, that must have been Richard!
"In a sense it's country. Some of it is blues but
most of all it's our own thing, which I'm really proud of," says Brandy about
their sound. Add folk and a bit of alternative rock to the organic, earthy mix
and we're getting there. Colin Linden's input, as a versatile producer and
musician, can't be underestimated. Brandy is by far the most talented singer of
the two, but this combination works very well. The lyrics of the first four
songs are already posted on the website, the lenghty press section and of course
the journal are well worth reading, this is after all the generation that grew
up around computers! And the generation that will keep us supplied with great
roots music for years to come...
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Written by Johanna J. Bodde, June 2008
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