TEDDY HORSE

TEDDY HORSE     “A Guide To Wild Hedges”

By Dr. Abner Mality

It wasn’t all that long ago that Mr. HORSE sang to us about “Sea Taverns”. Now he heads into the wild countryside for a look at wild hedges. I know for a fact that TEDDY is ensconced in the hills and hollers of Arkansas, but all of his haunted folk music reeks to me of Olde England in the days when Cromwell’s Roundheads patrolled the fields and woods.

The music is not blindingly different from the weary ghost folk of “Sea Taverns” but the production is noticeably richer and fuller. That seems a strange thing to notice when the music consists chiefly of hushed acoustic guitar and TEDDY’s spooky deep tones, but it struck me right away. The husky, dreary baritone voice has always been what carries the day for TEDDY HORSE and here that voice just sounds deeper and more nuanced then before. The guitar plucks are sharper as well. Beyond those two sounds, there is very little else to this slow, somber music.

There is not a great deal of variation between tunes and the pace rarely moves faster than a glacier, but the feeling of mystery and rural antiquity overcomes everything. This is not music of the city or any sort of civilized gathering, but rather of fields, copses and rough hewn villages. It is strange indeed in this mad urban digitized world. Song titles are very peculiar and add their own enigmas….what exactly are the “Weasel Races”?  What is a “Wort Cunner” (which sounds vaguely obscene)? And what is a “Cabbager’s Frost”? Surreal questions with perhaps no answer.

This is not my typical fare, yet as a bulwark of Olde Ways and Times, TEDDY HORSE stands strong.

TEDDY HORSE