March 8, 2006
Record review



Mike Golay
Across the Bridge
Banshee Records

Click here to listen to "Between the Rains"

They call it The Crossroads, that mythical fork in the highway of life where Satan appears to guitar players and makes His unholy pitch: fame, fortune and musical glory in exchange for their everlasting soul. Those who take Him up on this offer inevitably meet some horrible fate: Robert Johnson (poisoned moonshine), Eric Clapton (kid fell out a window), Eddie Van Halen (Gary Cherone).

Those who refuse the Devil's deal end up like Portland acoustic guitarist Mike Golay: talented, untroubled, but largely unknown.

How else do you explain how one of the best guitar players in town is gigging at tiny Youngo's coffee shop in Bramhall Square, rather than, say, Merrill Auditorium? And, for that matter, what's up with Leo Kottke playing South Portland High? Was the Griffin Club booked?

Actually, there is an earthly explanation. Golay, like Leo, plays contemporary, instrumental folk music, and this genre doesn't exactly get the kids lined up at Bull Moose before midnight. If Golay dropped the guitar, grabbed his crotch and started shouting expletives into the microphone, his fortunes would surely rise.

Luckily for those who appreciate musicianship, Golay has stuck to the road less traveled.

Golay's second and latest album, Across the Bridge, is essentially a document of those travels. As annotated in the liner notes, the album's 18 compositions were inspired by time spent in a host of locales: Hawaii, New York, Ireland, France, Philly, and someone's dim kitchen in Maine.

The theme is set from the first track, "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled," a sunny tune that rolls along at 55 m.p.h., Golay plucking away at a spritely little melody while musical mentor Al Petteway thumps his "guitdrum."

Later on, Golay busts out a baritone ukulele for a couple tracks, the vaudeville-meets-Waikiki "Pukana la Kalalea," and "Mele Ho'oluluhi," the album's lullaby of a closer. Golay's plays the traditional Irish tune "The Handsome Young Maidens," and the ballad "Peggy Gordon," also with Petteway, but most of the music here is original and performed solo.

If there's fault in this impeccably performed record, it's that Golay isn't adventurous enough. He has sound musical ideas and many interesting, if not unexpected, progressions (especially on "What Took You So Long?" -- ironically one of the last tracks – and the beautifully disjointed title song), but the approach is generally straightforward and straight-laced, verging at times perilously close to Easy Listening, which itself is a form of Hell.

The mood on Across the Bridge hovers somewhere between pleasant and contemplative, though there are notable exceptions, like the aforementioned kitchen-penned tune, "Between the Rains," with its aching, bluesy slide, and "a&p," which perfectly captures the drear atmosphere of a cheap supermarket (I'm assuming that's its inspiration; based on the liner notes, it could be Petteway's hair). "Welcome to Funkstown," while not exactly funky, contains some nasty shredding.

Anyway, these are quibbles. Across the Bridge is full of solid compositions and excellent musicianship. Golay may not have any hellhounds on his trail, but this is his sophomore release and he does travel a lot. Could be they just haven't caught up.

-- Chris Busby

Mike Golay's upcoming performances include a radio appearance Fri., March 10, on "Us Folk," on WMPG (90.9 and 104.1 FM), from 8:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m., and a gig on Sun., March 19, at Youngo's, 803 Congress St., Portland, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. More info can found at www.mikegolay.com.