Margaret Vetare
Strange as The Trees: Songs of the Incredible String Band
(Independent)
Oozing out of the Lower East Side, the Holy Modal Rounders dropped acid on American folk music. Across the pond, the Incredible String Band, well versed in the deep folk strata of the British Isles, did the same, exploring a newfound, Rounders-like freedom of warped original songs rooted in tradition as the ’60s expanded. Strange as The Trees, by Beacon’s Margret Vetare, is a loving tribute to the ISB. Perfectly rendered and justifiably ethereal, it’s a bit studied and tame, not reflecting the English group’s genuine weirdness. Still, with the instrumentation both sparse and lush—listen to the ersatz title track, “God Dog,” written by ISB founder Robin Williamson but offered to Shirley Collins—and a voice duskier than the ISB’s mysterious Licorice McKechnie, Vetare’s disc, like her fellow Hudson Valley artist Lady Moon’s delicate solo interpretations of Pentangle, provides a wide-open door to the wonderland of the ISB.
This article appears in May 2025.
A hidden gem.
Covers of ISB songs are few indeed so to encounter this was nothing short of magical. So well done!