The Dirt - Bury Me Tomorrow

Review, Pat Byrne, 7th December, 2010

Photo: The Dirt image by Gary Torrance. Last Thursday Jim and I headed down to the launch of The Dirt's CD 'Bury Me Tomorrow' at Nice 'n' Sleazy, an aptly named venue for these purveyors of the darkest country music.

It was a bitterly cold and snowy night but the fans came out in their droves and lots of well kent faces from the music world in Glasgow made the effort to show up.

Before our toes had thawed the night got off to a fine start with The Ballachulish Hellhounds opening for the main act with some of their rousing Roots music.

After their set, 'The Dirt' (Graeme Dirt on vocals, guitar, banjo and harmonica. Jen Dirt on vocals, percussion, squeezebox and melodica, Jo Dirt on piano and percussion) were warmly welcomed onto the stage by a most receptive audience. Whilst their songs tend to stick with the themes of darkness and death, they cannot be accused of 'one song sounding just like another' and I particularly enjoy their variety of styles and approaches.

'Love is like a Cold War' - with its call and response arrangement showed off to great advantage the contrast between Graeme's super deep voice and Jen's warm clear notes. 'Theme from the Dirt' - is an atmospheric instrumental where the squeeze box and piano were effectively combined. Jen sang 'Where the Silver Birch Grow' - an eerie and haunting song of murder then in 'St Lucie's Day' - Graeme displayed his skills on the banjo.

'I Saw You' is a very accomplished and catchy tune, which had the crowd joining in. They went mad for 'I Would Like to Lay Upon Your Bed' - a pretty quirky number from a dog's viewpoint. (I'm sure I heard some barking and perhaps even some gnashing of teeth).

'Bury Me Tomorrow', the title track is particularly sinister and scary and seems to typify The Dirt's Gothic approach. Don't listen to it when you're home alone. :)

It was a great night, super entertainment and a brilliant atmosphere - The Dirt are a great live act and without doubt one Glasgow band you should not miss.

Photo: the crowd bury me tomorrow launch.Buy 'Bury Me Tomorrow'

You can buy 'Bury Me Tomorrow', £7, released on:
Big Rock Candy Records at
Buy CD Download £6

Some other reviews

The List: 4 Stars
"For those that like their alt.country sparse, dark and deadly, Glasgow?s The Dirt are just the tonic for those frozen nights when nothing but the bleakest music can warm the soul . . . The Dirt?s secret weapon, however, is the pitch-black wit that runs like a ghostly mare through their lyrics."
Americana-UK:
"Stripped-bare acoustic folk and country songs, served with a solid dose of gothic scare-mongering. . . Brimming with evocatively dark, poetic and occasionally overtly sexual imagery"

More about The Dirt

www.myspace.com/thedirtmusic
The Dirt - Glasgow Musicians Biographies

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