From NJ.com

Mountain music from Manhattan
Monday, July 31, 2006
BY JAY LUSTIG
Star-Ledger Staff
It's not exactly surprising that Ollabelle, a band that reveres
traditional country, gospel and blues music, came out of New York's
Lower East Side. There has been a vibrant roots scene in Manhattan
for years.

But no one expects a New York roots band to sound like Ollabelle.


There isn't a trace of city living in Ollabelle's music. "Riverside
Battle Songs," the group's second album, is dominated by gorgeously
atmospheric songs, emphasizing the quintet's warm harmonies and
precise instrumental arrangements. A few songs rock, but most
proceed at a calm, unhurried pace.

Amy Helm, who sings and plays mandola (a mandolin-like instrument),
is the daughter of The Band's Levon Helm, and comparisons with that
group are inevitable. Like The Band, Ollabelle is a resolutely
unflashy group that functions as a collective, with no clear
frontperson. Everyone contributes to the songwriting, and brings a
different flavor to the mix when they handle lead vocals. Helm, for
instance, sings with bluesy grit, while guitarist Fiona McBain's
vocals are more delicate and ethereal, and keyboardist Glenn Patscha
is a laid-back soul singer.

Joining the quintet throughout the album is co-producer Larry
Campbell (a longtime member of Bob Dylan's backing band) on various
string instruments. T-Bone Burnett, the executive producer of the
band's first album (a self-titled effort), is back, as a co-mixer.

Whereas traditional material dominated the first album, band members
wrote nine of these 13 tracks. Exceptions include a sad,
dreamlike "Down By the Riverside" (titled "Riverside," for some
reason) and country-rocker "High on a Mountain," written by the
group's namesake, the late folk-bluegrass musician Ola Belle Reed.

In their self-written songs, group members tend to bypass the
mundane details of everyday life and aim for the universal. Personal
turmoil is sketched with broad strokes ("Lord above, can't you hear
me callin'/My world around me seems to keep fallin' down").
Philosophical wisdom is offered ("Life's a string of painful things
to be overcome/We mark the miles by our trials and suffer every
one").

On virtually every track, the sheer beauty of the vocals makes the
biggest initial impression. It takes repeated listenings to
appreciate the depth of the songwriting and the subtle instrumental
touches that make each song a gem.

Ollabelle performs at Banjo Jim's, Ninth Street and Avenue C, New
York, at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow through Thursday. Tickets are $10. Call
(212) 777-0869 or visit www.banjojims.com.

-- Jay Lustig