: Press/Reviews

Hungrytown is the husband and wife duo of singers and multi-instrumentalists Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson. Like the fantastic folk updaters of the late 1960s/early 1970s Pentangle and Fairport Convention, they create new but ancient-sounding deceptively simple masterpieces that include carefully chosen modern elements. Hall’s voice, as clear and beautifully suited to this plainspoken music as Joan Baez and Judy Collins were in the 1960s (and all decades since) or Karen Carpenter in the 1970s, is also a remarkable blend.

Hungrytown has a voice, a look and a songwriting sensibility that would fit seamlessly into A Prairie Home Companion, and that recalls old-Nashville sensibilities--those not-necessarily-spiritual spirituals that are at once comforting, cozy, and haunting.

Hungrytown is the husband-and-wife duo of Ken Anderson and Rebecca Hall, who tour the country in a converted bus that also serves as a mobile recording studio. So it's no wonder that a rural Everywhere is the setting for many of the songs on this album. These songs speak of Home and mean so many places....Rebecca and Ken's songs are well-composed and feel as if they could belong to an earlier generation. Thus, Hungrytown is a beautifully simple album; sparse production allows the instruments and clear, sweet voices to speak for themselves.

Honest-to-goodness, down-home folk songs with an authentic old-time flair. Cast with fiddles, mandolins, banjos, bluegrass, and balladry, [Hungrytown's] self-titled debut boasts a rustic back porch feel that evokes the sounds of traditional Americana....the couple sows organic authenticity at every opportunity.

This Vermont-based duo (Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson) may look from their photos like a pair of 60s schoolteachers out on a sabbatical to tour the coffee-houses, but they’ve produced a totally delightful, all-too-modestly eponymous debut, which is only now gaining a UK release (to coincide with a bout of European touring that sadly is now more than half over) after two years out there in the Stateside marketplace. And not before time, I say.

There’s a breezy, optimistic, straightforwardly life-affirming and gently feelgood quality to this album, one that’s strongly redolent of the approved 60s pop-folk model (think Ian & Sylvia filtered back through echoes of the Carter Family and onward into early Fairport, perhaps) but never feeling copycat or derivative even though Rebecca’s exceptional original compositions (which comprise ten out of the album’s dozen tracks) have all the authentic feel of both the aforementioned period and its relationship to English and Appalachian folk traditions. Songs like "Rose Or The Briar" and "One Morning In May" could almost be fresh discoveries from some obscure folksong treasure-trove, while the delicious "On The Other Side" is nothing short of archetypal bluegrass-gospel; the seriously beautiful "Troubles Change Direction" might have come from an early Simon & Garfunkel collection, and the lilting waltz-time "Hungrytown Road" is a charming backporch reminiscence.

Hungrytown’s version of the traditional "Sylvie" is peerless too, with a juicily ornate arrangement, and fits seamlessly into the album’s programme. Musical settings are often appealingly retro (genial 60s touches such as Hammond organ and pop-folk rhythm section sit easily alongside the rootsier banjo, guitar and fiddle), while the duo’s excellent vocals are a match for their unassuming multi-instrumental skills. The couple’s seductive harmonies are firmly in the “to die for” category, while there’s a touch of the pure, assured Judy Dyble (albeit in a slightly lower register) about Rebecca’s lead vocal on "One Morning In May" and the gorgeous "November Song." The closing track, a soft-edged but persuasive cover of Gene Clark’s "With Tomorrow," may take the 60s vibe into the 70s just a touch, but it retains the duo’s essential credibility and makes me just want to go and play the whole album through again – I just don’t want it to finish! A truly lovely record: one of quiet beauty. Every discerning home should have a copy!

Vermont's Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson have a gentle no nonsense approach to both their delicious harmony singing and their easy going playing. It's never overtly old timey nor fundamentally bluegrass, but a rich mixture of various styles and influences, with an immediately accessible and radio friendly sound.

Apparently former United Nations clerical workers, bespectacled Vancouver husband and wife Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson released their duo debut a couple of years back following his production of her two well received solo albums, but it's only now, to coincide with a bout of international touring, getting wider exposure.

Before you've even heard them, their promotional photos says 60s folk revival (although Ken actually looks like the young Bernard Levin) and it would be easy to imagine them having shared stages with Peter, Paul and Mary and hung out in Greenwich Village clubs. That they tend to play libraries and coffee houses reinforces the preconceptions.

It won't come as too much of a surprise to find that the music fits the image. What's more unexpected is that, in addition to their superb performances (she has an attractive pure voiced alto, he's an accomplished multi-instrumentalist) and the fluidity of their melodies, is that they pull of the trick of sounding both like traditional English folkies and old school Appalachians, often at the same time. More impressively so since ten of the dozen songs are written by Hall, either solo or with her husband.

Featuring harmonica and banjo, the breezy Lucille, Lucille sets the ball rolling with jogalong folk-country tune that conjures up an alternate universe version of Sweetheart of the Rodeo recorded by Gay & Terry Woods. Inspired by the trad tune of the same name, martial beat and bluegrass fuse for One Morning In May's lament for soldiers gone to war while, arranged for oboe, cello, violin and harp, Sylvie is the only fully-fledged traditional number, Hall sounding as of she'd fit right in on a bill with Shirley & Dolly Collins.

Elsewhere, On The Other Side is bouncily authentic old school bluegrass gospel, the harmonised Weep Not For Me could be a lost page from the Carters' family Bible, Rose Or The Briar's tale of a young fellow besotted by a girl with a sharp tongue has the air of some Scottish folk song export while a waltzing Hungrytown Road might have been an Alison Krauss Oh Brother outtake and Troubles Change Direction is a gorgeous campfire lullaby that may well remind you of Nina and Frederick.

They conclude with a softly yearning lilting cover of Gene Clark's lovely With Tomorrow. That it's the weakest song here should tell you much about the strength of their material and why you should seek this out at the earliest opportunity.

FOUR STARS **** "Folk-country musical duo Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson have delivered an impressive debut album that recalls the 1960s folk movement with shades of 1930s Appalachian country music.  It all adds up to a delightful listening experience. . . . don’t miss them!"

!!! MAZZMUSIKA'S HATS OFF: ALL HITS, NO MISSES !!!

Folksinger Rebecca Hall and pop musician Ken Anderson have been married since 1994; they dress like their great-grandparents and walk through life as Hungrytown.

Ken produced the album and plays an impressive number of instruments; his wife does what she did so successfully on her two solo albums (Rebecca Hall Sings!, Sunday Afternoon): singing in an authentic old-time country style. And writing fantastic old-fashioned songs!

One of the best bluegrass bands of the moment, the Virginia Ramblers, play on this CD, and also Michael Merenda (banjo) and Ruth Ungar Merenda (fiddle) from folk group the Mammals.

The record is a tribute to the American art of writing folk songs and there’s not one weak moment. Rebecca’s songs are as good as traditionals and they seem to come out of the past, too. Nevertheless this is not for purists only. It’s a combination of the power of, let’s say, the Carter family and the skill of someone like Ian Tyson (remember Ian & Sylvia…); it all sounds very fresh, particularly Anderson's fine arrangements.

Pop and rock fans will detect some Neil Young and the Byrds here and there. This is a very wonderful record for lovers of acoustic folk and country songs with a classic athmosphere--you might call it timeless.

We've been told that this is a terrific review.

Hungrytown is on and offstage couple Ken Anderson and Rebecca Hall who hail from rural Vermont. Their rustic sound at times resembles the stripped-down style of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. The obvious danger with such a minimalist approach is that songs can blur together during the course of a set. Luckily, multi-instrumentalist Anderson lends an interesting variety to proceedings and the material is memorable enough to overcome such possible pitfalls.

Hungrytown played to their strengths; their organic harmonies were way out front and their sharing of the same microphone conveyed a real sense of folksy intimacy.

The duo’s present tour is in support of their new release, Any Forgotten Thing, and much of the Green Note material was taken from it. Set highlights included the magnificently memorable “Sally Lazy” and the poignant “Falling Star.” The audience were held in rapture by the astonishing, a capella “The Sweetest Flower,” the song that closes the album.

Throughout the show the harmonies never wavered, the music ebbed and flowed and the crowd was unanimous in its appreciation. Hungrytown are an accomplished act and well worth catching live before they depart these shores.

The first thing that strikes you about Hungrytown is how damn cute they are. Seeing them on stage, you’d swear this whole “folk musician” thing was just an extended second honeymoon. The show is full of sidelong glances, little jokes, and matrimonial barbs. Before one song Rebecca reminded Ken “Now don’t forget the new intro” in the same tone one might use to remind their husband to bring the car in for an oil change or to empty the lint trap before drying the linens.
Musically Hungrytown is like few folk acts out there. Ken and Rebecca kick it way old school – like 1930’s old school. They have an incredible knack for writing songs that sound so authentic they might be referred to as forgeries. They also found something they can do well together, which sounds cheesy as hell, but seriously, isn’t that what we all want? They take the trials and tribulations of their daily lives (like those involved in buying a new house or living with your husband in a very small van), craft them into simple verses, and hurl them back in time. The soul of the songs is modern, but they sound like something that should be coming out of a gramophone.

This pair makes some amazing music. Hall’s voice lilts from hallowed to twangy and back again. Anderson plays harmonica while plucking an electric bass that sounds more like a stand-up, and frequently offers backup harmonies that make the songs even more verdant. They’re impressively well-read in folk literature, to the point that Hall’s murder ballads and sing-alongs sound like they could have been handed down by a generation or three.

This accomplished duo's style is their own, with beautiful harmonies and wonderful arrangements expertly played. Rebecca's outstanding vocals are strongly supported by Ken's fine musicianship.

Old school Carter Family bluegrass folk music duo, stepped out of a cloud from another time and place.

One of this year's top folk albums; simplicity and real heart and soul. Evokes the same spirit that Dave and Tracy had...love it.

Rebecca and Ken's harmonies are just gorgeous, the instrumentation perfectly complimentary and I love the old timey feel of the whole thing.

So rare that there is a blend of the old and new and sounding so traditional. Would that Grammy went for people that don't have all that hype. My socks were blown off and now I truly will be walking sockless and barefoot.

Rebecca Hall, who left Boston in 1990 to try her luck in Greenwich Village, felt inspired after listening to Harry Smith's "Anthology Of American Folk Music", to write songs herself. Her first album was originally a home-made demo, that she sold at gigs. She won't have dreamt back then, that she soon would count people like Roger McGuinn and Laura Cantrell among her fans! To attract the attention of a spoiled connoisseur like McGuinn with his Folk Den, an artist must have something substantial to offer and Rebecca has that something...
First off a crystal clear voice with a timbre reminiscent of Joan Baez at the time of the Bob Dylan-covers, a reference to English folk (Sandy Denny's atmosphere) is also in its place. Rebecca's songs are timeless, they could have been composed in this new century or at the beginning of the last century: two traditionals ("Rosemary Lane" with little bells and "The False Bride") mingle unperceived. The mostly melancholy themes are loneliness and lost love, as a result main characters take off into the wide world. "Going North" -with sounds of the ocean- intrigues me, it makes me think of Sonya Hunter's song with the same title, mixed with a touch of "You Can Sleep While I Drive".

The fine arrangements impress and won't go unnoticed! Every track is dressed up differently, the mandola stands out already in the opener, the cello brings warmth, the bass lays down the nice little accents and is played by Rebecca's husband Ken Anderson, we also hear oboe, violin, piano, percussion and of course guitars! So, are those lovers of folkmusic sitting observantly straight up in the meantime?

FIVE STARS ***** Rebecca Hall presents one of the most enjoyable vocal performances that we have ever heard here at Roots Music Report. Her style is smooth and warm and she presents the songs she wrote with such grace and style that her emotions seem to just pour from each track. Sunday Afternoon is no run of the mill release, this album is very compelling.

Rebecca Hall is a true rarity: a new folk classicist.

Rebecca Hall claims inspirations ranging from Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music to alt-country and Nick Drake. Her second album spotlights her superb songwriting craft and does honor to her varied influences.

New York neo-folk ballad singer and writer Rebecca Hall has been winning compliments from fellow musicians Laura Cantrell and even Roger McGuinn for her updated take on mid-to-late 1960s pop/folk sounds. Sunday Afternoon, her second album, recalls in style the acoustic guitar and string arrangements heard first on Judy Collins' In My Life, then on lusher turns from Leonard Cohen, and on Brit folk-rock productions from Joe Boyd.