Devonsquare ~ Night Sail (album review) ... A little bit of rolk & roll!

Style: pop rock, folk rock, classic rock
Label: Blind Date
Year: 1985
Home: New Hampshire/Maine

Members: Herb Ludwig ~ vocals
Alana MacDonald ~ vocals/violin
Tom Dean ~ vocals/acoustic guitar

Additional: Michael McInnis, Chris Neville ~ keyboards
Bob Thompson ~ electric guitar
Teg Glendon ~ bass
Ron Bouffard ~ drums
Charlie Jennison ~ sax
Lenny Hatch ~ congas/triangle
Tom Blackwell ~ percussion

A major player in the New England contemporary folk music scene & once dubbed the "the original folk & roll band", Devonsquare with their shimmering keyboards, violins, guitars & slow warm ballads will be sure to drag a tear out of you if you're partial to the sounds of Dan Fogelberg, Stephen Stills or Art Garfunkel for starters. Devonsquare started off more folk oriented a la the Kingston Trio with Herb Ludwig with Jeff Rice & Steve Romanoff of Maine's premier maritime folk band Schooner Fare. Ludwig would soon follow music trends & take a retooled larger line-up into a broader musical spectrum before the Ludwig-MacDonald-Dean line-up solidified with a AM radio soft pop rock sound. This line-up recorded the group's first album & thus is the Devonsquare that most people remember & also became the most famous. Actually, the above mentioned bands might not be the best comparison. Think a slightly jazzier & more fluid Fleetwood Mac with Christine McVie taking the musical lead (for example, "Is It Over") & one will have good grasp on the musical pleasure of Devonsquare. Devonsquare is one of those little regional groups that might not have the big name but that doesn't mean they should be ignored. Quite the opposite, many will find them enchanting. Night Sail may not be the definite starting point but it's hard to beat. It can also be found reissued as a double CD, retitled (Devon)2, with their 1984 debut, which is good & very much the same feeling, but not so strong though it does feature jazz bassist Marcus Miller & late night TV pianist Paul Shaffer. Ludwig died in 2005 but the remaining two members have continued the group now joined by long-time bassist Teg Glendon & guitarist Robby Coffin.