It was banjo player Leonard Podolak’s vision. A veteran of the Canadian folk festival scene, he gathered the finest musicians he knew: singer Jessica Havey, who cut her teeth in musical theater; guitarist Jordan McConnell, a talented luthier who crafts his own acoustic instruments; fiddler Tania Elizabeth, a prodigy who, at age 13, started her own record label and played gigs all over the world; and, finally, percussionist Scott Senoir, a student of drum styles from Africa to South America and the Caribbean.
“I wanted to put a band together,” says Podolak, “that would be able to touch on various traditions—French, Canadian, Irish and Scottish—but do it in a way that was new, finding what those styles have in common, and playing off that. And also, I wanted something that would be exciting and danceable and engaging.”
But Podolak didn’t imagine how well things would fall into place with The Duhks—or how many more influences his new bandmates would bring to the table. The resulting sound is a tasteful blend of the aforementioned folk traditions with hard-grooving world beats, country, bluegrass, jazz and a healthy injection of catchy, soulful pop. The eclectic Canadian group self-released an album in 2002, and it wasn’t long before Americana label Sugar Hill signed the adventurous outfit and sent its members into Nashville’s OMNIsound Studios, where they recorded a proper debut with jazzgrass legend Belá Fleck and respected Music City engineer Gary Paczosa as co-producers.
“Belá is sort of a god in our world,” says McConnell. “Meeting him was intimidating at first, but we got over that quickly. He was doing a gig at the Playboy Jazz Festival at a stadium, and we were playing at a tiny Unitarian Universalist church. He skipped the after party at the Playboy Jazz Festival to come see the end of our set and hang with us.”
“It was pretty surreal,” agrees Havey. “My parents are both huge into Belá’s music. He was so good to us. He put us up in his house in Nashville. I was sick for the first week of recording, and everyone wanted me to stay home and take care of myself. I was chillin’ at Belá’s mansion, watching endless episodes of Da Ali G Show while everyone was recording, and I buzzed my hair in his bathroom before the photo shoot.”
More importantly, all The Duhks were wildly impressed by Fleck and Paczosa’s musical knowledge, creativity and work ethic. Their time in the studio with these heavyweights is something they’ll take to heart on the long road ahead this year, as the band embarks on an extensive world tour.