Having listened to a couple of CDs by well known American acts and been disillusioned by the lack of country content, I placed The Rosinators' CD in the player. Their music swept over me like a gentle, refreshing breeze. Not American but British. The trio consisting of Paul Castle, vocals, guitar, banjo, bass; Fliss Premru, vocals and fiddle; and Will Sneyd, vocals, fiddle, mandolin, perform authentic roots music - a blend of country, bluegrass and Cajun. When I say authentic I mean The Rosinators sound authentic. They play from the heart. They have a love for the music. Their debut album contains 12 tracks. When they play well known songs such as 'Orange Blossom Special', 'Joli Blon' and 'I Saw the Light' there's no copying of the original artists. They play it their way. Other tracks include 'Cindy's Breakdown', 'Blue Ridge Mountain Blues', 'Poncho's Lament', and 'Old Joe Clark'.
I could have spoken to all the member of The Rosinators. However, one person is easier for the interview. Will Sneyd is the spokesman.....
"I used to play the rock scene. I got to play on some good albums. Being a violin player and working in that environment one gets to do a fair bit of recording but it's difficult to get on stage. When the bands tour they tend to just take the nucleus. In time I got more and more 'sold' on the Cajun violin sound and Irish music. There was more work for me in folk and acoustic music. I went over to Louisiana when I was first really mad on the Cajun thing. I was driving a car from LA to Florida on a Driveaway. I stopped in New Orleans and thought this is unbelievable. I've got to come back here. So I dropped the car off in Florida and returned to New Orleans and met Dave Greely who's the violin player for Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys who are a massive Cajun and Cajun crossover band. He was incredibly encouraging to me. He said just work hard and learn your stuff. He took me to see his band. We went to his house and had dinner. Gave me a few violin lessons. That was eleven years ago. We have always kept in touch.
I have known Fliss for about eleven years. We first met at The Weavers in Stoke Newington. What a place! I walked in there and saw this amazing blonde with her 'Joli Blon' all-girl Cajun band. We used to work by depping for each other. I went to Bulgaria with her band on a tour. At the time I was in the Ti-Fer Cajun Band. So occasionally we stood in for each other if one of us couldn't make a gig. I have known Paul for about seven years. Fliss took me along to see his band called 'Sons of Fat Harry'. They played beautiful country/rock....Crosby, Stills and Nash kind of stuff. They were playing in a pub called The Rosemary Branch just over the canal in North London. The guy at the end of the line, Paul, just blew me away. They invited me to play at another of their gigs. We have always been a three piece. We went to Glastonbury about four years ago under another name. We became The Rosinators about eighteen months ago.
I have always been passionate about music. All three of us have. When Paul's playing he's like a kid. He can't stop moving. His head 'bangs' up and down. I just feel really like I'm in the right place and because it's country music, it's simple and truthful. You're really a messenger when you're playing that stuff. There's a dozen songs on the album. When we first started we recorded two songs and then at a later date a couple more. Then I said if we are really going to do this let's do it properly - what are we waiting for? I'm not looking for another band. As far as I'm concerned you guys are 'It'.
The bluegrass on the album came from Paul. When we first met I had never listened to a lot of bluegrass. I was more familiar with Hank Williams, Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash. When Fliss first got us gigs we were looking for songs we were comfortable doing together, and Paul could sing bluegrass. He just blew me away with songs like 'Old Joe Clark' and 'Cindy'. Just a couple of run throughs and we had a sound of our own. With all our experience something just clicked for us. Particularly with the Cajun violin - it could come in and wrap itself around what Paul was singing.
I knew 'Orange Blossom Special' as a violin tune - that classic violin workout. At the time I tried to play it but was never prepared to work hard enough to do it. When I heard Johnny Cash sing it I thought one day I'm going to meet people where one can both play and sing the song. We did for the album, in a kind of half and half....half Cajun, half bluegrass. We are finding more and more, especially when we are approaching traditional songs, if we crack the vocal and get a harmony that's really got some power then the rest kind of falls into place. Within a few minutes of first starting to sing a song one of the three of us will just bring it to a 'jam' and sing through. I find that really exciting. I'm not a singer as such. To be led by the vocal is a really brilliant thing for me. It's unknown territory and it gives me more confidence knowing if we have something basic all we have to do is to let it go and the rest of the song will grow around the vocal harmony.
I may not be a churchgoer but I like the idea of Heaven and Hell. The whole continuance between good and evil and dark and light. I think specially for country music, bluegrass and Cajun. They all have that dynamic in them. Sadness and joy all mixed up. The basic of all human emotions.
We had always been a three piece and then we got some gigs where we needed a drummer. I had played with Stuart Crosbie in a showband in Spain. He had just come out of a successful rehab' and had come out absolutely fired up and needed something to do. I thought I have to grab this guy now before another band does. He appears on the album as does Leigh Gordon and Clare Gilliam. Leigh is a neighbour of mine. He's a great bass player and has appeared on many records. For the album we wanted the widest range of sounds. Clare is the girl for Cajun triangle and rub board.
The album is for sale on the Internet (www.rosinators.com). We are getting lots of downloads on the music and visits on the Internet. They are playing it all over the world. Particularly in America and Australia. Holland and France are starting to pick up on it. As yet we haven't got a distribution deal. We are desperate for some knight in shining armour to come along and say 'Hey, I can help you with that!'
We want to attract the mainstream as much as possible. For us the big deal is to get bigger stages. We had a fantastic response at the folk festivals this year. Same with local radio. That's one thing that's made us really believe in what we are doing - local radio globally. This Autumn doing the shows is what it's all about and to get really strong songs for the next album. We noticed from the Internet that there's a great interest from the States. There's a couple of radio stations, both in Baton Rouge, which is a big industrial area, have been giving us a lot of plays and featured us as Album of the Week. Although it was twelve years ago, I travelled through there when I got the bug for the music. I would love to return with The Rosinators..."
© Country Music Round-Up Magazine, September 2003
PDC Music CD0305
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