Kat Wallace and David Sasso

“Number 8: Kat Wallace and David Sasso “Somes Pond” - And talking of bluegrass, it’s not often that an instrumental makes my songs of the year list, mainly because I have terrible recollection skills for music without words, but the second album by Kat Wallace and David Sasso contains some superb musicianship, best illustrated by the song ‘Somes Pond’, written at Somes Pond, Maine, which is more infectious than Omicron, with a lovely collaborative video presumably shot in lockdown to accompany it.”

“On Old Habits, duo Kat Wallace and David Sasso didn’t so much push against the boundaries of traditional music as blithely step over them to incorporate disparate elements into a newer sound. Their inventive songwriting, clever arrangements, and attention to detail created a mood both wistful and playful, while lyrics ranged from staying strong after heartbreak to learning how to rebuild after catastrophe, a message from Scripture that felt all too relevant today.”

…reminded me of Alison Krauss and Union Station.

…fantastic harmonies by Wallace and Sasso. I was reminded of the Carter Family and/or some Irish groups who would mix bluegrass with their own Celtic style.

“On Old Habits, Wallace and Sasso don’t break the boundaries of bluegrass so much as they glide past them, venturing into a wider territory while never quite forgetting where they started.”

“...at once both fresh and aged.

”Vocally, Sasso, especially, has a voice that sounds as if it has echoed down the ages; were the crackle of ancient vinyl present, it might have come straight from the Bristol Sessions of 1927.

”Wallace, meanwhile, helps bring their sound up to date, her clear voice never over-powering the songs beneath, but lending a harmonic lilt which is easy on the ear and gives the record a warmth which compliments the more austere tones of Sasso.

”...songs such as ‘Rain On my Windows’, ‘The Great Conjunction’ and ‘After Our Fall’ have a lineage from the likes of Kate Wolf, Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, and even further back...

”...it is subtle and understated. This is to the credit of the pair, who (like the band around them) clearly have the musical chops to take flight, but consistently ease back on overplaying, and so allow the songs to breathe in the natural light.

”‘Old Habits’ is highly recommended if your tastes run to unfettered mountain music, traditional folk and bluegrass. It carries musical echoes of the earliest work of Alison Krauss and Nickel Creek, not to mention the old-time stylings of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. A very worthy addition to the folk/bluegrass/singer-songwriter genre, this record carries a real sense that there is plenty more to come, while giving the listener so much to enjoy with the songs that are here now.”

“David wrote this instrumental tune at a cabin on Somes Pond, Mount Desert Island, Maine, last summer. We recorded this track at Dimension Sound Studios in Boston with David on mandolin and octave mandolin and Kat on fiddle joined by Brittany Karlson on bass and Ariel Bernstein on drums. In rehearsal, this harmonically adventurous tune called for a ripping solo section, and Kat suggested inviting friends to contribute to a big party breakdown. After a sparse melodic beginning and solos by Kat, David, and Brittany, Ariel launches the track into a funky groove with solos from this all-star cast of featured guests: Max Allard (banjo), Joe K. Walsh (mandolin), Mark Kilianski (guitar), Mike Block (cello), Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), and Mike Marshall (mandocello). A few harmonic twists bring the tune home.

“‘Somes Pond’ is the third single from our second album, Old Habits, which evolves from the raw and transparent fiddle/mandolin duo feel of our first album, Stuff of Stars, into a full band sound with guitar, bass, drums, and pedal steel. Our album’s eclectic songs explore the cyclical nature of life, love, and loss, taking inspiration from the isolation and pain of the past year’s pandemic yet reaching to find beauty in the blemishes of the human experience.”

“A debut single from the album, Build Yourself an Ark, was released last week. It contains the sort of introspective and reflective songs so many writers have produced during a year of lockdowns and being taught to be fearful of one another. It begins with the Biblical injunction given to Noah, and transforms into a parable for contemporary life.”

“Welcome to Times Will Tell, the weekly podcast from The Times of Israel. This week, we’re speaking with Dr. David Sasso. A musician and psychiatrist, David works in the intersection of mental health, music, and the arts, and serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale School of Medicine.

“Full disclosure, David and host Amanda Borschel-Dan attended high school together in Indianapolis, after which he studied Music Composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and double majored in biochemistry before attending medical school at Northwestern. As a teen, David premiered works with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and later his full-length opera “The Trio of Minuet” was performed featuring children as the main characters.

“More recently, David has focused on various traditional folk genres and his duo project — Kat Wallace and David Sasso — is releasing its second album in October.

“We’ll discuss the idea of the creative genius and hear excerpts of his music, especially two very different pieces he wrote about Noah’s Ark.”

“Armed with virtuosic fiddle, an array of other stringed instruments, two strong singing voices, and heads full of songwriting ideas, Kat Wallace and David Sasso created in Stuff of Stars a bluegrass duo album that nodded to the past and felt very much of the present. “Dreamer Say” recontextualized an old poem, using a new approach to show the old words’ strength. “I’ll Stay Around” used plucked strings to create a wistful delicacy. “Stuff of Stars” had the courage to be unabashedly hopeful. Upholding the tradition while expanding its boundaries, Wallace and Sasso showed one way to move bluegrass into the future.”

“...richly poetic, musically tight and heartfelt…

“Stuff Of Stars criss-crosses lyrical (and briefly, cosmic) territory, equal parts sumptuous and sparse…

“They are smart and literary but also unpretentious, sometimes funny and quite winsome, with a musical grab bag of tricks that keeps giving.

“...exuberant and intoxicating…”