Ricky Kej
Ah, the simple pleasures of life!

Ricky Kej. Grammy Winner

 

Tim and Laura Battersby present an album with simple, wise, wholesome lyrics and melodious music and vocals that are like a soothing balm to the soul. The title track has some wonderful writing and the vocal harmonies are very, very well done! The simple pleasures of life are presented beautifully :-) “Marathon Man” speaks of the joys of keeping fit, keeping the muscles moving. “Walk Away” is a lovely folk piece with a brilliant violin opening. The lyrics are thoughtful and certainly something everyone can identify with! “You Can’t Judge a Book” is a thought-provoking song, that says deep things without sounding preachy…a testimony to how well-written it is! :-) “Nobody But You and Me” is a song for childhood sweethearts, for true buddies :-) “Apostrophe and the Marks” is a wonderfully arranged song with wildly imaginative lyrics and brings the language to life, educational without seeming effort. Teaching should be such fun too :-) :-) “Freedom” is an emotional song about brotherhood and belonging to one’s homeland…beautiful! Another track I’d like to mention here is “Evermore” that has a lovely piano accompanying the fantastic vocals. It’s a slow song high on melody and emotion. This is an album of a wonderful collection of songs with immensely well-written and identifiable lyrics that can be listened to and enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Dominic D'Cruz
Fabulous!

 

Great vocals and harmony, instrument arrangement all around the title track ‘Homespun’; great guitar playing on ‘You can’t judge a book’ and ‘Nobody but you and me’. Vocals continue at the top with some nifty piano on ‘Forevermore’. I love that beat on ‘Rhymes’ is a really catchy one…makes you jump up and down a bit!

    El Cerrito Records. Grammy Nominees
Highly recommended for the entire family!

 

What can be better than a children’s album with catchy tunes and great content? This album has it all: From nicely done arrangements to amazing instrumentation, and beautiful vocals, production, and engineering. The lyrics are highly educational and remind us about the importance of teaching our kids how to treat each other with love and respect. Our favourite songs are “Homespun”, “You Can’t Judge A Book” and “Freedom,” but the entire album is great! It is highly recommended for the entire family!

 

Wouter Kellerman. Grammy Winner
Stunning Music

 

I love that bouncy feel with a playful touch, which is unmistakable on ‘MARATHON MAN’ and ‘RHYMES’. The bluegrass style with fiddle and banjo on ‘WALK AWAY’ is really novel, adding to the great vocals and instrument arrangement on the title track ‘HOMESPUN’ and ‘FREEDOM’. The fiddle sounds wonderful on ‘NOBODY BUT YOU AND ME’ too. Homespun is an album of stunning music.

John McLaughlin
Homespun but Finely Tailored

 

They call this one, "A Family Album" (as opposed to their usual award-winning children's albums), but it's not what you'd call X-rated (V? W?) Good-humored as ever, the Battersby Duo in this case even includes songs by a friend -- David Elliott's "Otherwise I Feel Right," "Nobody Like You and Me," and "For Evermore." It's good to see that those songs keep up with their -- high standard, indeed. It doesn't hurt, of course, that they have a fine studio band behind them, including one Mick Taylor (surely not the Stone? Not so surely); there's also an admitted lover of Emmy Lou Harris, case closed. Actually, this is sort of a family mixed tape, and a lot of fun -- challenging listener to put their own family mix-tape together, given the eclectic tastes of BatDuo listeners and followers (like me). No bagpipe music yet? We'll fix that. In the meantime, my favourite as of this evening is: the title cut, plus "You Can't Judge a Book" (rebuke accepted), "Pearl." and "My Guitar speaks for me. Your favourites will of course vary and change over time, as you give this CD repeat listenings after you (hint) buy it.

White Sun. Grammy Winners
A fun family album infused with bluegrass and boogie!

 

In Homespun, The Battersby Duo bring you a family album infused with bluegrass and country music as well as a little bit of ragtime and boogie-woogie. This is a really fun album. Laura Battersby has a beautiful voice, and she self-harmonizes in the style and manner of Emmy Lou Harris. There are songs with traditional moral stories like You Can’t Judge a Book, and fun learning songs for kids like Apostrophe and the Marks. Probably my favourite is the rambling song Pearl, with its story about travelling through life with your friends and your dog by your side, in appreciation of nature and the circle of life.