There are two very valid reasons to avoid "roots" music:
1- It's played by folks who've been doing it so long it has become old hat for them; the spark gone, the product stale.
2- It's a famous artist who's run their artistic well dry and thinks that rehashing the music of their youth will re-seed their creativity. Sadly it never really works, and the result is usually cringingly overproduced.
Remember "going back to my roots" is the last refuge of a musical scoundrel.
Luckily for the listener of "Whisper Down the Lane" by Toy Soldiers neither of these issues are applicable.
Toy Soldiers play rootsy rock that is charged with youthful energy and spirit. Their debut CD "Whisper Down the Lane" positively crackles with urgency and an upbeat, positive attitude (the well-timed horns act as perfect punctuation).
This is because Toy Soldiers *are* young. Everything is new and fresh to them and the band throws themselves into their music completely, wonderfully recklessly, and with all of their heart.
Each song is played like it's their first and last, like a band that has nothing to lose and everything to prove.
I thought I was too jaded to be so charmed by music like this, I was wrong.
