COUNTRY-- Canada's Country Music Magazine
HEARTBREAK HILL, Independent ****

Bluegrass is alive and well in downtown Toronto, if Heartbreak Hill is any indicator.   This exciting young quartet calls on influences as traditional as Bill Monroe and as contemporary as Gillian Welch.  The result is a self-titled debut album that sparkles with energy and freshness while remaining true to the hard-core high lonesome soul of bluegrass.

Heartbreak Hill is singer-bassist Jenny Whiteley, singer-guitarist Dottie Cormier, mandolin-guitar player Dan Whiteley and banjo player Chris Quinn.  The Whiteleys, brother and sister, bring a solid pedigree to the band -- they're the twenty-something children of Canadian music veteran Chris Whiteley.  But they're not resting on family laurels:  Jenny is a fine singer whose vocals are steeped in mountain melancholia and Dan is a guitarist and mandolinist of considerable dexterity and inventiveness.   Christopher Quinn provides musical sparks and a rhythmic bedrock on banjo, and Dottie Cormier's vocals mesh with almost sibling-like intensity with Whiteley's.

Six of the twelve songs on Heartbreak Hill are originals; of those originals, Packed My Bags by Jenny Whiteley and Dottie Cormier is particularly impressive. The rest of the material is noteworthy for the good taste and lack of cliches -- there's no Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms -- and it's all delivered with strong vocals and irresistible verve.

What Heartbreak Hill lacks in polish, it makes up for in drive, enthusiasm and musicality; Heartbreak Hill is worth checking out for the sheer joy it exudes.

NOW MAGAZINE
HEARTBREAK HILL NNNN

It's rare that a bluegrass group as youthful as Heartbreak Hill can combine such a high level of instrumental proficiency, compositional maturity and robust harmonizing with an enlightened sense of tradition.  Yet their brilliant self-released debut indicates that this fab local foursome are the complete package.

Genetics appear to have something to do with it, as mandolinist Dan Whiteley and his singer/songwriter sister, Jenny Whiteley, are the gifted progeny of Chris Whiteley (Original Sloth Band, Whiteley Brothers).  With the striking voice of Dottie Cormier and the banjo-picking prowess of Chris Quinn, Heartbreak Hill have established a stark, rustic sound all their own.

While they swing toward the old-timey side of the bluegrass tradition -- the impassioned dual vocal leads of Jenny and Dottie are a closer kin to the smoulder of Hazel and Alice than the firey Freakwater -- the presence of strong original songs, like the stalker study I Scare You, suggests Heartbreak Hill know their future isn't in the past.

INDIE NATION -- HMV's guide to the world of Independent Music

When most people think of bluegrass music the image is of a couple of old coots sitting on their front porch somewhere in Arkansas, drinking moonshine and serenading the tree line.   Well, hold on little doggies, bluegrass has moved north.  Heartbreak Hill's self-titled CD invokes all these images with the addition of a winter's day in February.   The group consists of traditional bluegrass instrumentation featuring Dan Whiteley (mandolin & guitar), Chris Quinn (banjo), Dottie Cormier (vocals & guitar) and Jenny Whiteley (vocals).

Unlike some of the common trends in bluegrass music today, Heartbreak Hill shys away from hybrid sounds to create something new.  This album goes straight to the heart with old-timey traditional songs and sounds.  Homage is paid to some of the bluegrass giants like Bill Monroe (Bluegrass Stomp) and David Grisman (Cedar Hill).  Both are beautiful renditions of  these classic tunes. Strong songwriting and playing are essential in bluegrass and this band has done its homework.  Packed My Bags, the first track on the CD is truly delightful and fun, while story songs like John Tyrone will send shivers up your spine thinking of the ones you love.

I haven't had as much fun cleaning my apartment to bluegrass music since Hazel Dickens.