Leaping Lizards – There To Here 23 Years

Leaping Lizards – There To Here-23 Years! CD Review by Graham Blackly

The Leaping Lizards, who hail from the sun-drenched Gold Coast, have been plying their folky trade for a staggering 27 years. During this lengthy period they have performed at corporate gigs, festivals and even at bushdance wedding receptions while managing to garner a great deal of critical acclaim. For instance, they won a Golden Fiddle Award during the Country Music Festival in Tamworth in January and in February they picked up ‘Best National Band’ at the Victorian Country Music Awards. With the fourteen-track live album There To Here we step back in time to 2007 to catch a glimpse of the band running through classic traditional folk tunes such as Tell My Ma, The Loch Tay Boat Song and Wild Rover. During the period captured on this lively CD the Leaping Lizards were a quartet comprised of Ron Dimmick (Mandolin-Banjo-Electric Guitar-Harmonies), Pete Lawson (Lead and Harmony Vocals- Acoustic Guitar-Didge-Harp), Donna Reynolds (Lead and Harmony Vocals-Bass) and Paul Robinson (Fiddle).

The vocal harmonies are impeccably close-knit and the crisp and tight instrumentation bristles with energy throughout the album. Highlights include South Australia which features soaring vocals and a driving rhythmic power and Whisky In The Jar which bounces along with sufficient verve to inspire the listener to hop enthusiastically around the lounge room possibly brandishing a wee glass of something special. For those of us first exposed to Whisky In The Jar via those spandex clad titans of 1970’s Irish hard rock Thin Lizzy, it’s always intriguing to hear the song stripped back to its roots. On the slow-paced Belfast Mill the band captures the sense of loss and longing perfectly without ever sounding maudlin. The gentle groove and thoughtful vocals bring warmth to this reflective meditation on change and dislocation.

With a new studio album Shedding My Skin unleashed in December 2010 and the awards and compliments stacking up around them, the Leaping Lizards are likely to be travelling There To Here for another triumphant 27 years!