Published: Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
The track — named after the banjo-challenged Cherokee — is a fine,
fun chunk of songwriting. Sharp and very funny. The song is about tall
tales, and not only do you crave the singer’s lies, you want to be the
liar himself.But what smacks this track out of the park is the
front-porch fiddle riffs by Aaron Colverson coupled with Claytor’s fine
banjo picking. This is a high-caliber hoedown without the disturbing
twang but with plenty Gainesville-kissed, indie sensibilities.And
so it goes for all of “Elephant,” a disc by Claytor and his large
circle of Gainesville friends. This is a disc that spits in the face of
niches; it is one big, musical smoothie of Americana, bluegrass, folk,
pop and rock.Travis Atria of Morningbell adds to the slow,
yearning groove of “Hairpins” with lap-steel/slide guitar, while
Gainesville’s Lower 13th Street Jazz Band closes out “Beekeeper” with a
Dixieland jam.This CD is just a marvelous piece of audio art. It
is a refreshing reminder that solid songwriters and instrumentalists
are out there. Not only that, they are close — like right next to that
prairie that might (or might not) contain the remains of Buffalo’s
busted banjo.Claytor and his band, by the way, perform late
every Wednesday night at Flaco’s Cuban Bakery in downtown Gainesville.
“We Have an Elephant” is available through
www.digstation.com. To hear samples, check out Claytor’s MySpace page.
– Dave Schlenker
From Jacksonville’s First Coast News
The first thing I thought of when I heard Michael Claytor and His
Friends was this band is from Florida? We’re not exactly known for
producing alt-country bands of any sort of decent caliber, but here
MCAHF are, playing it and playing it oh so well. Their debut album, We Have An Elephant is an elegant, twangy record that sounds like it belongs in the Appalachians and not Gainesville.
Fully embracing countrified pop with enough pedal steel and fiddle to last a lifetime, We Have An Elephant
sounds like the best hillbilly record a band from Florida could ever
hope to make. MCAHF are rustic, charming, and really quite good at what
they do. Listening to this record is like spending a day on a lazy
river and just letting the songs take you where ever they want. We Have An Elephant has a free rolling and carefree spirit about it that wins you over almost instantly.
With
illusionary lyrics, all over the place, MCAHF create a clever, dusty
and lovelorn world where funny things happen. Just listen to “Alphabet
Soup,” for a brilliant example of how sharp these guys are with their
wordplay. And that’s just the start, We Have An Elephant is
loaded with songs that paint pictures with words and create emotional
moments with its musical accompaniment. They might be from Florida but
their hearts and minds are in a different time and place.
Michael Claytor and His Friends are a special band and their album We Have An Elephant
is a special debut. It’s an album with a down home feel and the kind of
record you want to bring home to your mother. It’s a friendly affair
that’s written and played brilliantly and has to be one of the best
records to come out of Gainesville in a very long time.
