Bertolf

After work with the Junes and in Ilse DeLange’s band, Bertolf began building his own recording catalogue. For Life arrived in 2009, with Another Day and Mr. Light helping establish his solo identity. Snakes & Ladders followed in 2010. His ability as a multi-instrumentalist is important, but it serves the writing: parts are useful because of the way they answer one another, leave a vocal exposed or make a change of harmony arrive at the right moment.

Later records broadened that practice. First & Then and Big Shadows of Small Things form part of a sequence that also includes work with Her Majesty, the group exploring the repertoire of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Those connections help explain the interest in ensemble playing and vocal detail that runs through his own songs. Arrangement is a way of thinking through the material.

Bluefinger in 2023 put his long-standing love of bluegrass at the centre. Recorded in Nashville with producer Dave Sinko, it brought Bertolf together with dobro player Jerry Douglas, fiddler Stuart Duncan, bassist Mark Schatz, banjo player Wes Corbett and mandolinist David Benedict. Existing songs, including Another Day and Cut Me Loose, were opened up for that ensemble alongside newer material. The session therefore functions as a reconsideration of the catalogue, not a detour into an unrelated style. A line that once depended on a pop rhythm section can acquire another kind of momentum when acoustic instruments trade phrases around it. The project makes a convincing argument for the durability of the writing: changing the players and the rhythmic language reveals possibilities that were already waiting inside the tune.