As a musical artist, Gina Forsyth isn’t an easy one to pin down.
She’s been riding shotgun in Bruce Daigrepont’s Cajun band for decades but she’s also a member of the Americana-ish Sweet Olive String Band as well as a performing singer-songwriter.
This six-song EP does a good job of presenting Forsyth’s multi-faceted fiddling personality.
The Cajun side is represented on the traditional Cajun Mardi Gras song, which ingeniously segues into her own jukin’ “What I Did on Mardi Gras Day” to bring the experience closer to home.
She gathers her Sweet Olive bandmates Pat Flory and Mike Kerwin, engineer Al Tharp and a few others for some rollicking bluegrass, perhaps an indication that she could solely exist in that world if she so chose. “Little Billy Wilson” is a spirited Appalachian old-time hoedown while “Sparrows” poignantly illustrates her introspective songwriting.
With a title like “Rosin the Bow,” you’d expect a scorching barnburner but instead it’s a gentle, beautiful waltz showcasing Forsyth’s command of her instrument and ability to make it emote.