Short, Sweet, Raw, and Rugged

Edgehill Ave.

Off the Edge (Departure Records)

By Tim Roberts

The tagline for Allen Funt's old "Candid Camera" program was "people caught in the act of being themselves." (It was actually more like how magician and showman Penn Jilette described it: "people caught as the butt of a horrible practical joke.")

Still, if you want to catch a band in the act of being raw and spontaneous, live releases can do that. If you want to catch how one Louisville act sounds outside the comfort of the studio, give a listen to Off the Edge by Edgehill Avenue.

These tracks, recorded at the 2009 Original Highlands Festival, are clean and snap like a flag in a hard wind. The songs are gathered from their studio album Rambler and their self-titled acoustic EP from 2007. Succinctly put: This is Americana music at its rugged best, captured live, loud, and (almost) out of control.

For fans of Edgehill Avenue, Off the Edge provides an experience of that raw energy (along with a couple of songs they may not have heard). For anyone new to the group, it's a good place to start, and it may lead them to the band's (only slightly) tamer, well-produced studio work.

Get raw at www.edgehillave.com.