By Andrew Poretz ***Vocalist Hilary Gardner is best known as a jazz singer and also a member of the vocal trio Duchess. In an inspired pandemic project, Gardner 
explored a type of Americana music for which an accurate genre label is difficult to find: great old songs often associated with singing cowboys, or at least cowboy movies, yet also performed by mainstream performers like The Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and later, artists like Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline. The result was her recent album, On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines, celebrated at Birdland.
In several years of researching songs and going through old sheet music, Gardner has assembled a remarkable collection of a dozen of these songs for thw frankly delicious album. She utilized a trio of musicians she calls “The Lonesome Pines”: guitarist/vocalist Justin Poindexter, bassist Noah Garabedian and percussionist Aaron Thurston.
The tunes evoke the wide-open space and starry skies of the Great Plains, with plenty of horses, trails and “yippee-ki-yays.” 
While much of the guitar-centric music has roots in folk, country and blues, some elements found their way into rockabilly and rock and roll, as well as rhythm and blues. In Gardner’s hands, the music combines those elements with a tinge of jazz. Still, while baked beans weren’t on the Birdland menu, you could almost taste them.
Gardner was attired in a red dress with a Western-ish black design on top. She opened with “When the Bloom is on the Sage” (Fred Howard/Nat Vincent), which isn’t on the album. The lyrics describe the simple joys of cowboy life. Gardner has a lovely voice that is reminiscent of a lighter-sounding Jo Stafford, or even Doris Day, and is perfect for the music. Her delivery made you long for a Texas you never knew.
Gardner and company did a swell job on “Cow Cow Boogie” (Don Raye/Benny Carter and Gene De Paul). This song was nearly introduced by a young Ella Fitzgerald for the Abbott and Costello film “Ride ‘em Cowboy,” but was cut from the film. It was, instead, introduced by Ella Mae Morse. (Fun fact: the standard “I’ll Remember April” was introduced in that movie.)
“A Cowboy Serenade” is a slow, lonely ballad. Justin Poindexter is an exceptional young guitarist with full command of his instrument. With effective use of reverb and treble, and even some tremolo, the boyish, long-haired guitar ace punctuated the music with well-crafted, clean licks and a 1950s tone that seem influenced by guitarists like Scotty Moore and Les Paul. His contributions to the performance and the album are quite significant, including his gentle harmonies on several songs.
A lovely young accordionist, Sasha Papernik, joined for a pair of songs. Papernik also appears on the album, and wore a red outfit with black trim that complemented Gardner’s. On “Under Fiesta Stars” (Gene Autry/Fred Rose), with a Tejano-style arrangement that evoked a long-ago Mexico, Gardner reminded me here of Linda Ronstadt, both in the purity of her voice and in the type of ranchera songs Ronstadt often performed. With the addition of Papernik’s accordion and Poindexter’s harmonizing to Gardner’s lead vocal, the effect was mesmerizing.
“I’m an Old Cowhand” (Johnny Mercer) one of the most well-known tunes of the album and the show, was a big hit for Bing Crosby, but Gardner first heard it performed by the late Dan Hicks. Garabedian provided a very tasty bass solo, his personality shining through his fingers. This song was one of the evening’s biggest highlights.
Papernik returned to sing backup for the “final” song, “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” (Bob Nolan), which was not on the album. This stunning song has complex, chromatic progressions that would challenge many lesser singers. With sumptuous harmonies from both Papernik and Poindexter, they nailed it.
For a well-deserved encore, Gardner performed “Happy Trails to You,” Roy Rogers and Dale Evans’ theme song, also with Papernik and Poindexter’s vocal assistance. This additional harmony song, also not on the album, left the listener craving more. In fact, there’s plenty more material where this came from. (Four album songs were skipped, including both homages to Sante Fe.)
Photos 1-2 by Tracey Yarad (traceyyaradphotography.com)
Photos 3-5 by Andrew Poretz
