Category:
Roots

Try if you like:
Freakwater, Gillian Welch, Howe Gelb, Victoria Williams

One Hundred Dollars (from here on in referred to as $100) is a folk/country effort from Toronto, Ontario. Guitarist Ian Russell was diagnosed with leukemia right around the time the group released their debut EP Hold It Together. Simone Schmidt takes on the vocal duties and man, can she sing. She's got a gritty style in the vein of Gillian Welch or the girls of Freakwater. You can tell that $100 loves the more traditional side of things but on tracks like the title track of Forest For Trees you can sense they like to break out of the mold as well. There is no denying that this band is in the folk/country genre, not at all. They do it well too. The ballads like "Paris Is Burning" really lend themselves well to Simone's compelling and twangy vocals. But they like to get moving at a decent pace with "Hell's A Place" and a couple others. 

Overall, Forest Of Tears is a great debut full length. They've got a great knack for the rootsier songwriting and Simone Schmidt has a wonderful voice. Here's praying that Ian Russell is here to make many more great albums such as this.