It turned out that neither were the case.  Digney Fignus is a Cambridge, Massachusetts born singer/songwriter who had a small MTV video hit with the punk group the Spikes in the early �80�s, since which time he has been writing and recording independent music around the Boston area.  At a 2004 Folk Festival in Maine, he met drummer Dave Mattacks and the two began to collaborate on songs that would become Trouble On The Levee.   Massachusetts?  My skepticism rose.  A few bands have received a bit of glory from the national spotlight shone on New Orleans in the last year.  And a few others have tried to take advantage of the same even though they might not have been affected as such.
But, as it turns out, the album was not about Katrina and the ensuing calamity.  What it is is a concept album set in 1925 Louisiana.  Now, concept albums are somewhat of a rarity, and there is a reason for that.  A successful concept album has to be tied together by a grand idea (Willie Nelson�s Phases and Stages) or by a narrative (Willie�s Red-Headed Stranger or Marty Stuart�s Pilgrim). Trouble on the Levee is tied together by neither; there are no recurring musical themes (Red-Headed Stranger style) or dramatic readings (Pilgrim style) to help the story unfold.  The story follows a man, �too good looking for his own good,� who is on the run from a jealous husband.  He soon meets up with a cast of characters that take him from a brothel to a riverboat and eventually Mexico.  Without reading the enclosed liner notes, it would be hard to tell this was little more than a collection of songs. 

Taken as a collection of songs, leaving behind the matter of a unifying story, Trouble On The Levee contains several songs worth repeated listening.  The songs vary in style, but stay firmly rooted in New Orleans-style Jazz and Pop.  Fignus wrote all of the songs included on the album and shades of Randy Newman and Dr. John crop up in both tone and instrumentation.  Songs like �Big Mama,� "Griftin� River Blues� and �Rednecks and Whiskey� contain catchy choruses and music that encourages dance, while �Both Ways� and �Love You True� are more stripped down in sound, introspective in tone.  My favorite song on the album, which strangely reminds me of Newman�s work on the Toy Story movies, is �Falling For You.�  The song has a laidback piano that leads a soft charge while providing a melodic bed for the mandolin and whistling.
Yes, whistling, so you know it�s good.

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