“English-born but US resident since the age of twelve, singer and banjo player Caton traces her family history through coal mining songs, tunes and poems from Staffordshire to Virginia. Terrific old-time singing and playing and often genuinely moving.”fRoots Magazine, March 2016
“Lovely project exploring local fiddler & banjoist Alex Caton’s family roots in the mines of England.” Pete Marshall, Sunset Road’s Best Folk Albums of 2015
“Really enjoyed listening to these mining songs and poems. The members of our Coal Mining Heritage Association also reacted very positively after listening to the CD at our monthly meeting. When I worked for the National Coal Board, I would never have taken a flower underground with me! This CD conveys the many dangers of underground coal mining, and the experience of being trapped underground.” Gavin Faulkner
“Singer-songwriter Alex Caton’s third album is a rich, lyrical treasure to behold. Swimming to Lindsey is a joyfully engaging and organic record.” Brian Palmer, C-ville, November 2013
“Alex Caton is an old-time fiddler, singer-songwriter and banjo player whose 2009 release, the Sinners and the Saved, was one of my favorite traditional folk/ Americana-type releases from 2009…a fun, toe-tapping varied collection that features Alex’s bright, reedy vocals” and “her clear and strong fiddling…This one I recommend.” Donald Nitchie, Banjo Newsletter, Vol. XXXVIII, No.4, February 2011
“Caton’s bewitching fiddle-work and plain-spoken but heartfelt vocal phraseology… evokes Appalachian songstresses like Hazel Dickens.” Ned Oldham, Virginia Living, December 2010
“…the siren of the strings.” C-ville, June 2007
“Forget everything you know—or thought you knew—about old time, Irish standards, today’s music and tomorrow’s rhythms. When Alex Caton picks up her fiddle or banjo all bets are off, all expectations shatter, all preferences and preconceived notions dissolve as fast as a summer storm over the Appalachians or a windy gale on the Kerry coast. And the music made by that exquisite fairy sprite on stage (trust us, there’s a magic about her) will make tunes sound fresher and more real than the moment they were first played. Your re-education—and sublime enjoyment— have begun.
But enough of this out-there, lyrical, she’s-just-bewitching acclaim. What really matters is: The girl can fiddle. The chick can sing. She’s got the grace and unaffected charm of a British Isle lass, the sass of a gypsy siren, the vocabulary and talent of a cursing and grunting old mountain fiddler. She’ll hold her own at a society wedding or a down-home music jam (wearing different outfits for each). That’s because when she starts in on an old standard or one of her original songs, the pure joy she takes from performing is downright infectious. Grandmothers and grizzled old men find their minds slipping away from the country club or the crowded bar to…a misty mountain holler. A crackling-with-energy gypsy camp. Even those black-clad hipster wannabes can’t help themselves from tapping their toes. Because, let’s face it. Alex—and her music—are just plain COOL.” M.M. Chappell