when you are the son of legendary alt country rocker steve earle, and your middle name was given to you in tribute to townes van zandt, then you generally have a lot to live up to. justin has never really shied away from that legacy and has established himself as a very talented artist in his own right, but this album feels like it may be a turning point for him. his seventh album – released last week – is the first since getting married, and the first not recorded in nashville with his usual musicians. this time he employed producer mike mogis and traveled to his studio in omaha nebraska to lay down all the tracks. it seems to me that because of this arrangement the album sounds different than any of his previous releases. as usual, his songwriting is stellar throughout, and there is a wide variation of musical styles used to showcase the lyrics. ’15-25′ is a song about the period of his life between those ages, set to a new orleans dust up in the spirit of professor longhair. ‘same old stagolee’ is a new take on the old folk song, done with an acoustic guitar and accompanied by vibraphone. ‘champagne corolla’ is a swinging blues number about a girl and a car. ‘short hair woman’ is a funky little rocker that fleshes out the attributes justin seeks in a female. the title track may be the best one of all, a bittersweet lament about his childhood in east nashville and how the neighborhood has totally changed now due to the gentrification over the last 20 years.

this is one of those albums that i enjoyed from the very first song. it just has a real comfortable feel to it and never seems forced. if you are a fan of his, this is a must have. if you are new to him, this is an excellent place to start.

chris stapleton broke out on the country scene in 2015 with his ‘traveller’ album, eventually selling two million copies. this is his newest contribution, released two years to the day later. although not really a departure from his earlier work, it is really hard to categorize this – at least to my ears – as a ‘country’ album. i hear a gritty blues album with outlaw country leanings. chris has one of the more distinctive and genuine voices in pop culture today, and it is on ample display here. he is one of the few people who can turn ‘i’ into a nine syllable word, as he does frequently on ‘i was wrong’, a song he has been playing on the road for years. ‘either way’ is a bitterly honest and defiant song about divorce, and a surprising choice to be released as a single, given the stripped down nature of the arrangement and the dire message within. ‘last thing i needed, first thing this morning’ is the only cover on the album – a rework of an on old willie nelson hit from 1982. indeed, echoes of the old red headed stranger permeate much of the work here, even employing willie’s harmonica player throughout – mickey raphael.

volume 1 has only 9 songs and clocks in at a quick 33 minutes, but luckily volume 2 is slated for a fall release. the packaging is very modest – no liner notes or lyrics or photos – just a cardboard sleeve with some graphics. but the content is rich and sincere, and it is a solid sophomore followup. as i mentioned in my review of his first one, i think he is a better singer than songwriter. don’t get me wrong – most of his material is much deeper and profound than the usual country topics of beer and pickups on the radio today – but his strength lies in his interpretation and arrangements of the songs.  he is also a damn good guitarist. i have been surprised by how much he has been embraced by the pop country world, but he is certainly a welcome alternative to the current slate of ‘bro-country’ acts dominating the field. here’s to hoping that more talents like this get the exposure they deserve.

 

when i heard that one of my favorite bluegrass bands was going to release a live album covering one of my favorite albums by probably my favorite artist, well, that made my day. the country music hall of fame was looking for ideas to do a tribute to the making of bob dylan’s ‘blonde on blonde’ album, which had been recorded primarily in nashville in 1966. when they asked ketch secor – one of ocms’ founders – if he would be interested, he jumped on it and took charge of the project. the choice was certainly appropriate. ketch and one of the other founders – critter fuqua – were huge dylan fans in their teens and started off doing covers before moving to bluegrass and busking on the streets of nashville. probably their most well known song is ‘wagon wheel’ (made a little more famous by darius rucker’s cover a few years ago), which is a song that ketch wrote from a fragment of a lyric from dylan’s ‘pat garrett and billy the kid’ soundtrack. he gave bob co-credits on the song.

dylan was making most of his seminal albums of the sixties from new york studios, but for various reasons felt stuck in inspiration when recording the tracks for this album. when he and the producer decided to pick up and head to nashville instead, utilizing some crack local country studio musicians, it changed the course of rock history. there is an argument to be made that the current americana music genre has at least some of its roots in what came out of these sessions. ketch and critter are keenly aware of this history, and were anxious to incorporate this into their overall scheme.

there is plenty of material here, as it is the first double album in history. there is a wide range of song styles and of course voluminous lyrics. since some of the other band members weren’t as familiar with the songs, ketch constructed 43 pages of chords and lyrics, and memorized everything. another decision process was whether to stay true to dylan’s electric leanings of the time, or to be creative and stay acoustic and adjust the arrangements accordingly. they chose the latter, and i think it works really well. for example, one of the more rocking tunes on the original is ‘obviously five believers’, and the boys turn it into a fiddle hoe down. they absolutely kill ‘absolutely sweet marie’.

it is really a solid performance all the way around and i found it highly satisfying. they are taking the show on the road and will be touring very soon. i have four tickets to the columbus show. i have two extra if anyone is interested. first come first serve.