I would first like to say that I promise to start reviewing 2009 albums soon, but I felt obliged to share the SteelDrivers with the Quickcrit faithful. Overall, Bluegrass lately has disappointed me. However the SteelDrivers have been an absolute joy. If you aren’t into Bluegrass, I would say you probably haven’t given it a fair shake, in which case, I would advise watching O’Brother Where Art Thou’ and buying the SteelDrivers self titled release. These guys and gal aren’t your typical Bluegrass band. By that I mean make slow, put me to sleep gospel tracks. They have more of a blues/rock n’ roll tone, yet retain the twangy banjo, beechnut in my check fire in my boots fiddlin, and the utterly necessary high pitched lonesome sound. Chris Stapleton is the singer song writer and is amazing, think Eric Clapton as a Nashville outlaw. It seems “Blue Side Of The Mountain” is getting all the accolades due to it’s Grammy nomination, and don’t get me wrong it’s an awesome song, but I feel “If It Hadn’t Been For Love”* is their best jam. Stapleton’s simple chorus of “Four cold walls against my will, at least I know she’s lying still”, a song about murdering his lover, still sends chills up my spine. Stellar album all the way through, and I would definitely recommend this as a Bluegrass/Country fan, and as a nice change of pace if you are so inclined.*Tracks “If It Hadn’t Been For Love”, “Hear The Willow Cry”, and “Sticks That Made Thunder”, are song numbers 6-8 and are sublime back to back to back.
2 Comments:
In my review I give lots of love to Stapleton, but Tammy Rodgers on the fiddle and back up vocals should not be underrated by any means.
Dude, review albums from whatever year you like. I don't think we'll get around to reviewing all the 2008 albums in our lifetime, so whatever is worthy of a review should be reviewed, regardless of the year.
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