Bluegrass, eh? Yup. From Kentucky. It’s fresh, it's new and it's as authentic as these things ever can be.
The BLIND CORN LIQUOR PICKERS do an unforgettable bluegrass version of TALKING HEADS' "Once In Lifetime" It isn't a joke at all. It’s a great version of a singular song. Eleven other rattling tunes of their own stay closer to the traditions of Kentucky and Tennessee. They keep the driving banjo, guitar, bass and four-voice tautness of the best country music and the songs are well worth singing and hearing. Joel Serdenis's Mandolin rings true and extra vocals and jug bass lines finish it all off with style. Producer Bil VornDick has done a fine job of making himself invisible while setting the songs up on their hind legs for all to admire.
The songs are packed so tight you couldn’t get a half a bar free to sip your beer in. Even the mournful finale of "8-Ball" wastes not a single bit of forward energy in carrying the tune and lyric from the beginning to the end. It's the kind of song Johnny Cash could have sung. It’s music that sounds like it’s been distilled and purified though three generations at least. Confident, effortless and irresistible, you would have to have a heart of coal and dancing shoes of lead not to fall in love with this stuff.
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"Little Enis" is a classic rockabilly tune with a pre-Haley band-shout chorus. The bass solo is a treat. "Eyes of Dawn" has a jazzy blues feel. The traditional bluegrass format doesn’t stop the band from stretching the limits and the novel elements refresh the whole thing nicely. As well as Joel's shimmering flatback mandolin playing, Todd Anderson's bass, Travis Young's banjo and Tom Fass's guitar are top-of-the-range craftsman-played instruments. They are deft, inventive and they never show off or pretend. They can damn well play and it sounds like they do their practice.
"I may not be a genius but there's one thing in life that I know: I keep my nose to the grindstone"
This is what they sing and it ain't no lie. It's a lovely record.
www.blindcorn.com
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