Off the top of my head I can count the number of country and bluegrass artists I’ve heard of on one hand, now having heard Dale Ann Bradley I can add one more to make a grand total of 3!
For all those people out there like me, here is a bit of background info about Dale Ann Bradley; she comes from Southeaster Kentucky; didn’t have electricity until she went to high school and until her uncle gave her some country music tapes, the only music she knew of was the kind sang in church. The tapes opened her eyes and she began to write her own songs.
Catch Tomorrow is her third album and she has collaborated with some greats of the scene including Marty Raybon, Steve Gulley and Jim Lauderdale…(all these names are from the press release – again I have heard of none of them)
Tracks like ‘Run Rufus Run’, ‘Julia Belle’, ‘When The Mist Comes In’ and ‘Mercy Railroad’ are all undeniably classic country - what makes for an interesting mix is the undeniable vein of Irish folk style that runs through them - the kind that you hear in James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ when the third class passengers are all dancing and having fun. Achieved through the use of instruments like violins and banjos it makes each song a clever balance between knee slapping jolliness and intricacy.
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While this is not at all the kind of music I would listen to, I do quite like Run Rufus Run, it conjures up an image of line dancing and Stetsons. I know this is a hideously stereotypical country image, but it does confirm that Dale Ann Bradley has an excellent grasp of what country music is!
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