It has been almost eight years now since Gillian Welch released her last album, Soul Journey. There are plenty of female artists working with similar old-time material, but few come close to matching Gillian's song craft and honesty.
Oregonian, Rachel Harrington is an exception.
Her third album is a wonderful collection of thirteen songs and the work of an artist coming into full bloom. It comes after her acclaimed 2007 debut The Bootlegger's Daughter and the equally well-received follow-up City of Refuge in 2008.
As with Gillian Welch, there is a glass-half-empty melancholy behind the songs along with a heightened awareness of mortality.
The gospel song He Started Building My Mansion In Heaven Tonight is based on something her ageing grandfather said to her, while The Last Jubilee ("My own version of heaven") offers the sanguine advice to "pick up your harp and play" should you have the misfortune to die.
But I hasten to add that this is not a maudlin or depressing record.
Expressions of love and loss like Here In My Bed and Let me Sleep In Your Arms Tonight are uplifting because they are so raw and true while You'll Do ("You ain't Mr.Right, but you ain't wrong") is a song which is simply too cool (and funny) to be forgotten.
On her previous albums the main focus was on historical story-songs or character driven tales but for Celilo Falls Rachel has wisely followed the advice of Lori McKenna to write from the heart about what she knows.
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This extends to putting a personal slant on a traditional tune. Pretty Solo is performed in a beautifully sad a cappella version using the melody of the original but with different words; as she explains in the sleeve notes :"When I discovered the original lyrics didn't follow the story I'd had in mind, I wrote my own".
The striking opening track, House of Cards, was co-written with producer Evan Brubaker and the only song on the album not by her is a cover Art Hanlon's Vantage (re-titled Spokane).
The fine backing musicians deserve a mention too: Ronnie McCoury (mandolin), Rod Clements, ex of Lindisfarne (slide guitar), Dan Salini (fiddle and pedal steel), Colby Sander (dobro and banjo) and Jon Hamar (bass).
The bottom line here is that Celilo Falls is a brilliant album that any self respecting folk-roots fan should snap up immediately.
Rachel Harrington's Website
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