I’ve been watching things grow more closely than ever this Spring, trying to slow the pace of this balmy season of transition. That means I’ve been listening as widely and deeply as I can too. And particularly with my Old Fashioned DJ hat on, I’m loving what I’m hearing. It seemed like a good time to spotlight some of the best bluegrass, old-time and folk albums from Nashville and nearby that have been released so far this year. We’re playing all of them on The Old Fashioned, Saturdays at 9 am / Tuesdays at 8 pm, or on demand.
Thomm Jutz - Ring A Bellin’
Masterful, multi-hyphenate Thomm Jutz (German-American singer-songwriter-producer-guitarist) has an exceptional Nashville immigrant story. We’ve covered that here before, but his thoughtful approach to record-making may have achieved its most refined expression so far with Ring-A-Bellin’. The deluxe-length, 18-song collection evokes the ancient and misunderstood art/science of alchemy. In a rich companion book of lyrics, visual art, and liner notes, Jutz outlines how his study of psychologist Carl Jung and the ancient arts of distillation and compounding paves a path to wisdom and the kind of vision songwriters strive for, by “applying craft, mind, and spirit to the material, realizing and refining its potential.” Little surprise that a sentinel cut “The Alchemist’s Way” was one of several here written with fellow Music City idea-man Adam Wright. The album’s spare instrumentation is elegant and richly tonal, letting Thomm’s voice really settle in the room. There’s a bit of pre-bluegrass swing on “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Blues” and “There’s A Rock In The Middle.” The guitar and piano break that rounds out “Mourning Moon” is dreamy. These recordings are so pensive and precise in places one hesitates to breathe too loudly.
Jarrod Walker - Nighthawk
Florida native Jarrod Walker came up steeped in bluegrass and picking with his brothers, including Cory, a co-founder of East Nash Grass. Jarrod, a wicked mandolin player, did time with Missy Raines and Claire Lynch before his current high-profile job touring with Billy Strings. Billy’s glare is so bright that it’s good to have this document of Jarrod as a songwriter, singer and creator. This entirely original collection is inventive, wide-ranging, and immaculately performed. Brush strokes of pedal steel and drums lend some Americana vibes to some of these songs, but it’s a solidly bluegrass album that would seem to have something for fans of all persuasions. It closes with some of its best material including an old-time vocal duet with Logan Ledger. This is more than a side project by a well-employed sideman. It’s a mature artist’s powerful debut.
Paper Wings - Mountains On The Moon
From a moodier, mesmerizing vein of folk music comes the Nashville duet Paper Wings. On their fourth album, Emily Mann and Wila Frank bring deeply engaging songs and book-matched voices that cast a lovely spell. The title track, serene and sweet with spicy little surprises in the harmonies, is one of their guitar/vocal duets. I love it even more when they pull out the fiddle and banjo, as on “White Roses.” The clawhammer playing is articulate, the voices locked and spooky, the fiddle elegantly languid. “Dortha Butters” is a superb instrumental featuring watch-like time and a dance between banjo and fiddle strings that can’t be captured with words. They’re on tour in a big way starting later this month, including a run of dates with The Milk Carton Kids, an obvious stylistic match.
Sierra Hull - Movements
This one’s very different, but what a thrill to hear Sierra Hull, a Grammy-winning star of progressive bluegrass and a world-topping virtuoso on her mandolin, take acoustic instruments into truly adventuresome and personal places. This is a concise 14-minute work of neo-classical roots music that was made possible by a commission from the FreshGrass Foundation and recorded live at the non-profit’s amazing Studio 9 in North Adams, MA. These three movements develop themes and ideas, allowing for a certain amount of chaos and pure sound to percolate, and revealing even deeper layers of Hull’s astounding band: Avery Merritt (fiddle), Erik Coveney (bass), Mark Raudabaugh (drums), and Shaun Richardson (guitar). She’s come a long way from Byrdstown, TN.
Daniel Grindstaff and the Uptown Troubadours
East Tennessee Banjo prestidigitator Daniel Grindstaff came up in the biz playing with Jim and Jesse McReynolds and The Osborne Brothers, among others. On his second solo project with his label Bonfire Recording, Daniel leaves the lead singing to Kevin Richardson but anchors and propels this varied collection from the five-string. He’s fully in the spotlight on the instrumental “Castlerock Turnpike” and the folk staple “The Death Of John Henry,” a bluegrass radio No. 1 single with guest mando from Marty Stuart. From the smooth Larry Gatlin song “Denver” to the ripping closer “Goodbye Little Darlin’” from the catalog of Larry Sparks, this is state-of-the-art contemporary bluegrass.
Ed Snodderly - ES Pearl Presents: Baggage Flies Free
Singing under his alias ES Pearl, East Tennessee songwriting master Ed Snodderly has delivered another collection of his deeply original and literate works. With elegant acoustic instrumentation, we hear songs of simple rural life, domestic partnership, and lost heroes like Doc Watson and Malcolm Holcomb. Tim O’Brien joins the band on some of the album’s most effective and energetic cuts, “Coming Down This Road” and the cool, key-shifting “That I Need You More Than I Ever Have Now.” That quirky title hints at a truth behind this project - Ed Snodderly is an Americana original, and we need him.
Jim Hurst - Travels & Time
Award-winning guitarist and amiable singer Jim Hurst returned to the album-making fray in 2022 with From The Ground Up and he followed up in late March with Travels & Time. Both are bluegrass-forward collections of songs that are mostly curated and interpreted by Hurst, but he writes a few as well. Things really start cooking with Jim’s cover of Merle Watson’s wonderfully rolling song “Southbound,” where we hear Hurst’s mastery of punchy and precise fingerpicking. A couple train songs come off sweetly in the case of “One More Lonesome Train” and old-school in the guitar-forward “Reuben’s Train.” Jim’s best original is “The Boys Who Left Prince Station,” a going-off-to-war song with real heart.
Jim Lauderdale and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys - The Birds Know
Jim Lauderdale has shown an uncanny sense for courting the right collaborators, as his years with Ralph Stanley, Robert Hunter, and Donna The Buffalo confirm. A few years ago, he fell for East Tennessee’s superb old-school bluegrass band The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys and sweet talked them into joining forces. This is their second LP together, but it’s Jim’s 39th, if you can believe that level of output. His songs have those Lauderdale signatures of being evocative, whimsical, and human. Two stand out to me as new standards: “We Look At Things Two Different Ways” and “You Wanted Mountains From Me.” As I was writing this, a big old crow perched in some branches outside my studio window and hung out a while, preening and scoping the landscape. Maybe the birds really do know.
