No matter how it's labelled, today's acoustic music suffers from an identity crisis. Americana doesn't sound particularly American, roots music scarcely has identifiable roots.
With their new CD, Dehlia Low dives into this ocean of sameness and throws its listeners a life preserver. Ravens & Crows (Street date August 2; review copy courtesy of Rebel Records) mixes bluegrass, blues, old-time, classic country, and new acoustic for exceptionally strong music that's contemporary and relevant even as it proudly displays its hillbilly origins.
Acoustic Music, Bluegrass Roots
With its crisp, driving picking and the constant tug-of-war between life on the road and the comforts (however tenuous) of home, Ravens & Crows has bluegrass in its bones. The favored lead instrument is resophonic guitar, so it's fitting that Aaron Ballance's lickety-split resophonic kicks things off.
The opener, " State of Jefferson," brims with novelistic detail that feels autobiographical. The tension between the carefree tempo and the lonesome lyrics is pure bluegrass. As Anya Hinkle's lyrics say, "Maybe livin' free means that you're just wastin' time/But you're never too far from where you're from."
The bluegrass flavor gets stronger on "Living Is Easy" with its old-time fiddle and subtle references to classic bluegrass lyrics. Hinkle's slippery falsetto, aided and abetted by rippling duet harmony from guitarist, Stacy Claude, adds the kind of emotional heft that recalls Jimmy Martin 's best work.
Dobro stands in for banjo and trio harmonies add richness on "Goin' Down," the kind of Scots-Irish flavored country tune that Bill Monroe and his Uncle Pen might have played at a long-ago square dance.
The blues make a welcome appearance on three tracks: "Ride" is marked by close harmony and the modal twists and turns. "Drifting On a Lonesome Sea" pulls The Carter Family into the 21st century with lyrics about the longing for prosperity and alienation from society. Bowed bass gives the traditional "Cannonball Blues" an expansive feel, evoking long nights and roads without end.
Americana Music With Character
The title track crosses a Scots-Irish waltz with a classic country-flavored vocal. Claude joins Hinkle for aching, harmonies reminiscent of Jim and Jesse.
Hinkle and Claude keep the magic going with their ghostly harmonizing on "Better Left Unsaid" a country waltz that would be at home in a set from alt-country darling Caitlin Cary. "$40 Chain," with its gutsy, almost punkish alt-country style is a " Gold Watch and Chain " for the new millennium.
Dehlia Low Ravens & Crows
With Ravens & Crows, Dehlia Low has defied genre expectations to create characterful, evocative music that should win them fans from all the genres they've so richly explored on this memorable CD.
Sources
Liner Notes for Ravens & Crows by Dehlia Low. Charlottesville, VA. Rebel Records, 2011.
Diane Amov - Bluegrass singer/songwriter and classically-trained flautist who has written on bluegrass and American roots music since 2005.
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