Time for another hoedown with the series that combines the sound of the backwoods with the popular songs of yesteryear. I might have mentioned it in the write-up to the last volume, but this series is in constant reworking, though here I have, let's say stabilizd, the whole thing, with the next ten or so volumes ready to go. Yes you heard that right. What I initially thought would be about three volumes continued to grow and grow beyond all reasonable proportions, and after setting arbitrary limits to how much volumes the series should have I gave up on that. I wanted to top it at ten, then twelve, then fifteen and now gave up on setting a limit. As long as I keep finding worthwhile bluegrass covers of pop tunes, this series will continue, and so it does.
What makes these volumes grow is of course also that I keep finding new cool covers or bands that fit the series' profile, wich I then try to weed into the existing, up-until-then-finished volumes, so that some artists that I recently found don't just show up on, like volume thirteen or whatever. So existing numbers get dropped off, then push into one of the next volumes, which then pushes other songs out etc. etc.
A top notch addition to the roster is Love Canon, a group that focuses on covering songs from the 1980s (they bend the dates a little bit, for, say "Solsbury Hill", which will show up on the next volume). These guys have real chops, and, more importantly, don't treat the whole thing as an ironic hardy-fuckin'-har exercise. For these reasons you haven't seen folks like Hayseed Dixie or The Cleverlys show up in this series. No piss takes on the genre, or bluegrass lampooning of the originals. There's certainly a time and place for that, but not now and not here. A band that skirts with the 'funny bluegrass covers' label, but has just enough reverence for the originals and its tongue not so deeply in cheek that it theatens to push through the skin is the previously featured Steve'n'Seagulls, who with this volume are also gaining their access ticket to Bluegrass Chartbusters. Love Canon stick with Peter Gabriel in reworking "Sledgehammer", while Steve'n'Seagulls cover - of course AC/DC and "Moneytalks".
We also welcome some other newcomers that will also sow up on future volumes, such as The Brothers Comatose, joined on this volume by John Craigie for a take on Don Henley's classic "The Boys Of Summer". Now that is a song that is great, but Henley's really 80s sounding version is probably one of my least favorite takes on the song. Hell, I even prefer The Ataris with their punk rock version (and changing the "deadhead sticker on a cadillac" line to "a Black Flag sticker on a cadillac" is pretty genius. But I digress). Alos new to the series in one-offs (for now): Crazy Mule covering Bob Seger's 'on the road' classic "Turn The Page" and Southern Strings' take on the Doobies' "Listen To The Music", where the young female lead singers vocals bring something to the song that I really like.
Other than that, we got the usual roster of Pickin' On...artists, and other assembled first choice artists (check out Dale Ann Bradley's smokin' double-time take on "I Won't Back Down"). Again, tons of fun to be had, with other artists being covered including, bt not limited to Madness, Cyndi Lauper, Def Leppard, The Dixie Chicks, The Guess Who, Kings Of Leon, The Beatles, and The Who. The songs we all love and remember!, says he in a smarmy TV salesman voice (from back when you could order fishy looking music boxsets on teleshopping channels).
If you've been on board with this series for a couple of volumes, you'll know what to expect, and if you haven't - well, its never too late, to find your inner good ol' boy with a heart for classic radio. Plus you'll get some rather fetching cover art, if I migt say so, though I forgot where I picked this up. So, get ready to throw down for the hoedown...
Bluegrass Chartbusters 7
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