Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 113

North
Mississippi
Allstars

Steve Earle

Prayer For Peace
If you're a fan of
heart-stopping slide
guitar, you're likely
familiar with Luther Dickinson and his
wicked blend of gospel-saturated blues and
fat rural elegance. The North Mississippi
Allstars have been at it for 30 years now,
waving the Northern Mississippi flag and
honoring their mentors in the best way. With
one foot in the past and one in the present,
the band continues to create a raw, nasty
hybrid of relevant blues for a new world.
Their latest continues the band's musical odyssey (minus bassist Chris Chew)
with a gut-wrenching, visceral document
of powerful music and a plea for society to
evolve. With Luther on guitar and vocals,
and brother Cody on drums, piano, bass,
and programming, the album showcases the
dynamic duo at their artistic peak. Sublime
rib-sticking tunes like "Miss Maybelle,"
"Deep Elum Blues," and "You Got To Move"
transports you south of the Mason-Dixon.
Guest bassist Oteil Burbridge, guitarist
Grahame Lesh, vocalist Sharisse Norman,
bassist Dominic Davis, and singer/fife player
Shardé add finishing touches. "Long Haired
Doney" harkens back to the band's beginnings with R.L. Burnside. This new version
burns paying homage with dangerous slide
and seductive stomp. - Oscar Jordan

Thurston Moore
Rock N Roll
Consciousness

There's a lways
been a push/pull relationship between
the worlds of hippieinspired jam bands and punk-inspired indie
rock. While the latter has been known to
regard the former as self-indulgent, the
former sometimes holds that the indie
camp is uninspiring at best, technically
incompetent at worst.
But that's not to say it's been all push and
no pull. Witness Day of the Dead, last year's
epic indie tribute to the granddaddies of the
jam band genre. Or the guitar peregrinations of indie axe-men like J Mascis and
Thurston Moore.
Speaking of... here, Moore checks in with
his second post-Sonic Youth solo release.
Accompanied again by My Bloody Valentine
bassist Debbie Googe, former SY drummer

Jason Isbell and the
400 Unit
The Nashville Sound

PURE COUNTRY

A

midst the torrent
of modern-country
anthems praising
pickup trucks, beer,
bros, and sweet things
in tight jeans gushing out
of Nashville these days,
there's an undercurrent of
stellar music that's also
making waves. Listen hard
to the radio and you might
even hear it.
Jason Isbell's latest
solo shot ranks with his
best. His songwriting is
a fresh breeze compared
to the Modern Country
smog. And while he may
not have a rave-up rocker
here like Southeastern's
"Super 8," every song
is chock full of cool
riffs and hot licks.
Bookended by the
phenomenal "Last Of My
Kind" and "Something To
Love," Isbell's lyrics are
smart, thoughtful, and
introspective while still
alive with spirit, playfulness, and verve. And
his guitar picking moves
effortlessly between
classic country stylings
and flat-out rocking.

September 2017

113

"Tupelo" and "Cumberland
Gap" are standouts.
Chris Stapleton was an
established songwriter-tothe-stars before launching
his solo career with 2015's
Traveller, which carried
him straight to headlining arena gigs and two
Grammys. His followup is
equally powerful - with
a Volume 2 promised
for later this autumn.
The leadoff "Broken
Halos" is the best of
traditional and alt country,
proving his songcrafting
prowess yet again. Stapleton's voice is pure country,
and he and producer Dave
Cobb play the acoustic
and electric guitar lines,
backed by Robby Turner's
glorious pedal steel. The
combination makes for a
heady brew, proven on
tracks like the laidback
lament of "Last Thing I
Needed, First Thing This
Morning" and rollicking
"Up To No Good Livin'."
Steve Earle returns with
his umpteenth album of
trademark twang with a
country lilt. After touring

VINTAGE GUITAR

Chris Stapleton

From A Room: Volume 1

Steve Earle

So You Wannabe An
Outlaw
last year to celebrate the
30th anniversary of his
breakthrough Guitar Town,
this latest disc appears
to picks up the rockabilly
leanings of that album -
and happily so. Earle can
pick with the best, and
he's backed by longtime
side man Chris Masterson
on guitar and multi-instrumentalist Eleanor Whitmore shining on fiddle.
The title track shines.
So if you despair that
all the good country is
dead and gone, listen
again. There's hot pickin'
and great songs in the
air. - Michael Dregni
Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open

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