Hal Ketchum, Father Time (Curb, 2009)
J Shogren, American Holly (JAHA! / Polythene, 2009)
Right off the beam, let me tell you that country music isn't dead. Maybe I shouldn't call these fellows country music though. Let's just describe them as two new discs of acoustic roots music.
That's what J Shogren calls it on his Web site. Can't call it Americana since he splits his time between Wyoming and Sweden. He was the King of Sweden's professor for a time! He was a member of a group that received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He worked as a trapper, too. He's not your standard ranch stash at all. He sounds a bit like Kris Kristofferson, both vocally and in the lackadaisical pace of his album. Shogren plays guitars, tenor banjo, mandolin, etc. (the "etc." could mean anything; I just copied it from the liner notes). All the other musicians (and there are 17 of them) add voice, vocal, hubbub, and a variety of instruments. It's all pretty string band based, except for trombone, euphonium and jug, and drums. The songs sound like they might have originated in the Ozarks in the '30s, but in fact, J Shogren wrote most of them himself.
"I'll be a depth charge for God, gonna thump the devil, don't you cry for me," is an example of the kind of lyrical concern he deals with. A sampling of titles might give you an idea. "Everyman," "Salt lakrits," "Holes," "Deny me," "God's 9:05," and "Hardwood floor." And that's what they're about, too! None of the musicians have first names, just initials, like J or B or S. No punctuation either. They all play tolerably well, and make sense out of the tunes. I like it. It doesn't even have to grow on you...it sounds good from the get-go.
The Hal Ketchum album is a little bit more mainstream. It'd have to be. Hal's an award-winning songwriter, a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He's surrounded himself with some of Nashville's best players on this, his ninth album. Bryan Sutton on lead guitar, Darrell Scott, Russ Pahl and the others add a professional sheen to Ketchum's songs. There are no real surprises here, but it's a darn good collection of tunes. You'll think of any number of influences as you listen to this one, but maybe Ketchum is the influence and others are the followers.
The album has a raw and gorgeous sound. It was recorded in two days on two tracks. All the musicians sound like they were sitting next to each other as they played. The mandolin, the guitars, some fiddle, and the drums...the drums (played either by Paul Leim or Eddie Bayers) deserve special mention. The songs? Ketchum selected them from his whole arsenal of compositions. "The Preacher and Me" is the first song Ketchum wrote, but he never cut it until this album. "If You Don't Love Me, Baby (Just Let Me Go)" is from 10 years ago, written with Big Al Anderson. "Invisible" was written with Gary Nicholson just a few days before the sessions. This song choice shows the level of quality Hal has maintained over the years.
Two new CDs of mainly acoustic roots music from the big country. Both of them deserving of a spin, or a download ... however you're listening to music these days.
