Chatham County Line
Chatham County Line
Rating: 3.5
Label: Yep Roc Records
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Yep Roc has reissued Chatham County Line’s 2003 eponymous debut album, a lost gem that features some of the best recordings in modern bluegrass. Chatham County Line, a band that has gone on to release three albums for Yep Roc (most recently 2008′s IV) thrives on authenticity. These songs are lived-in, eschewing the clinical coldness that plagues the recordings of other contemporary pickers; the whole thing reeks of country, county fairs and cold beer.
It is no secret that O Brother Where Art Thou breathed a new life in the genre. Though Ralph Stanley and Del McCoury have been at it for ages, a new wave of bands, like Chatham County Line, have risen up to grasp the bluegrass mantle. Musicians such as o’death and Steve Earle have fused the sound of the banjo into a punk or rock aesthetic, but Chatham County Line offers up traditional bluegrass, pure and simple. Formed in 1999 in North Carolina behind guitarist Dave Wilson, a member of the defunct Stillhouse, the band played pedal steel, mandolin and fiddle casually for four years before being approached by Chris Stamey (of Sneakers and dB’s fame) to record this debut.
One of the risks of a bluegrass CD is the confines of the field, many tunes sound the same and feature similar instrumentation, but that is not the case with Chatham County Line. While “Wichita Central” uses minor chord mystery to chronicle the sad travails of a boxcar hobo, “WSM (650)” is a completely different animal. A warm reverie for the music of Nashville past, the track brims with honest instrumentation and irony-free lyricism. And that’s the best part of Chatham County Line. While it is fashionable to nod with irony at influences, the band plays it straight and that is refreshing.
There are numerous other highlights, the upbeat “Sightseeing” and “Bacon in the Skillet,” are just two. But does this record stand for something outside of a novelty for the casual bluegrass fan? Certainly. A surprise cover of “I Shall Be Released” takes on a life of its own and pays a warm homage to Dylan and the Band. It is an outstanding moment on an album that is both unexpected and welcome.
by David Harris
