Carry Me Away
Bluegrass fans have reason to get excited once again. Old Crow Medicine Show are back with their latest release, Carry Me Back, out July 17th (ATO). Over the past 14 years, the six person band of brothers; Ketch Secor, Critter Fuqua, Kevin Hayes, Morgan Jahnig, Gill Landry and Chance McCoy have seamlessly made bluegrass cool and have picked up where they’ve left off with 2008’s Tennessee Pusher. Carry Me Back is genuine and true combining the best mix of guitars, banjos and you-name-it strings to create something truly spectacular, but then would you expect anything less?
The thirteen-song album will have your feet stomping from the very first track. Kicking off Carry Me Back is “Carry Me Back to Virginia” which can hold it’s own with a fiddle and a guitar however hand clapping is acceptable participation. Yet, what’s most beautiful about Carry Me Back is that the band takes a fresh approach with the songs. “Ain’t It Enough,” is a slow-paced crooner with tearful lyrics and a heart-melting harmonica that revels in a new area of upbeat folk. Near the end of the album one song leaves you desperately craving more OCMS, “Sewanee Mountain Catfight,” it’s name alone worthy of this album coverage. Fast pace stings, banjo strums and an aggressive fiddle mix and mingle themselves into an impromtu square dance.
Carry Me Back’ s country charm and down-home style will only make you fall in love with Old Crow Medicine Show again, if you ever second guessed loving them to begin with. OCMS have proven–not only to themselves but to their fans–that they can detour slightly from their country road and continue to stay true to their string-band hoedowns.
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