Virtual Crate Digging: Bluegrass
Folks are always asking about what’s new and upcoming but, as shown by the vital and venerable culture of crate digging, looking backwards can also yield unexpected results and reveal hidden gems. And boy oh boy do we have some hidden gems. Let’s dig through our virtual bins of vinyl and see what we find.
Archives From A Forgotten Family Band
What better place to go digging for gems than Analog Champion? With artwork and concepts that feel as vintage as the retro techniques used to record them, going one by one through these albums would be enough to get anyone’s dusty fingers excited.
It should come as no surprise that the sweet sounds of Bluegrass (ACPM-005) are as authentic as they get. Featuring female leads and harmonies that would make Mother Maybelle proud, original fiddle tunes are interspersed throughout to keep folks on their heels. Listening through this album, it feels like discovering the ancient archives of a forgotten family band.
“Long Long Gone” is a perky and lively number that recounts the loss of our narrator's happiness. Like murder ballads and so many songs in the Bluegrass canon, on the surface it sounds sweet and innocent. Lean in closer to discover the regret of a woman losing her freedom. The lead female vocal is a little punchy, but not harsh, backed by gorgeous harmonies on the chorus and verse accents. Her story has turned into a toe-tapping sing-along for the ages.
In between the full acoustic glory of a bluegrass band and the smooth dexterity of the fiddle lay a few a cappella pieces. “This Little Baby” and “Blackbird” instantly summon images of southern sirens at the river. Slow, free, alluring three-part female vocals sing in perfect harmony, letting each line perform its own dark magic.
The applications for Bluegrass are limitless, from ironic ads to documentaries and featurettes. Personally, I hear these tracks playing really well in diegetic applications, through the radio of a stolen Camaro while our hero (or anti-hero) drives away from the aftermath of a fight.
Bluegrass is not just an art, but a lifestyle, a world unto its own that must be lived, studied, experienced, and instinctively felt. Another release in the Analog Champion catalog that hits all the right notes, from the people involved to the production techniques employed. Git on in here.
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