surprise gift
I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of one of those this year. You know the type of gift I’m talking about – the one that you never knew you wanted ’til you’ve had it for awhile. Well, this christmas my brother gave me a copy of Gillian Welch’s Soul Journey and I can’t listen to it enough. I’m certain I’d heard them on cbc radio before but I guess it never registered.
Its always difficult to label music and I’m not sure how to classify this album. I suppose you could call it country-rock-folk flavoured. Songwriting wise it occurred to me that they remind me of Woody Guthrie. Not necessarily in the content sense but very much so in the wordplay and imagery of the songs. Yes, I realize the effect of using that analogy – just give it a listen before jumping on me for saying it.
Anyhow, I think if you enjoy the likes of Lucinda Williams or Kathleen Edwards you’ll be a fan of Gillian Welch too. There’s a nice mix to this album from some sweet traditional arrangments for which Gillian has reworked / added lyrics (”Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor”) to “Wrecking Ball” the closing track which I imagine can turn into a real rocker at live shows.
If you’re looking for some press about Gillian Welch, Google turned up an article in The New Yorker that I found interesting: The Ghostly Ones by Alec Wilkinson.
Thanks Pete!
