Hey Californians! As some of you know I have been back at Clark University for a few weeks and things are going great. Along with gaining more knowledge about the situation in the Middle East, I am taking a ‘Music After 1945’ class which is going to touch on many important movements in music since the end of the modernist era. Sadly, I don’t think bluegrass is going to be touched upon. Since I am back at school, that also means that my bluegrass radio show is back. This semester it is on Thursdays 3-4 Eastern Time, and 12-1 Western Time. This year I have a new idea for the show. For those of you who read my last column, you will know that I am concerned about the lack of real critiques of bluegrass music, which I believe is diminishing the music, and is going to lead to a lack of knowledge and what is good and what is not. Because of this, I am going play a full album for each show and then discuss what I thought about it. This Thursday, I am going to broadcast and talk about the new Gibson Brothers Album ‘Brotherhood’.
Future of bluegrass-ish music still includes Brian Simpson
I was going to write a review of the new Gibson Brothers but then there was the bombshell that changed my entire weekend. Whether you loved them or hated them (which we all did), Cadillac Sky changed bluegrass music. Years ago, when they closed Saturday night at IBMA with what can only be described as a Rock & Roll show, I knew that my standards of bluegrass shows would never be the same. Shortly after that Cadillac Sky released an album which was produced by a member of the Black Keys, and the band was bound to go on a huge tour opening for Mumford and Sons. But instead of becoming the next pseudo bluegrass band to make it big, Brian Simpson left the band. Simpson was the lead singer, main song writer, and mandolin player. When he left, the band knew it was the end and the whole group went their separate ways. But this weekend, I randomly saw on my Facebook that Brian Simpson has made a new album called The Whistles and the Bells. After 5 years of nothing Brian Simpson had reappeared! And his album did not disappoint.
Now before I start there is barely a sliver of bluegrass in the album. Every song has drums, while some include psychedelic breakdowns and horns. Regardless of the genre, Brian Simpson is one of the best country song writers and that song writing is still on display. When he writes lines like “I have been scarfing down the words of the devil’s dictionary”, you know that he still has the song writing touch that made him one of the most country prominent writers earlier in the century. Now while it is not bluegrass, any Cadillac Sky fan could have seen this as the next logical step in their style. This album brings the dark surreal elements that were apparent on their newest ‘Album Letters in the Deep’ and mixes it with the punch and grit that made ‘Gravity’s Our Enemy’ my favorite album of theirs. Another predictable element in this album is Simpson’s reliance and love of God. Under the surface of atonal bridges and lyrics that are screamed more than yelled is a Christian Album. It is public knowledge that Simpson was concerned about the way Cadillac Sky was going as a band and as a symbol for bluegrass debauchery. Simpson is a born again Christian who took these last five years to read the scriptures and discover what he wanted to do, and this album is what he desired. This album allows him to control each piece of the song unlike he was able to do in Cadillac Sky because the instrumentalist he had around him were so good. While his old friends like Matt Menefee are on the album, this is Simpson’s album and it is his message. All in all, it is a positive one. The second to last track, “Bad Super Heroes”, has the very positive Christian message of “life is hard; have some sympathy”.
After listening to the album many times the last few days, this one line gives the entire thesis of The Whistles and Bells which is “Sorry for the wait everybody, but I’m back and I am happy with the way things are going.”
