The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band must be doing something right. It’s a
\nrare band that can keep the same five players for almost thirty
\nyears; rarer yet is the fact that they still sound like they’re
\nhaving fun playing their music.
\nWelcome To Woody Creek<\/i>, their latest CD and their first
\nrelease in six years, is no exception; it’s a mostly joyous romp
\nthrough American roots music that leaves you smiling. I found my
\nfoot tapping a lot while listening to this CD; it’s the kind of
\nthing that makes you dance in your chair as you write the review.
\n(If you don’t know how to dance in your chair, that’s your problem;
\nI’m quite skilled at it.)<\/p>\n
The basics on the disc are straightforward. This is a stripped
\ndown, basic CD; it’s recorded clearly, with minimal effects and
\nexcellent production. The musicianship is stellar; these guys have
\nbeen playing for a few years, and it shows. I give particular kudos
\nto the lead guitar on tracks like “Forever Don’t Last”; the Nitty
\nGritty Dirt Band proves they can rock with liberal doses of
\nfuzz-tone.<\/p>\n
Most of the songs on here are originals; I particularly like the
\nacoustic “Jealous Moon,” with some truly lovely mandolin work.
\n“It’s Morning” is bright and cheerful; the kind of song that
\nmorning people love and a night owl like me eyes with a mix of
\ndisbelief and amusement. “Party On The Mountain” is a
\nstraightforward bluegrass boast, a lover offering great things to
\nhis chosen. “Safe Back Home” is a countrified ballad with strong
\nhymn-like elements, and “Any Love But Our Love” is a beautiful
\ntraditional country song with Eagles-like harmonies. If country
\nradio wasn’t so enamored with crossover artists and jingoistic
\nredneck nonsense, this would be a Top Ten Hit, and deserves to be.
\nI have to give special kudos, though, to “Old Time’s Sake.” As
\nsomeone who is going through a divorce, this pretty much captures
\nthe mix of sadness, joy, and closure that I’m feeling right now in
\nmy life.<\/p>\n
There are a couple of covers on the CD; Gram Parsons’ “She” is
\ngood, though I admit to having never warmed to Parsons’ work. The
\nreal gem here is a blazing fast bluegrass cover of the Beatles’
\n“Get Back”; now that’s fun, and worth a second – and tenth – and
\nhundredth listen.<\/p>\n
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is a joy, and best of all a reliable
\njoy; they’ve been solid for years, and they’re still firing on all
\ncylinders.
\nWelcome To Woody Creek<\/i> is a wonderful CD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":26877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7084],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38176","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-nitty-gritty-dirt-band","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38176"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38176"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}