{"id":44001,"date":"2015-01-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/j-d-crowe-the-new-south\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:10","slug":"j-d-crowe-the-new-south","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/j-d-crowe-the-new-south\/","title":{"rendered":"J.D. Crowe & The New South"},"content":{"rendered":"

J.D. Crowe could be considered one of the first in the second generation of bluegrass music.\u00a0 That is, the generation that came after the first, which included Bill Monroe and his iconic high lonesome sound. Crowe had spent several years backing the \u201cKing Of Bluegrass\u201d Jimmy Martin, which used a very traditional band set up. He formed the New South in the \u201870s, which was part of the leading edge of \u201cprogressive bluegrass.\u201d This included bands like the Seldom Scene<\/a>, a group that has endured to this day and yields immense influence in the genre. For example, today the use of the dobro in a bluegrass band has become as common as a banjo, whereas in the \u201870s it was seen as controversial in some circles.\u00a0 Here, J.D. Crowe employs a young Jerry Douglas (currently well known for being part of Alison Krauss and Union Station<\/a>) to perform it to great effect. Additionally, the use of a drum kit is still seen by some as a departure for the genre, but a few tracks on this 1975 album make use of one.<\/p>\n

On this eponymous album, J. D. Crowe brings not only Jerry Douglas but also the famous guitar picker Tony Rice<\/a> on guitar and lead vocals, equally famous Ricky Skaggs on tenor vocals, fiddle, mandolin, violin, viola, and Bobby Slone on bass. Tony Rice is absolutely superb vocally on this album. His baritone lead is steady and strong, and brings a soulful expression to the tunes that are perfectly picked for his range. He is probably more famous for his guitar picking, which is always excellent, but his vocals are really what shine here; meanwhile, he has a few splendid guitar solos in \u201cNashville Blues\u201d and subdued but classic picking on \u201cRock Salt And Nails\u201d and \u201cSummer Wages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most songs are laments about home and being away from loved ones too long. All are executed well, especially \u201cOld Home Place,\u201d \u201cSome Old Day\u201d and \u201cHome Sweet Home Revisited.\u201d\u00a0 The standout track is the slow and powerful \u201cSummer Wages,\u201d which features a string trio of fiddles and viola. The bluegrass rendition of Gordon Lightfoot\u2019s \u201cTen Degrees Or Colder\u201d is solid, as is the traditional spiritual track, \u201cCrying Holy Unto The Lord.\u201d There is also a bluegrass version of the Fats Domino classic \u201cI\u2019m Walkin\u2019,\u201d which really does translate very well.<\/p>\n

If one has not given bluegrass music that much thought, I would definitely recommend this album as one to include as a starting point. For those who know and love bluegrass, this is a fantastic window into the transition we have experienced in three generations of bluegrass music.\u00a0 The genre has never been static and keeps rolling along.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":32248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9564],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-44001","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-j-d-crowe-the-new-south","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44001","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\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44001"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}