Graham Reid | | <1 min read
Dave Alvin appeared at Elsewhere recently as the man behind the all-star tribute to his friend and accordionist in his band The Guilty Men, Chris Gaffney.
This album owes its origins to the death of Gaffney in 2008: Alvin's Guilty Men weren't working after Gaffney's death but there was a gig scheduled so he needed to put something together and started with dobro player Cindy Cashdollar. One thing led to another. He ended up with an all-woman band who could be no other than . . . The Guilty Women.
That on-off show was so successful they got together for this equally uplifting, good times album where Alvin mostly takes the lead vocals but lets the stellar players and singers (Nina Gerber, Sarah Brown, Amy Farris and Marcia Ball among them) also have their share.
There are sentimental songs here (the orchestrated Always) but also rollicking barn-rattling music (Marie Marie), Western Swing (Boss of the Blues) and dollops of great playing, harmonies (Potter's Field) and folk-country blues.
From harmonies to honk-tonk, this is the second album in as many weeks to have the Alvin stamp of quality on it.
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