Music Spectrum

Like a quilt where each square reflects some important life lesson, Adrienne Young and Little Sadie’s The Art of Virtue takes Benjamin Franklin’s “The Thirteen Virtues,” setting them to music for the title track, but also weaving that wisdom throughout the album. Young & Little Sadie deliver New Bluegrass that comes right out of the woods, cabin, porch, barn, and hills.

Young & Little Sadie kick up their heels on the traditional tunes “Bonaparte’s Retreat/My Love is in America,” the second track of the album which gives you a glimpse of the music that undergirds this bridge back to the past. While Uncle Dave Macon’s “Don’t Get Weary Children” has some nods to modern day (“Nashville full of big hotels/…Knoxville full of republicans”), the song is a great hoedown recorded like it’s a house party. Actually, this, and much of the music, calls the Rankins to mind who were exploring more of the Acadian tunes but tunes and flavors similar to Appalachia.

Every mountain songbook needs some tragedies and tales of murder. “Rastus Russell,” written by Young and Mark D. Sanders, is about a real life 1940’s criminal in Florida that Young’s grandfather helped apprehend. Like so many murder songs, it starts off to be about Mrs. Brown, the victim, who “went out on her porch to sweep/Was the Sabbath Day, late July.” However, the chorus shifts to be about “Rastus Russell, born of bad blood/Raised on misery, murder, and mud.” Those blues-inflected strings just can’t help from picking up on the notorious rather than the poor victim.

The songs on The Art of Virtue (along with the beautiful CD liner booklet and included copy of Franklin’s “Virtues”) are a mixture of folk wisdom, religion, spirituality, and superstition. Given this wide-ranging collection of beliefs, you can almost hear some grandmotherly figure saying, “Wha’ cha’ gotten into now, chil’.” Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise, since Franklin’s Virtues are fairly common to many world religions.

These aren’t dry virtue songs. “Wedding Ring” is a sassy advocacy for marriage that has a train track rhythm, the “Wedding March” making the final chords, and an almost border country tag ending. Young sings with appropriate twang, “Now love’s like a rollercoaster I like to ride/And I like to ride full tilt/But mama says who’s gonna buy the cow/When they already got the milk?” Young does school programs, and this would be a great addition to a sexual abstinence talk.

Yet, being focused so much on developing virtue, even when inspired by Christ, obscures the love and forgiveness of Christ for our sins. Instead, on “Art of Virtue,” Young sings, “If I could walk the path of Jesus/Live each day the best I can/Follow in those humble footsteps/I might reach the promised land.” Earning heaven by our actions is something that goes against what Christ actually taught, saying that we are saved by faith in Him not through our own goodness. That’s grace, and while Young’s voice carries a grace and mercy in its sweet qualities, I’d love to see her use that voice on lyrics inspired more by grace.

In that light, since Young seems especially good at developing an album around a theme, even around something like Franklin’s Virtues, it’d be great to have such an album of New Bluegrass whose songs come from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, which teaches the basics of the Christian faith.

For instance, “My Sin is Pride,” written by Will Kimbrough and Tom Littlefield, is already going down that path. The song is ready-made for talking about Confession and Absolution. The lyric says, “I never will confess/My Sin is Pride”—confessing it right there, having a prideful attitude instead of a humble one by the very words. The song creeps up on you, and you realize when you nod your head with the song (“I’ve chosen a narrow path”), you’re actually taking pride in your actions. And in the liturgy of a Lutheran worship service, the song would be followed by these words: “Having confessed our sins to God our Father, hear the Absolution, the forgiveness that comes through the cross of Jesus Christ.”

So pick up this quilt, swing it around and learn these life’s lessons, because the music will surely spin you around. However, maybe we’ll see Adrienne Young take on Luther’s Small Catechism next time around. It’d sure be a fun way to teach another great little book.

Thanks to Adrienne Young and EchoMusic for the review copy.

“Come to Jesus” has all of the Appalachian tones of bluegrass snuggled with blues, country, and folk. “Come to Jesus” is an incredible Gospel song drawing the listener closer to the love that Jesus proclaims. “Come to Jesus” rocks and moves and presents the most mature singer-songwriter I’ve heard lately.

“Come to Jesus” is by Mindy Smith from her debut album, One Moment More. The album lands in the New Bluegrass section of the Spectrum. I put off writing this posting for a couple of weeks, because I wanted to be able to give as much credit to Smith as possible. She has completely taken me in with this album.

One might too quickly label Smith as Country, and this is something she wants to avoid. She says, “Even though I live in Nashville I don’t consider myself a country artist, but a singer-songwriter and I wanted to present myself as I am.” This is why she chose to sign with Vanguard Records, and they have truly let the result be what Smith wanted: a singer-songwriter possessing a much more broad song than the moniker of Country would’ve allowed.

Smith mentions Alison Krauss as an influence, and that’s immediately what I think on the opening track, “Come to Jesus.” It is New Bluegrass, Bluegrass that meets country, folk, blues, and rock. Krauss’ voice is incredible for passion which opens up the depths of the heart. Smith has that same passion, although a much higher register which is why it is no surprise when Smith mentions the Sundays as another influence, what with Harriet Wheeler’s spritely vocals.

Yet, that’s what makes Smith fall into that New Bluegrass category—the range of influences draws in so many different sounds. The New Bluegrass category is built around Krauss, but then these other artists Smith mentions as influences come from such different parts of the Spectrum: the Sundays (Folk-influenced English Rock), Shawn Colvin (American Folk), and Sarah Vaughn (Jazz).

Beyond this, though, I also hear hints of other artists—whether they are part of Smith’s education or not, I find these comparisons, and once again, we’re covering multiple sections of The Spectrum. When hearing that blues-tinged growl beneath Smith’s sweet charm, I can only think of Susan Tedeschi (Blues Rock). When the country side of things breaks out, I begin to hear the sweet tones of Maria McKee (former lead singer of Lone Justice) (Country-influenced Rock). When it comes to a girl with a guitar, there’s Jennifer Knapp (Folk-influenced American Rock) headed up the road to greet Smith’s sound. On the more drawn out ballads, showcasing Smith’s ability to cradle and coax a melody, well, then I can’t help think of some of the work by Susan Ashton (also Folk-influenced American Rock). Finally, there’s that fragility of Smith’s voice, an innocence and warmth and intimacy, which I just recently discovered in the work of the band Aroah (College Rock).

And gol’ darnit, I never thought I’d say this, but boy, Dolly Parton’s gotta great voice. Mindy Smith drew tons of attention when this relatively unknown singer was included on Just Because I’m a Woman, a tribute album to Parton. Smith’s version of “Jolene” also appears on One Moment More with Parton singing backup.

It is a beautiful song, one I never would’ve paid attention to because I’ve never paid attention to Parton except to make fun of Dollywood. I’m already convinced that Smith is capable of such beauty and the fragile-blues-like-country strains of a song like “Jolene.” Hearing Parton, though, take the harmony and blend in a call-and-response with Smith on the chorus is truly amazing. Could Smith be a Parton missionary?

Mindy Smith was adopted by Sharron Patricia McMahon Smith, a church music director, and her husband, Larry Smith, the church’s minister. Smith says about her adoption in the liner notes, “I truly believe that God picks me up and puts me where He wants me to be. It is because of this, that I have the great honor of calling Larry and Sharron Smith my parents.” Her adoptive mother died when Smith was 19, and One Moment More is dedicated to her memory.

As my wife and I have a pending adoption, I pray that our son will have the dedication, talent, and faith of Smith. I pray that he will be able to praise God about his adoption. While I want our son to grow up and be whatever he wants, I wouldn’t complain if he was a singer-songwriter—something his father will never be. No matter what I want our son to believe that he can come to Jesus and Jesus will hold him in his arms.

WIN MUSIC FROM MINDY SMITH!

There are 7 chances to win music from Mindy Smith. The first person to email me was Deb of Pensacola, FL; she wins a full-length copy of One Moment More. 3-track samplers (including “Come to Jesus” and “Jolene”) winners: 1. <a href=" http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=220223&T=1466

“>My friend, Emily, who offered to do singer-songwriter camp for our kid, 2. Chad Canipe, 3. Jerry of Sheboygan Falls, WI, 4. Rick & Lindy. “Come to Jesus” single winners: 1. Mary, 2. Corinne. Winners answered this question: which other artist did I write about and put in the New Bluegrass section? Sixteen Horsepower.

Thanks to Lellie at Vanguard Records, Penny at Partners in Music and Frog Pad Records for their help with the review copy and all of the giveaway CDs.

Sixteen Horsepower’s song, “Sinnerman,” from the album, Folklore, has a similar blend of talking/chanting/singing like the spoken section of U2’s “Bullet the Blue Sky.” Yet, Sixteen Horsepower (16HP) is part of a new section of the Spectrum: New Bluegrass. There’s the Bluegrass section which covers more traditional bluegrass, but now I am adding other artists to the collection which have a bluegrass/traditional folk foundation but really incorporate rock, country, and other elements. To get extremely technical about it, 16HP can’t be in the Bluegrass section, because they have drums. Bluegrass music traditionally doesn’t have drums.

Yet, one listen to 16HP, and you can hear the influence of the Appalachian Mountains. “Outlaw Song” has acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, string bass; a mournful ballad, sounding like it’s recorded in a holler somewhere. David Eugene Edwards’ voice is ready to crack, ready to ring out from a small shack, ready to shake the coal mining town.

The band originates from Colorado, so there is also a sense of Western mountain towns. Edwards is known for saying that he belongs in the 19th century, but then apparently also doesn’t like it when the band’s music is labeled as folk music which doesn’t give them enough credit for their contemporary sound (see Biography at the 16HP site). This is a hard line to follow, but maybe the New Bluegrass section will speak to both sides.

Edwards notes the Violent Femmes and Nick Cave as major influences, and I can hear both, the Femmes in the driven-acoustic arrangements and some vocals and Cave in the themes and vocals.

However, I hear other comparisons too. Again, there’s U2; “Blessed Persistence” starts with a bass line much like “Van Diemen’s Land.” On “Beyond the Pale,” there’s piano, xylophone, and samples which actually put me in mind of some Electronica I’ve been hearing lately—Rob Smith, Royksopp, Mice Parade, and Brian Eno (back to the U2 connection).

That brings us back to “Sinnerman.” This is a haunting traditional song, like a biblical prophet chasing you from the shadows, showing how you cannot hide from God’s judgment, His piercing eye on your sinfulness. This is a theme on this album—where grace and forgiveness may not always be foremost.

The music is cut from the cloth of American Westward Expansion, farmers and small towns, covered wagons and horses, courting in the apple orchard, carrying a picnic lunch to the church meeting on Sunday. Yet, the music also weaves together the fabric of life as a Christian in the 21st century: fear, trial, sin, struggles, and relying on God for deliverance.

The first person to email me explaining the name of the band was Bruce. He said, “In Sixteen Horsepower’s case the name is taken from an old folksong in which an old man has the coffin of his deceased wife pulled up the hill by sixteen jet-black horses. It immediately conveys what Sixteen Horsepower stands for: for tradition, for dark narrative art, for faith.” Bruce wins a free copy of the album, Folklore.

Thanks to Jetset Records and Glitterhouse Records for their help.